Bhithinn | Bhiomaid
In the conditional tense mi (I)and sinn (we) combine with the verb to form new words. We'll learn these as we go, but in the case of bi (be) we have:
bhithinn
I would be
cha bhithinn
I wouldn't be
bhiomaid
we would be
cha bhiomaid
we wouldn't be
However, we cannot use these forms to answer 'yes' or 'no' to a direct question - we use the simple bhiodh or cha bhiodh .
Am biodh tu saor Dihaoine? Would you be free on Friday | Cha bhiodh. Bhithinn saor Disathairne ge-tà. I would not. I would be free on Saturday though. |
Am biodh tu saor Disathairne? Would you be free on Saturday? | Bhiodh. Bhithinn saor Disathairne I would. I would be free on Saturday. |
Am biomaid a' dol ann Diluain? Would we be going there on Monday? | Cha bhiodh. Cha bhiomaid saor Diluain. We wouldn't. We wouldn't be free on Monday. |
We can use am biodh … with the different pronouns to give positive or negative answer.
Am bithinn | saor Oidhche Luain? free on Monday night | |
Would I be | ||
Am biodh | tu | |
Would you be | ||
Am biodh | e | |
Would he be | ||
Am biodh | i | |
Would she be | ||
Am biomaid | ||
Would we be | ||
Am biodh | sibh | |
Would you (pl) be | ||
Am biodh | iad | |
Would they be |
Bhithinn | Cha bhithinn | saor free | |
I would be | I would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | tu | |
You would be | You would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | e | |
He would be | He would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | i | |
She would be | She would not be | ||
Bhiomaid | Cha bhiomaid | ||
We would be | We would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | sibh | |
You (pl)I would be | You (pl) would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | iad | |
They would be | They would not be |
Wouldn't … be?
Nach bithinn | saor Oidhche Luain? free on Monday night | |
Wouldn't I be | ||
Nach biodh | tu | |
Wouldn't you be | ||
Nach biodh | e | |
Wouldn't he be | ||
Nach biodh | i | |
Wouldn't she be | ||
Nach biomaid | ||
Wouldn't we be | ||
Nach biodh | sibh | |
Wouldn't you (pl) be | ||
Nach biodh | iad | |
Wouldn't they be |
Bhithinn | Cha bhithinn | saor free | |
I would be | I would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | tu | |
You would be | You would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | e | |
He would be | He would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | i | |
She would be | She would not be | ||
Bhiomaid | Cha bhiomaid | ||
We would be | We would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | sibh | |
You (pl)I would be | You (pl) would not be | ||
Bhiodh | Cha bhiodh | iad | |
They would be | They would not be |