Conditional Tense - Irregular Verbs

The Conditional Tense - Irregular Verbs

The following four verbs which are irregular in the Past Tense are completely regular in the Conditional Tense. They are given here for completeness :
Verbal Noun	Root	Independent	Dependent
breith - bearing / catching / grasping	beir	bheirinn / bheireamaid / bheireadh	beirinn / beireamaid / beireadh
cluinntinn - hear	cluinn	chluinninn / chluinneamaid / chluinneadh	cluinninn / cluinneamaid / cluinneadh
dčanamh - doing / making	dčan	dhčanainn / dhčanamaid / dhčanadh	dčanainn / dčanamaid / dčanadh
ruigsinn - reaching / arriving	ruig	ruiginn / ruigeamaid / ruigeadh	ruiginn / ruigeamaid / ruigeadh

The following six verbs are irregular in the Conditional Tense. You might like to note that the regular conditional endings **-inn** / **-ainn**, **-eamaid / -amaid** and -eadh / **-adh** are added to the Future Tense dependent and independent forms to get the respective conditional ones.
Alternative marginalised forms exists for *dol - going* and *toirt - taking* :
Verbal Noun	Root	Independent	Dependent
dol - going ‡	rach	rachainn, dheighinn / rachamaid, dheigheamaid / rachadh, dheigheadh	rachainn, deighinn / rachamaid, deigheamaid / rachadh, deigheadh
faicinn - seeing	faic	chěthinn / chětheamaid / chětheadh	faicinn / faiceamaid / faiceadh
faighinn - getting / obtaining	faigh	gheibhinn / gheibheamaid / gheibheadh	faighinn / faigheamaid / faigheadh
rŕdh - saying †	abair	theirinn / theireamaid / theireadh	abairinn / abaireamaid / abaireadh
tighinn - coming	thig	thiginn / thigeamaid / thigeadh	tiginn / tigeamaid / tigeadh
toirt - taking / giving (+ preposition do)	thoir	bheirinn, thugainn / bheireamaid, thugamaid / bheireadh, thugadh	toirinn, tugainn / toireamaid, tugamaid / toireadh, tugadh

‡ You would be better learning the first form which is more common and is regularly derived from the root rach. The alternative and irregular forms are derived from the root deigh and are confined to only a limited area.
† In the Conditional Tense the regular verb Can is preferred, particularly in the spoken language.

As with the verb To Be add either Cha / Chan(before a vowel), An / Am or Nach to the dependent to get the negative and interrogative forms of the verb.

Example Uses (For compactness the form with the -amaid ending has been omitted in the audio file)

Dheighinn - I would go

Dheigheamaid - We would go

Dheigheadh tu / etc - You / etc would go

Cha deighinn - I would not go

Cha deigheamaid - We would not go

Cha deigheadh tu / etc - You / etc would not go

An deighinn? - Would I go?

An deigheamaid? - Would we go?

An deigheadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc go?

Nach deighinn? - Would I not go?

Nach deigheamaid? - Would we not go?

Nach deigheadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not go?

Chěthinn - I would see

Chětheamaid - We would see

Chětheadh tu † / etc - You / etc would see

Chan fhaicinn * - I would not see

Chan fhaiceamaid - We would not see

Chan fhaiceadh tu / etc - You / etc would not see

Am faicinn? - Would I see?

Am faiceamaid? - Would we see?

Am faiceadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc see?

Nach fhaicinn? ‡ - Would I not see?

Nach fhaiceamaid? - Would we not see?

Nach fhaiceadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not see?

Gheibhinn - I would get

Gheibheamaid - We would get

Gheibheadh tu / etc - You / etc would get

Chan fhaighinn - I would not get

Chan fhaigheamaid - We would not get

Chan fhaigheadh tu / etc - You / etc would not get

Am faighinn? - Would I get?

Am faigheamaid? - Would we get?

Am faigheadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc get?

Nach fhaighinn? - Would I not get?

Nach fhaigheamaid? - Would we not get?

Nach fhaigheadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not get?

Theirinn - I would say

Theireamaid - We would say

Theireadh tu / etc - You / etc would say

Chan abairinn - I would not say

Chan abaireamaid - We would not say

Chan abaireadh tu / etc - You / etc would not say

An abairinn? - Would I say?

An abaireamaid? - Would we say?

An abaireadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc say?

Nach abairinn? - Would I not say?

Nach abaireamaid? - Would we not say?

Nach abaireadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not say?

Thiginn - I would come

Thigeamaid - We would come

Thigeadh tu / etc - You / etc would come

Cha tiginn - I would not come

Cha tigeamaid - We would not come

Cha tigeadh tu / etc - You / etc would not come

An tiginn? - Would I come?

An tigeamaid? - Would we come?

An tigeadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc come?

Nach tiginn? - Would I not come?

Nach tigeamaid? - Would we not come?

Nach tigeadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not come?

Bheirinn - I would take

Bheireamaid - We would take

Bheireadh tu / etc - You / etc would take

Cha toirinn - I would not take

Cha toireamaid - We would not take

Cha toireadh tu / etc - You / etc would not take

An toirinn? - Would I take?

An toireamaid? - Would we take?

An toireadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc take?

Nach toirinn? - Would I not take?

Nach toireamaid? - Would we not take?

Nach toireadh tu? / etc - Would you / etc not take?

* Whenever possible cha / chan will lenite the irregular verb, except for verbs beginning with d and t
† The second person singular is always tu
‡ nach lenites verbs beginning with f

**With the Dependent Clause**
Some examples are given below.
The pattern is the same as the verb **To Be** (see ) :
Thuirt i gum faigheadh i briosgaid - She said that she would get a biscuit
Thuirt i nach fhaigheadh e briosgaid - She said that he would not get a biscuit
Shaoil esan gun tigeadh e a-mŕireach - He thought that he would come tomorrow
Chreid mi nach tigeadh e - I believed that he would not come

**The Relative Verb**
Some examples are given below.
The pattern is the same as the Present Tense of the verb **To Be** (see ) :
Is mise a chětheadh an solas agus is tusa nach fhaiceadh - It's me who could (would) see and you who could not
Is i Mŕiri a thigeadh mura robh droch shěde ann - It's Mŕiri who would come unless there was bad weather

**With Interrogative Pronouns**
Some examples are given below.
The pattern is the same as the Present Tense of the verb **To Be** (see ) :
Dč gheibhinn do mo mhŕthair? - What could (would) I get for my mother?
Cň bheireadh dhomh freagairt? - Who could (would) give me an answer?
Carson a theireadh tu a leithid de rud? - Why would you say such a thing?
Ciamar a dh'fhaighinn lethbhreac? - How could (would) I get a copy?
Cuin a chětheadh tu a-rithist e? - When would you see him again?
Cŕit am faighinn lethbhreac? - Where could (would) I get a copy?

**With Conjunctions**
Some examples are given below.
The pattern is the same as the Present Tense of the verb **To Be** (see ) :
Thigeadh e nan tigeadh sibh - He would come if you would
Cha bhiodh i toilichte mura faigheamaid dhachaigh - She wouldn't be happy if we couldn't (wouldn't) get home
Cha dhčanainn sin mus faigheadh tu-fhčin cothrom - I wouldn't do that before you got (would get) a chance

NEW WORDS

**Nouns**
cothrom (m) - chance, opportunity	eilean (m) - island
geata (m) - gate	lethbhreac (m) - copy
caraid (m) - friend
uiseag (f) - skylark

**EXERCISE 1 Translate into English**
1.Thuirt e gun tigeadh e dhan chčilidh a-nochd	2.Tha mi cinnteach gun dčanadh iad sin
3.Dh'innis mi dhaibh nach fhaiceadh iad a' choille bhon uinneig aca	4.Cha robh fios agam na theirinn riutha
5.An toireadh sibh cobhair dhan fhear sin? Bheireadh	6.Is mise a dhčanadh an děnnear
7.Thuirt iad gun ruigeadh iad am baile ann an ůine ghoirid	8.Bha i an dňchas gum faigheadh i airgead bho a caraid
9.Thuirt mi gun cluinninn iad a' cluich a-muigh	10.Thuirt iad nach rachadh iad a-mach ann am bŕta

**EXERCISE 2 Translate into Gŕidhlig**
1.She wouldn't come with me to the concert	2.I know that they wouldn't do such a thing
3.I am sure I would catch them before they would reach the gate	4.It's in the country that you would hear the skylark singing
5.When would you do the job?	6.They would reach the island before morning
7.Someone said that she would not get her money back	8.I wouldn't give you a penny for (airson) a car like that
9.Why would you not go with me?	10.Would you say that he was handsome?

**ANSWERS - EXERCISE 1**
1.He said he would come to the ceilidh tonight	2.I'm sure they would do that
3.I told them they wouldn't see the forest from their window	4.I didn't know what I would say to them
5.Would you give (some) help to that man? Yes	6.It's me who would make dinner
7.They said they would reach the town in a short while	8.She was hoping that she would get (some) money from her friend
9.I said that I could (would) hear them playing outside	10.They said that they wouldn't go out in a boat

**ANSWERS - EXERCISE 2**
1.Cha tigeadh i leam dhan chuirm-chiůil	2.Tha fios agam nach dčanadh iad a leithid de rud
3.Tha mi cinnteach gum beirinn orra mus ruigeadh iad an geata	4.'S ann air an důthaich a chluinneadh sibh uiseag a' seinn
5.Cuin a dhčanadh tu an obair?	6.Ruigeadh iad an t-eilean ron mhadainn
7.Thuirt duine nach fhaigheadh i a h-airgead air ais	8.Cha toirinn dhut sgillinn airson cŕr mar sin
9.Carson nach rachadh sibh leam/cňmhla rium?	10.An abaireadh tu gun robh e eireachdail?

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