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Halò agus fàilte oirbh gu Blasad Beag far am bi mi a’ toirt thugaibh Gàidhlig shìmplidh airson luchd-tòiseachaidh! Welcome to Blasad Beag – our feature for beginners and for those who want to learn some useful, everyday Gaelic phrases.

Anns an leasan seo, tha sinn a’ dol a thoirt sùil air ràithean na bliadhna. In this lesson, we’re going to look at the seasons of the year.

Ràithean – seasons. Ràithean.
Ràithean na bliadhna – seasons of the year. Ràithean na bliadhna.

Dè mu dheidhinn tòiseachadh ma-thà le na ceithir ràithean? Here are the four seasons:

Spring is earrach. Earrach.
Summer is samhradh. Samhradh.
Autumn is foghar. Foghar.
Winter is geamhradh. Geamhradh.

If you want to say something is happening in the spring, in the summer, and so on, the words change slightly:

To say “In the spring” we say “as t-earrach”. As t-earrach.
In the summer is as t-samhradh. As t-samhradh.
In the autumn is as t-fhoghar. As t-fhoghar.
In the winter is sa gheamhradh. Sa gheamhradh.

Let’s listen to a conversation between two people who are discussing their holiday plans. Èistibh ri seo:

Guth 1 (Calum): A bheil thu a’ dol air saor-làithean as t-samhradh?
Guth 2 (Eilidh): Tha, tha mi a’ dol air saor-làithean san Iuchar.
Guth 1: Càite a bheil thu a’ dol?
Guth 2: Tha mi a’ dol a Lunnainn. A bheil thu fhèin a’ dol air saor-làithean as t-samhradh?
Guth 2: Chan eil, ach tha mi a’ dol a New York sa gheamhradh!
Guth 1: Nach buidhe dhut!

Did you follow their holiday plans? Saor-làithean – holiday – saor-làithean. You’ll also hear làithean-saora used. Làithean-saora. Calum asked Eilidh, “A bheil thu a’ dol air saor-làithean as t-samhradh?” – Are you going on holiday in the summer?

Eilidh said, “Tha, tha mi a’ dol air saor-làithean san Iuchar.” - Yes, I’m going on holiday in July. Did you understand Calum’s question? “Càite a bheil thu a’ dol?” – Where are you going? Càite a bheil thu a’ dol? And Eilidh’s reply? “Tha mi a’ dol a Lunnainn” – I’m going to London. Tha mi a’ dol a Lunnainn.

When Eilidh then asked Calum if he was going on holiday in the summer, he replied, “Chan eil, ach tha mi a’ dol a New York sa gheamhradh” – No, but I’m going to New York in the winter! Chan eil, ach tha mi a’ dol a New York sa gheamhradh. And Eilidh’s response? Nach buidhe dhut! Lucky you! Or, literally, how yellow for you. Nach buidhe dhut! Agus nach buidhe dha gu dearbh!

Moving on, here are some other words that might be useful when discussing different times of the year:

Christmas is Nollaig. Nollaig.
Easter is a’ Chàisg. A’ Chàisg.
So Christmas time is àm na Nollaige. Àm na Nollaige, or àm na Nollaig. Àm na Nollaig.
And Easter time is àm na Càisge. Àm na Càisge, or àm na Càisg. Àm na Càisg.

Èistibh ris a’ chòmhradh seo; listen to this conversation which uses vocabulary we learned in series five when we looked at how to discuss likes and dislikes. Again, you can revisit all the episodes on our website.

Guth 1 (Eilidh): An toil leat an geamhradh?
Guth 2 (Calum): Cha toil! Is fheàrr leam an t-earrach! An toil leat fhèin an geamhradh?
Guth 1 (Eilidh): Cha toil, ach is toil leam àm na Nollaige!

Did you follow that? Eilidh asked Calum if he liked winter. “An toil leat an geamhradh?” Calum said, “Cha toil!” No, I don’t! “Cha toil. Is fheàrr leam an t-earrach!” No, I prefer spring! He then went on to ask Eilidh, “An toil leat fhèin an geamhradh?” Do you like winter? Can you remember Eilidh’s reply? “Cha toil – ach is toil leam àm na Nollaige! ” No, I don’t, but I like Christmas time! “Is toil leam àm na Nollaige!” ’S toil agus leamsa!

Agus sin e bhuamsa an-dràsta. That’s all from me for just now. Gheibh thu notaichean air an làraich-lìn againn. For notes and vocabulary from this lesson go to and click on the “Blasad Beag” tab. And to learn some more simple Gaelic, check out the and go to the Beginners section, or download the LearnGaelic Beginners App! Tìoraidh an-dràsta!