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When?

Cuin?

Joy explains how to use the word cuin and how to ask questions about what happened in the pastand what is happening just now.

We’ll recap this in more detail, but we already know from looking at the weather that we can create the simple past tense by replacing  tha  with  bha.  

Cuin a tha …?
When is …?
Cuin a bha seo?
When was this?
Cuin a bha seo a’ tachairt?
When was this happening?

We can develop these questions to ask about specific events or when people did things. 

Cuin a bha a' bhùth a’ fosgladh?
When was the shop opening?
Cuin a bha an taigh-seinnse a’ dùnadh?
When was the pub closing?
Dè cho fada ’s a bha am pàrtaidh?
How long was the party?
Dè cho fada ’s a bha am biadh?
How long was the meal?

We can either answer abruptly using the times we have learnt earlier on in this topic or we can give full answers.

Bha a' bhùth a’ fosgladh aig naoi uairean
The shop was opening at nine o’clock
Bha a' bhùth a’ dùnadh aig leth-uair an dèidh còig
The shop was closing at half past five
Bha an sgoil a’ fosgladh aig cairteal gu naoi
The school was opening at quarter to nine
Bha an taigh-seinnse a’ dùnadh timcheall air aon uair deug
The pub was closing at about eleven
Bha am pàrtaidh a’ toirt naoi uairean a thìde
The party took nine hours of time
Bha am biadh a’ toirt ceithir uairean a thìde
The food took four hours of time
Bha e ceithir uairean a thìde
It was four hours of time
Bha a’ chuirm a’ toirt sia uairean
The concert took six hours

What happens if you want to talk about something which happened a few days ago? We’ll go over the simple past tense just now.

You already know the structures. We know from previous lessons how to structure our questions and answers. Only one word has changed -  tha  to  bha .  Tha  is the present tense of ‘to be’ and  bha  is used here in the past tense .  Although this is used in the dependent form here, it is also used in the independent form at the start of sentences. 

Bha a' bhùth a’ fosgladh aig naoi uairean
The shop was opening at nine o’clock
Bha a' bhùth a’ dùnadh aig leth-uair an dèidh còig
The shop was closing at half past five

We can also create the past tenses of other structures we have met or answers to simple questions.

Tha -> Bha 

Chan eil -> Cha robh 

Bha
(It) was
Cha robh
(it) was not

We also have new ways of asking questions 

A bheil …? -> An robh …?  

Nach eil …? -> Nach robh …?  

An robh …?
Was …?
Nach robh …?
Wasn’t …?

This gives us a whole new structure we can add to the ones we have learnt already.

Cuin a bha thu ag obair?
When were you working?

Use different pronouns to ask about others.

Cuin a bha e ag obair?
When was he working?
Cuin a bha i ag obair?
When was she working?
Cuin a bha sibh ag obair?
When were you working?

We can also swap the pronouns for people! 

Cuin a bha Calum ag ionnsachadh?
When was Malcolm learning?
Cuin a bha Iseabail ag ithe?
When was Isabel eating?
Cuin a bha Dòmhnall a’ seinn?
When was Donald singing?
Bha mi ag obair aig ochd uairean
I was working at eight o’clock
Bha Calum ag ionnsachadh aig deich uairean
Malcom was learning at ten o’clock
Bha Iseabail ag ithe timcheall air còig uairean
Isabel was eating about five o’clock
Bha Dòmhnall a’ seinn aig cairteal gu trì
Donald was singing at quarter to three

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FAQs

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Lowercase letters:

Uppercase letters:

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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

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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

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

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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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