Nuair a bhios latha dheth agaibh, an tig sibh a chèilidh orm?
When you have a day off, will you come and visit me?
We use the conjunctions (linking words) nuair (when), ma (if) and mura (if not) to join two clauses together. We first saw nuair (when) in A1 Cuspair 7, and we know that this takes the independent form of the verb in the present and the past tense (tha, bha): nuair a bha sinn òg (when we were young).
Ma bhios latha dheth agaibh, an tig sibh a chèilidh orm?
If you have a day off, will you come and visit me?
Mura bi latha dheth agam, cha tig mi a chèilidh ort.
If I don’t have a day off, I won’t come and visit you.
We saw this pattern before in Cuspair 6:
bha | robh |
nuair a bha | mura robh |
ma bha | càit an robh? |
ciamar a bha? | |
cò bha? | |
dè bha? | |
cuin a bha? | |
cia mheud a bha? |
tha | bheil |
nuair a tha | mura h-eil |
ma tha | càit a bheil? |
ciamar a tha? | |
cò tha? | |
dè tha? | |
cuin a tha? | |
cia mheud a tha? |
bhios | bi |
nuair a bhios | mura bi |
ma bhios | càit am bi? |
ciamar a bhios? | |
cò bhios? | |
dè bhios? | |
cuin a bhios? | |
cia mheud a bhios? |
is toil | toil |
nuair as toil | mur toil |
mas toil | càit an toil? |
ciamar as toil? | |
cò as toil? | |
dè as toil? | |
cuin as toil? | |
cia mheud as toil? |
Some examples
Nuair a bha iad a’ falbh don sgoil, bha na bòtannan orra.
When they were leaving for school, they had their wellies on.
Mur toil leat cofaidh, an gabh thu cupa tì/teatha.
If you don’t like coffee, will you take/have a cup of tea?
Nuair a bhios latha dheth agam thig mi a chèilidh ort.
When I have a day off, I’ll come and visit you.
Ma tha mi sgìth, thèid mi dhachaigh tràth.
If I am tired, I’ll go home early.
Mura bi sùgh orains againn sa mhadainn, gabhaidh mi cofaidh.
If we don’t have orange juice in the morning, I’ll have/take coffee.