Past tense of regular verbs
Past and future tense of regular verbs
Forming the past and future tenses of verbs in Gaelic is straightforward on the whole. If you know the root of a verb, then you can form other tenses.
The past tense
There are variations in the way verbs form the past tense. They can be looked at in the following way:
- To form the past tense of verbs beginning with a consonant insert an h after the first letter of the root, eg ù. The three exceptions are verbs beginning with the letters l, n, or r. They do not require an h, eg laigh
- All verbs beginning with a vowel put dh' before the initial vowel to form the past tense, eg ò
- Verbs which begin with f + vowel have dh' inserted before the f and have an h inserted after the f, eg fuirich becomes dh'fhuirich.
NB There are no verbs beginning with the letter h in Gaelic.
Examples
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
bris | break | bhris |
cuir | put | chuir |
ù | close | ù |
gabh | take | ghabh |
mill | spoil | mhill |
ò | marry | ò |
suidh | sit | shuidh |
tog | lift | thog |
Root | bris |
---|---|
Meaning | break |
Past tense | bhris |
Root | cuir |
---|---|
Meaning | put |
Past tense | chuir |
Root | ù |
---|---|
Meaning | close |
Past tense | ù |
Root | gabh |
---|---|
Meaning | take |
Past tense | ghabh |
Root | mill |
---|---|
Meaning | spoil |
Past tense | mhill |
Root | ò |
---|---|
Meaning | marry |
Past tense | ò |
Root | suidh |
---|---|
Meaning | sit |
Past tense | shuidh |
Root | tog |
---|---|
Meaning | lift |
Past tense | thog |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
las | light | las |
nigh | wash | nigh |
ruith | run | ruith |
Root | las |
---|---|
Meaning | light |
Past tense | las |
Root | nigh |
---|---|
Meaning | wash |
Past tense | nigh |
Root | ruith |
---|---|
Meaning | run |
Past tense | ruith |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
aithnich | know, recognise | dh'aithnich |
è | rise, get up | dh'è |
ith | eat | dh'ith |
ò | drink | ò |
ullaich | prepare | dh'ullaich |
Root | aithnich |
---|---|
Meaning | know, recognise |
Past tense | dh'aithnich |
Root | è |
---|---|
Meaning | rise, get up |
Past tense | dh'è |
Root | ith |
---|---|
Meaning | eat |
Past tense | dh'ith |
Root | ò |
---|---|
Meaning | drink |
Past tense | ò |
Root | ullaich |
---|---|
Meaning | prepare |
Past tense | dh'ullaich |
Root | Meaning | Past tense |
fuirich | wait, stay | dh'fhuirich |
falaich | hide | dh'fhalaich |
faighnich | ask | dh'fhaighnich |
Root | fuirich |
---|---|
Meaning | wait, stay |
Past tense | dh'fhuirich |
Root | falaich |
---|---|
Meaning | hide |
Past tense | dh'fhalaich |
Root | faighnich |
---|---|
Meaning | ask |
Past tense | dh'fhaighnich |