How did you say that?
Ciamar a thuirt thu sin?
To ask questions such as cuin(e)? (when?), ciamar? (how?), càit(e)? (where?) with irregular past tense verbs , we need to remember the two parts of each verb:
- the positive statement or answer: the independent form and
- the question, negative question and negative statement or answer: the dependent form.
Let's look at dèan (make/do) in the past tense. The question words which go with the independent form are:
Ciamar
How
Cò
Who
Dè
What
Cuin(e)
When
Cia mheud
How many
Càit(e) (where) behaves differently by using the dependent form:
RINN | AN DO RINN |
Ciamar a rinn ? | Càit an do rinn ? |
Cò rinn ? | |
Dè rinn ? | |
Cuin a rinn ? | |
Cia mheud a rinn ? |
You'll be pleased to know that this pattern works for all verbs, regular and irregular. Let's look at two more examples, featuring rach (go) and faic (see)
CHAIDH | AN DEACH |
Ciamar a chaidh ? | Càit an deach ? |
Cò a chaidh ? | |
Dè a chaidh ? | |
Cuin a chaidh ? | |
Cia mheud a chaidh ? |
CHUNNAIC | AM FACA |
Ciamar a chunnaic ? | Càit am faca ? |
Cò chunnaic ? | |
Dè chunnaic ? | |
Cuin a chunnaic ? | |
Cia mheud a chunnaic ? |