It's done!
Tha e air a dhèanamh
There are two ways in Gaelic to describe a completed action. In A1 Cuspair 6 we learned the adjectives dùinte (closed), fosgailte (open(ed)) and dèanta (done). These kind of adjectives are only used with some verbs. The other way, which can be used with any number of verbs, is to use the verbal noun with the ubiquitous preposition air (on), here used more in the sense of ‘after’ . We use bha (was), tha (is) or bidh (will be) with air and the possessive pronouns to form a sentence.
possessive adjective with air / Buadhair seilbheach le air | Lenites Sèimheachadh /? | |
air mo | on my | Yes / Tha |
air do | on your | Yes / Tha |
air a | on his | Yes / Tha |
air a (before vowel) air a h- | on her | No / Chan eil |
air ar (before vowel) ar n- | on our | No / Chan eil |
air ur (before vowel) air ur n- | on your (plural) | No / Chan eil |
air an (before b, f, m, p) air am | on their | No / Chan eil |
Tha | an obair | air | a | dèanamh. | the work is done (literally the work is on its/her doing) |
Is | the work | on | its/her | doing. | |
Tha | am biadh | air | a | dhèanamh. | The food is made/done (literally the food is on its/his making) |
Is | the food | on | its/his | doing/making. |
The possessive adjectives refer back to the gender of the noun or pronoun. In the first example obair is feminine and so dèanamh is not lenited after a (her). In the second example biadh is masculine so dèanamh is lenited after a (his): dhèanamh .
Play with the sentences below. There are no wrong answers!
Tha an oifis air a glanadh
Tha an oifis
The office is
air a glanadh
clean(ed)
air a fosgladh
open
air a dùnadh
closed
air a glasadh
locked
Bidh an doras air a pheantadh a-màireach
Bidh an doras
The office will be
air a pheantadh
painted
air fhosgladh
open(ed)
air a dhùnadh
closed
air a ghlasadh
locked
a-màireach
tomorrow