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Bilingual transcription: Ainmearan no buadhairean

Bilingual transcription: Nouns or adjectives

Watch this clip where Joy gives us some of her favourite useful phrases. 

The possessive pronouns : mo, do, a, ar, ur, an are used in a variety of constructions in Gaelic.

One of these is air and a verbal noun, [air+ a verbal noun] to express a state someone or something is in, like air mo nàrachadh, embarrassed, literally ‘on my shaming’. The possessive word needs to agree with the person or thing being described, so air mo nàrachadh is used if the subject is mi: Bha mi air mo nàrachadh.

If Eilidh was embarrassed then we’d say Bha Eilidh air a nàrachadh.

And for a plural subject, Tha na balaich air an nàrachadh. ‘The boys are embarrassed’.

Other feelings expressed in the same way are: air mo shàrachadh, stressed out, or air mo liathadh, bored.

And the pattern can be used for many different states: Bha an doras air a dhùnadh, The door was shut (dhùnadh, lenited, as doras is masculine). Tha an obair air a dèanamh.

The work is done, dèanamh, unlenited, as obair is feminine.