Introduction to Adjectives

You saw in that adjectives can be used predicately, following the verb **To Be**. The adjective never changes in this situation :
Masculine noun	Tha am balach beag - The boy is small
Feminine noun	Tha a' chaileag beag - The girl is small
Plural nouns	Tha na balaich beag - The boys are small Tha na caileagan beag - the girls are small

However, an adjective must agree in both case and gender with the noun it directly describes. This is called the attribute position. For nominative (basic) forms of nouns these are as follows :
Masculine singular (no change in adjective)	Gille mòr - A big lad An gille mòr - The big lad
Feminine singular (lenite adjective if possible) †	Caileag mhòr - A big girl A' chaileag mhòr - The big girl
Plural nouns (add -a or -e to adjective) *	Gillean mòra - Big lads Na gillean mòra - The big lads Caileagan mòra - Big girls Na caileagan mòra - The big girls

† All adjectives with initial consonant quality can be lenited except those beginning with l, n, r, sg, sm, sp or st. For example, caileag mhòr, caileag bheag but caileag sgìth.
* The ending follows the Gàidhlig spelling rule. For example, if a syllable ends in a narrow vowel (i.e. i or e) then the following syllable must begin with a narrow vowel. Similarly if a syllable ends in a broad vowel (i.e. a, o or u) then the following syllable must begin with a broad vowel. Hence mòr >> mòra, glic (wise) >> glice .

The adjectives **seo - this** / **these** and **sin - that** / **those** never change in any position :
Masculine	an gille seo - this lad an gille mòr seo - this big lad na gillean seo - these lads na gillean mòra seo - these big lads	an gille sin - that lad an gille mòr sin - that big lad na gillean sin - those lads na gillean mòra sin - those big lads
Feminine	a' chaileag seo - this girl a' chaileag bheag seo - this small girl na caileagan seo - these girls na caileagan beaga seo - these small girls	a' chaileag sin - that girl a' chaileag bheag sin - that small girl na caileagan sin - those girls na caileagan beaga sin - those small girls

As nouns have either masculine or feminine gender in Gàidhlig. So when you want to describe something using its pronoun you must refer to it by either e or i for masculine and feminine nouns respectively. Both mean it :
Masculine pronoun	Tha an seòmar fuar - The room is cold	Tha e fuar - It is cold
Feminine pronoun	Tha an eaglais fuar - The church is cold	Tha i fuar - It is cold

**Adjectives**
dearg - red	dona - bad
fada - long	goirid - short
gorm - blue, verdant green, bruised black & blue	math - good
inntinneach - interesting	seo - this
sin - that	tinn - ill, sick
ùr - new

**Pronouns**
e - it (masculine subject)	i - it (feminine subject)

**EXERCISE 1 Translate into English**
1.Chan eil an sgoil mhòr cho glan	2.Tha an eaglais bheag làn
3.An robh an sgian ùr geur? Cha robh	4.Bha am peann gorm tioram
5.Tha an litir seo inntinneach	6.Bha an taigh sin falamh
7.Tha an snàthad gheur salach	8.Tha an gille dona sin leisg
9.An robh an seòmar beag blàth? Cha robh	10.Cha robh a' chaileag bheag tinn

**EXERCISE 2 Translate into Gàidhlig**
1.Was the small book wet? No	2.The long river was very dirty
3.Was the new door dry?	4.The short floor was wet
5.That dirty mirror isn't new	6.The long peace was good
7.Was the house not empty? Yes	8.The hot fire was very good
9.That red hand is wet	10.The long night was cold
11.The blue boat isn't full	12.The bad girl wasn't pleased
13.That man is dry and warm	14.That long loch was high

**ANSWERS EXERCISE 1**
1.The big school isn't so clean	2.The small church is full
3.Was the new knife sharp? No	4.The blue pen was dry
5.This letter is interesting	6.That house was empty
7.The sharp needle is dirty	8.That bad lad is lazy
9.Was the small room warm? No	10.The little girl wasn't ill

**ANSWERS EXERCISE 2**
1.An robh an leabhar beag fliuch? Cha robh	2.Bha an abhainn fhada glè shalach
3.An robh an doras ùr tioram?	4.Bha an làr goirid fliuch
5.Chan eil an sgàthan salach sin ùr	6.Bha an t-sìth fhada math
7.Nach robh an taigh falamh? Bha	8.Bha an teine teth glè mhath
9.Tha an làmh dhearg sin fliuch	10.Bha an oidhche fhada fuar
11.Chan eil am bàta gorm làn	12.Cha robh a' chaileag dhona toilichte
13.Tha am fear sin tioram agus blàth	14.Bha an loch fada sin àrd

dm©lelland - Faodar na leasanan seo ath-riochdachadh le aithneachadh dhan ùghdar
dm©lelland - These lessons may be reproduced with credit to the author