This conversation was all about looking ahead. We saw and heard examples in the future tense of all of the ten irregular verbs, as well as a few regular verbs. Let’s start with the regular verbs.
Ceannaichidh sinn na tiocaidean aig an doras.
We’ll buy tickets at the door.
Coinnichidh sinn riutha aig seachd
We’ll meet them at seven
In the previous lesson we looked at the future forms of faod (may) and feum (need/must). Here we’ll look at how to ask direct questions in the future tense using the regular verb ceannaich (buy). It follows the same pattern as another regular verb coinnich (meet) which we saw in A2 Cuspair 8.
an coinnich?
will/meet?
nach coinnich?
won’t/don’t meet?
coinnichidh
will/meet
cha choinnich
won’t/don’t meet
We make the future tense of regular verbs by adding ‑idh, or ‑aidh to the root form of the verb (remembering the caol ri caol, leathann ri leathann rule). With ceannaich, we add ‑idh to ceannaich and this gives us ceannaichidh. And we have the usual four forms for the future tense in the table below. And … bear in mind that cha causes lenition in the word that follows.
an ceannaich?
will/do buy?
nach ceannaich?
won’t/don’t buy?
ceannaichidh
will/do buy
cha cheannaich
won’t/don’t buy
Let’s look at some more examples
An ceannaich mi pàipear-naidheachd an-diugh?
Will I buy a newspaper today?
Nach ceannaich thu stampaichean?
Won’t you buy stamps?
An ceannaich e aran?
Will he buy bread?
Nach ceannaich i seacaid?
Won’t she buy a jacket?
An ceannaich sinn càr ùr?
Will/Shall we buy a new car?
Nach ceannaich sibh biadh dhomh?
Won’t you (plural) buy food for me?
An ceannaich iad an taigh?
Will they buy the house?
The positive responses:
Ceannaichidh mi pàipear-naidheachd an-diugh.
I will buy a newspaper today.
Ceannaichidh tu stampaichean.
You will buy stamps.
Ceannaichidh e aran.
He will buy bread.
Ceannaichidh i seacaid.
She will buy a jacket.
Ceannaichidh sinn càr ùr.
We will buy a new car.
Ceannaichidh sibh biadh dhomh.
You (plural) will buy food for me.
Ceannaichidh iad an taigh.
They will buy the house.
The negative responses:
Cha cheannaich mi pàipear-naidheachd an-diugh.
I will not buy a newspaper today.
Cha cheannaich thu stampaichean.
You will not buy stamps.
Cha cheannaich e aran.
He will not buy bread.
Cha cheannaich i seacaid.
She will not buy a jacket.
Cha cheannaich sinn càr ùr.
We will not buy a new car.
Cha cheannaich sibh biadh dhomh.
You (plural) will not buy food for me.
Cha cheannaich iad an taigh.
They will not buy the house.