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The past tense: buying & bought

An tràth caithte: a’ ceannach & cheannaich

John and Anne used one word lots:  cheannaich ( bought). We will use question and answer format to show you how to form the past tense of  ceannaich ( buy).

Is ceannaich (buy) a regular verb?

Yes. It is!

How do you form the past tense of regular verbs?

First you need to find out the imperative, (also known as the root or basic form) of the verb. It is ceannaich. Imperative means the verb used to give instructions and it is listed in all dictionaries. In the LearnGaelic dictionary, we show this with an exclamation mark.

Does the imperative start with one of the following consonants b, c, d, g, m, p, s, t?

Ceannaich does start with c! If the imperative starts with one of the consonants: b, c, d, g, m, p, s, t, then the word lenites when it is in the past tense.

These are the common questions using  the basic lenited form cheannaich .

Ciamar a cheannaich... ?
How did … buy?
Cò cheannaich...?
Who bought ...?
Dè cheannaich...?
What did … buy?
Cuin a cheannaich...?
When did … buy?
Cia mheud a cheannaich... ?
How many did … buy?
Càit an do cheannaich... ?
Where did … buy?

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FAQs

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How do I type the Gaelic accents?

Tap or click on a letter to put it on your clipboard, you can then paste it anywhere:

Lowercase letters:

Uppercase letters:

Alternatively, these methods may work for you:

Windows

Some simple ways to type grave accents in MS Windows, depending on which version you use. The grave accent ` is next to the number 1 at top of keyboard.

à, è, ì, ò, ù Ctrl+`, release and type letter;

À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù Ctrl+Shift+`, release and type letter

OR

Alt key + character code on the numeric keypad on right of keyboard (laptops will vary). Ensure that the NUMLOCK is on.

à Alt+133 or 0224
è Alt+138 or 0232
ì Alt+141 or 0236
ò Alt+149 or 0242
ù Alt+151 or 0249

À Alt+0192
È Alt+0200
Ì Alt+0204
Ò Alt+0210
Ù Alt+0217

Mac

Push and hold a character to bring up a menu and choose.

E.g. hold the letter e to choose the letter è

What is the Gaelic Alphabet?

Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu

For more information visit LearnGaelic’s Scottish Gaelic Alphabet

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All the others are broad.

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