Expressions of Time

Temporal adverbial expressions - or how to say when something happened. Let's take a look at what choices we have to start with:

Adverbs of Time

These are itsy words that you can add on to a phrase or sentence to tell people when something happened.

a-bhòn-uiridh	an-uiridh	am bliadhna	an ath bhliadhna	—	—
the year before last	last year	this year	next year	—	—
a-bhòin-dé	an-dé	an-diugh	a-màireach	an-earar	an-eararais
the day before yesterday	yesterday	today	tomorrow	the day after tomorrow	three days from now
—	an-raoir	a-nochd	an ath oidhche	—	—
—	last night	tonight	tomorrow night	—	—

Now this does not mean that you can not say <year after next> in Gaelic, it just means that there is no single, easy word for it. Instead you have to employ periphrastic expressions.

—	am bliadhna	an ath-bhliadhna
—	this year	next year
—	a-nochd	an ath-oidhche
—	tonight	tomorrow night
an t-seachdainn seo chaidh	an t-seachdainn-sa	an ath-sheachdain
last week	this week	next week

The Days of the Week

DiLuain DiMàirt DiCiadaoin DiArdaoin DihAoine DiSathairne DiDòmhnaich Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Sunday is also called Latha na Sàbaid. Traditionally the usage between the two depends on your denomination - Catholics and Episcopalians using the DiDòmhnaich and Presbyterians Latha na Sàbaid. For non-denominational reasons, we prefer DiDòmhnaich because it fits in with the rest of the paradigm. Be sure to pronounce the long vowel in Sàbaid, otherwise it becomes Latha na Sabaid 'the Day of Fighting'.

The prefix Di- is the equivalant of the English -day suffix. Unlike in English however, it is the prefix that is modified to express the concepts of <Monday afternoon>, <Friday night> etc: madainn Luain madainn Mhàrt madainn Chiadaoin madainn Ardaoin madainn hAoine madainn Sathairne madainnn Dòmhnaich Monday morning Tuesday morning Wednesday morning Thursday morning Friday morning Saturday morning Sunday morning

feasgar Luain feasgar Màrt feasgar Ciadaoin feasgar Ardaoin feasgar hAoine feasgar Sathairne feasgar Dòmhnaich Monday afternoon Tuesday afternoon Wednesday afternoon Friday afternoon Friday afternoon Saturday afternoon Sunday afternoon

oidhche Luain oidhche Mhàrt oidhche Chiadaoin oidhche Ardaoin oidhche hAoine oidhche Shathairne oidhche Dhòmhnaich Monday night Tuesday night Wednesday night Thursday night Friday night Saturday night Sunday night

That is the theory anyway ... in colloquial usage, you will often hear people saying things like Feasgar DihAoine, Madainn DiMàirt etc. The most common ones in colloquial usage are the expressions with oidhche such as Oidhche Luain, Oidhche Mhàrt etc.

The Months

Genitives are given in square brackets. For purposes of memorisation it is useful to note that from Septemeber onwards all months are feminine in gender! There are alternate names for some of the months, but we strongly suggest you stick with the recommended ones. Learning a language is difficult enough without having to worry about having 5 different choices for one term... Gàidhlig Beurla Ainmean Eile/Alternate Names Am Faoilteach (masc)

  [an Fhaoiltich] 	January

Am Faoilleach [an Fhaoillich]; Mìos Marbh; Deireadh-Geamhraidh An Gearran (masc)

  [a' Ghearrain] 	February

Am Màrt (masc)

  [a' Mhàirt] 	March

An Giblean (masc)

  [a' Ghiblein] 	April

An Céitean (masc)

  [a' Chéitein] 	May

A' Mhàigh (fem) [na Màighe] An t-Ògmhios (masc)

  [an Ògmhiosa] 	June

Meadhan-Samhraidh An t-Iuchar (masc)

  [an Iuchair] 	July

Deireadh-Samhraidh; Mìos Buidhe An Lùnasdal (masc)

  [an Lùnasdail] 	August

An t-Sultain (fem)

  [na Sultaine] 	September

An Dàmhair (fem)

  [na Dàmhair] 	October

An t-Samhain (fem)

  [na Samhna] 	November

An Dùbhlachd (fem)

  [na Dùbhlachd] 	December

Mìos na Nollaige

The date in Gaelic is given in the form of the Xth day of the [month]. A few examples: 1st March A' chiad latha dhen Mhàrt 24th June An ceathramh latha air fhichead dhen Òigmhios 31st September A' chiad latha deug air fhichead dhen t-Sultain 22nd December An darna latha air fhichead dhen Dùbhlachd

Individual years are said by giving the 'hundreds' first and then the 'tens' (without is between the hundreds and the tens) i.e. 1272 dà cheud deug trì fichead is a dhà dheug 1817 ochd ceud deug is seachd deug 1995 naoi ceud deug ceithir fichead is a cóig deug 2000 bliadhna dà mhìle 2003 dà mhìle is a trì

B.C. and A.D. are expressed similar to English as: R.C. (ro Chrìosd) and A.D. (as déidh Chrìosd), e.g. 347 B.C. is trì ceud dà fhichead is a seachd ro Chrìosd. Optionally sa bhliadhna can be prefixed to any date for clarification, i.e. sa bhliadhna naoi ceud deug trì fichead is a ceithir <in the year 1964>.

BCE? No we don't as it's pointless - it still uses the same date as a reference point so it's no less "offensive" (???) that BC or AD and just adds to the confusion.

The four seasons are expressed as follows (note that the short form of saying <in X> differs slightly from the long form!): spring summer autumn winter earrach (m) gen. & pl. earraich samhradh (m) gen. samhraidh pl. samhraidhean foghar (m) gen. foghair pl. foghairean geamhradh (m) gen. geamhraidh pl. geamhraidhean in (the) spring in (the) summer in (the) autumn in (the) winter anns an earrach anns an t-samhradh anns an fhoghar anns a' gheamhradh as t-earrach as t-samhradh as t-fhoghar -

The Holidays of the Year

Genitives are given in square brackets. Fao. 1

Latha na Bliadhna Ùire

New Year's Day

Callainn (fem) [Callainne]; Nollaig Bheag (fem) [Nollaige Bige] Fao. 6 Latha nan Trì Rìgh Epiphany Latha Fhéill nan Rìgh; Féill an Taisbeanaidh Gea. 2

Latha Fhéill Brìghde

Candlemas

Latha Fhéill Brìghde nan Coinnlean; Latha Féill Moire nan Coinnlean Gea. 14 Latha Fhéill Bhaileintin Valentine's Day Gea. Latha na Bliadhna Ùire Sìnich Chinese New Year Gea. DiMàirt Inid Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day Gea. DiCiadaoin na Luaithre Ash Wednesday Gea. An Carghas (masc)

  [a' Charghais] 	Lent

Màr. 1 Latha Dhàibhidh St. David's Day Màr. Latha na Màthar Mother's Day/

  Mothering Sunday 	

Màr. 17 Latha Phàdraig St. Patrick's Day Latha Fhéill Pàdraig Màr. Seachdainn na Càisge Holy Week Màr. DiDòmhnaich Tùrnais Palm Sunday Màr. DiArdaoin a' Bhrochain Mhòir Maundy Thursday DiArdaoin Inid Màr. DihAoine na Ceusta Good Friday Màr. A' Chàisg (fem)

  [na Càisge] 	Easter

Màr. DiSathairne na Càisge Easter Saturday Màr.

A' Chàisg Mhór

Easter Sunday

Latha Guileagan; Latha Bás nan Uighean; DiDòmhnaich na Càisge Màr. DiLuain na Càisge Easter Monday Màr. Co-fhad-tràth an Earraich Vernal Equinox Gib. 1 Latha na Gogaireachd April Fool's Day Latha Ruith na Cuthaige Gib. 23 Latha Fhéill Seòrais St. George's Day Céi. 1 Latha Bealltainn May Day/Beltane Céi. Deasghabhail (fem)

  [na Deasghabhaile] 	Ascension Day

DiArdaoin Freasdail Céi. Caingis (fem indef) Pentecost/Whit Sunday Céi. DiDòmhnaich na Trianaid Trinity Sunday Céi. DiArdaoin Corp Crìosda Corpus Christi Céi. Transfiguration Céi. Latha Fhéill an Earraich Spring Bank Holiday Òig. Latha an Athar Father's Day Òig. 21 Grianstad an t-Samhraidh;

  Latha leth an t-Samhraidh 	Summer Solstice;
  Midsummer's Day 	

Iuc. 15 Latha Màrtainn Builg St. Swithen's Day Lùn. 1 Lùghnasa Lughnasa (Harvest) Lùn. Latha Fhéill an t-Samhraidh Summer Bank Holiday Sul. Co-fhad-tràth an Fhoghair Autumnal Equinox Dam. 31 Oidhche Shamhna All Souls' Day/ Hallowe'en Dam. 31/Sam. 1 Latha Samhna Samhainn Latha Fhéill Samhna Sam. 1 Latha nan Uile Naoimhe All Saints' Day Sam. 5 Oidhche Ghuy Fawkes Guy Fawkes' Night Sam. 11 Latha nan Cuimhneachan Rememberance Day Sam. DiDòmhnaich nan

  Cuimhneachan 	Rememberance Sunday

Sam. Aidbheint (fem)

  [na h-Aidmheint] 	Advent 

Sam. A' Chiad Dòmhnaich dhen

  Aidmheint 	Advent Sunday

Sam.

Latha na Taingealachd

Thanksgiving

Latha Buidheachais an Fhoghair; Latha Taingealach an Fhoghair Sam. 30 Latha Chill Rìbhinn St. Andrew's Day Dùb. 6 Latha Bodach na Nollaige St. Nicholas' Day Dùb. 21 Grianstad an Gheamhraidh Winter Solstice Dùb. An Nollaig (fem)

  [na Nollaige] 	Christmas

Dùb. 24 Oidhche nam Bannag Christmas Eve Oidhche Nollaige Dùb. 25 Latha na Nollaige Christmas Day Latha nam Bannag Dùb. 26 Boxing Day/

  St. Stephen's Day 	

Dùb. 28 Latha Fhéill nan Leanabhan

  Neo-chiontach 	Feast of the Holy 
  Innocents 	

Dùb. 31 Oidhche Challainn Hogmanay/

  New Year's Eve 	

Other Adverbs of Time

Most adverbs are formed by the prepositon gu + ADJ, but there are a number of adverbs that have different formations: a chaoidh for ever (after) a chlisgeadh suddenly, abruptly a dh'aithghearr soon, in a short while a dh'oidhche by night, at night time a ghnàth habitually, always a h-uile turas every time a h-uile uair every time, always a latha by day, at daytime ainneamh seldom (ann) an ceartair 1) +FUT in a moment 2) +PAST just now an còmhnaidh always, continually an-dràsda now (in a more broad sense) an-sin whereupon, then air a' mhionaid this moment, minute air an uair just now air chionn do ... by the time that .... air ball immediately, straightaway air tùs in the beginning, at first air uairibh sometimes, at times (am) fad is a ... while am feadh while, whilst a-nis (right) now (ann) an tiota (beag) in a twinkling, moment anns a' bhad immediately, on the spot anns a' cheart àm in the meanwhile a-rithist again á seo suas henceforward bho àm gu àm from time to time, occsionally bho chionn aimsir some time ago, long ago bho chionn ghoirid a short while ago bho chionn treis a while ago bho seo a-mach henceforth car ùine for a time, during a period (cho) fad is a ... as long as ... fa dheòigh at last f(h)ad is a ... while, during fad na h-ùine all the time ge be uair whenever, at whichever time gach uair whenever, every time gu bràth forever gu cian nan cian for ever and ever gu grad abruptly gu minic often gu seo thus far, so far gu sìorraidh for ever and ever gu tric often gun dàil immediately, without delay iomadh uair often, many times leis sin wherupon, with which mu dheireadh thall at long last mu thràth (mar tha) already nas motha no more ré tamaill for a time ri h-ùine by and by, with time thuige seo thus far, so far tràth is a ... when uaireannan at times, sometimes

Adverbs of time in Gaelic do not require a preposition as certain English expressions do and are simply attached at the end of the phrase, e.g.: I saw him yesterday. > Chunnaic mi e an-dé. I will go there on Monday. > Théid mi ann DiLuain. He spent a little while there. > Bha e ann greis. We were there for a week. > Bha sinn ann seachdainn. She wants to go home for a month. > Tha i ag iarraidh dol dhachaigh mìos. What did you do in the afternoon? > Dé a rinn thu feasgar? Wait a moment! > Fuirich tiota!

Particularly the most overused word in modern Gaelic should be avoided - airson.