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Time

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Cuin?

When?

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 bhaTha is the present tense of ‘to be’ and bha is used here in the past tenseAlthough 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