Little by Little Beag air Bheag
Introduction
Talking about out pets
You will see some use of emphatic suffixes in this unit. These are special word endings, sometimes joined to a word with a hyphen, sometimes without a hyphen, which give emphasis to that word. Here is an example:
Does he bite you?
Does he bite you?
In the second example, the –sa suffix gives the emphasis to you. In English the you is emphasised in speech. In Gaelic, however, neither the bhìdeadh or the –sa are emphasised in speech. There are different emphatic suffixes for the different persons in speech, as you will see below:
Singular:
He doesn’t bite me.
He doesn’t bite me.
Does he bite you?
Does he bite you?
He doesn’t bite him.
He doesn’t bite him.
Does he bite her?
Does he bite her?
Plural:
He doesn’t bite us.
He doesn’t bite us.
Does he bite you?
Does he bite you?
He doesn’t bite them.
He doesn’t bite them.
Note the use of the future/present habitual tense in the above examples. A bheil e gad bhìdeadh? means 'is he currently biting you?', whereas am bi e gad bhìdeadh? means 'does he [ever] bite you?'
Conversation 1
Now listen to Cèitidh telling Seònaid about the behaviour of her pet hamsters.
Conversation 1
Listen to the conversation:
- Seònaid:
- A bheil peataichean agad?
- Do you have pets?
- Ceitidh:
- Tha, gu dearbh. Tha dà hamstair agam.
- Yes. I have two hamsters.
- Seònaid:
- An e peataichean matha a th’ annta?
- Are they good pets?
- Ceitidh:
- ’S e. Ach bidh fear dhiubh crosta uaireannan.
- Yes, but one of them gets cross sometimes.
- Seònaid:
- Am bi e a’ bìdeadh?
- Does he bite?
- Ceitidh:
- O bithidh! ’S e hamstair greannach a th’ ann!
- Yes! He is a bad-tempered hamster!
- Seònaid:
- Am bi e gad bhìdeadh-sa?
- Does he bite you?
- Ceitidh:
- Bithidh. Bhìd e mi dà thuras an-dè.
- Yes. He bit me twice yesterday.
- Seònaid:
- Am bi e a’ bìdeadh duine sam bith eile?
- Does he bite anyone else?
- Ceitidh:
- Feuch thusa e. Cuir do chorrag anns a’ cheids aige.
- You try him. Put your finger in his cage.
- Seònaid:
- Cha chuir gu dearbh. Chan eil e a’ dol gam bhìdeadh-sa.
- I will not. He’s not going to bite me.
- Ceitidh:
- Tha am fear eile ceart gu leòr – sin a bhràthair.
- The other one is fine – that’s his brother.
- Seònaid:
- Cha bhi esan a’ bìdeadh?
- He won’t bite?
- Ceitidh:
- Cha bhi. Cha do bhìd e mise a-riamh.
- No. He has never bitten me.
- Seònaid:
- Hamstair laghach!
- A nice hamster!
- Ceitidh:
- Chan e sin a th’ ann idir.
- It’s not that at all
- Seònaid:
- Dè tha thu a’ ciallachadh?
- What do you mean?
- Ceitidh:
- Chan urrainn dha bìdeadh. Chan eil fiaclan aige.
- He can’t bite. He has no teeth.
- Seònaid:
- Dè thachair dha?
- What happened to him?
- Ceitidh:
- Bhris na fiaclan aige.
- He lost his teeth.
- Seònaid:
- Ciamar a thachair sin?
- How did that happen?
- Ceitidh:
- Dh’fhàs e sean.
- He grew old.
- Seònaid:
- Cha tig an aois leatha fhèin.
- Age does not come by itself (Gaelic proverb).
Pets
Talking about out pets
Conversation 2
In Conversation 2, we will leave the hamsters behind and listen to Iain and Alasdair talking about some other animals – but look out for emphatic suffixes.
This is the end of unit 21. Why not test yourself to see how much you've learnt?
If you would like to learn how to talk about gardens and gardening, go on to unit 22.
Conversation 2
Listen to the conversation:
- Iain:
- A bheil peata agad?
- Do you have a pet?
- Alasdair:
- Tha. Tha trì peataichean agam.
- Yes. I have three pets.
- Iain:
- De th’ annta?
- What are they? [lit. what is in them?]
- Alasdair:
- Cù, cat agus nathair.
- A dog, a cat and a snake.
- Iain:
- Nathair? Nach eil sin eagalach?
- A snake? Isn’t that scary?
- Alasdair:
- Chan eil. Chan eil i puinnseanta.
- No. It’s not poisonous.
- Iain:
- Dè am peata as fheàrr leat?
- Which is your favourite pet?
- Alasdair:
- ’S fheàrr leam an cù. A bheil peata agadsa?
- I prefer the dog. Do you have a pet?
- Iain:
- Tha. Tha cù agamsa cuideachd.
- Yes. I also have a dog.
- Alasdair:
- Dè an t-ainm a th’ air?
- What is his name?
- Iain:
- Teàrlach. ’S e labrador a th’ ann.
- Charlie. He is a labrador.
- Alasdair:
- Am bi e gad bhìdeadh?
- Does he bite you?
- Iain:
- Cha bhi! Am bi an cù agadsa gad bhìdeadh-sa?
- Does your dog bite you?
- Alasdair:
- Cha bhi e gam bhìdeadh-sa. Ach bhìd e mèirleach turas.
- He doesn’t bite me. But he did bite a burglar one time.
- Iain:
- An robh e fiadhaich?
- Was he wild?
- Alasdair:
- Bha. Gu math fiadhaich.
- Yes. Pretty wild.
- Iain:
- Am bi an cat fiadhaich uair sam bith?
- Is the cat ever wild?
- Alasdair:
- Tuti? Cha bhi. Tha i ro leisg.
- Tuti? No. She is too lazy.
- Iain:
- Dè bhios an nathair ag ithe?
- What does the snake eat?
- Alasdair:
- Losgannan is luchagan.
- Frogs and mice.
- Iain:
- Càite am faigh thu na luchagan?
- Where do you get the mice?
- Alasdair:
- Uill, b’ àbhaist feadhainn a bhith agam mar pheataichean!
- Well, I used to have some as pets!