Matheson Collection > Gaelic grammar, containing the parts of speech and the general principles of phonology and etymology, with a chapter on proper and place names

256
§178.
2. Tha is used with ag : —
(1) To denote possession :
Dad a tha agad — Anything thou hast
Am pòsadh tu Ceit na'm biodh airgiod aice ? —
Would you marry Kate, if she had Iiad money ?
Cha ghabhainn i, ged bhiodh beinn òir aice — / would not have
her, though she had a mountain of gold : — Munro 108
(2) To form (in any mood, Active or Passive) with the verbal
noun of a verb, a corresponding Continuous tense of that verb :
Pres. Continuous : Tha mi ag iarraidh — I am asking
Past ,, : Bha mi ag imeachd — / was going
Pres. Con. Pass. : Thathas a' togail an tighe —
The house is being built
Thathas 'gar marbhadh —
We are being killed
3. Tha is used with air to form the Periphrastic Past. § 170, 4, (2).
§179.
Relatively :
1. For direct statements the absolute form of tha is used :
Is muladach a tha mi, no a bhitheas mi —
Sad I am, or I will be
Tha mi mar a bha mi riamh —
/ am as I always was : — McKay 38
2. For (a) oblique statements and (b) interrogative and ne-
gative, the conjunct is used :
(a) An t-eilean far am bheil mi — The island where I am : — ib. 2
An obair ris an robh mi — The work at which I was : — ib. 2
Am fear do an robh i 'na mnaoi —
The man whose wife she was : — ib. p. 40
(b) Am bheil e arm ? — Is he there ?
Nach 'eil ? — 7s he not ?
Cha n'eU fhios am bi e — / do not know whether he will be :
— ib. 2
Mur h'eil airgiod agad, cha n-fhaigh thu am bathar —
If vou have not money, you will not get the goods : —
Munro 108