Expressions of Time

Temporal adverbial expressions - or how to say when something happened. To start, let's take a look at the choices we have:

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	—	—

This does not mean that you cannot 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	DiCiadain	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 use DiDòmhnaich and Presbyterians use 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 equivalent of the English -day suffix. However, unlike English, it's the prefix that's modified to express the concepts of <Monday afternoon>, <Friday night> etc:

madainn Luain	madainn Mhàrt	madainn Chiadain	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 Ciadain	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 Chiadain	oidhche Ardaoin	oidhche hAoine	oidhche Shathairne	oidhche Dhòmhnaich
Monday night	Tuesday night	Wednesday night	Thursday night	Friday night	Saturday night	Sunday night

That's the theory anyway. But, in colloquial usage, you'll 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

For memorisation purposes, it's useful to note that from September 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.

Gaelic	Genitive	English	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 Lùnastal (masc.)	... an Lùnastail	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 Nollaig

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 ar fhichead dhen Ògmhios
31st September	A' chiad latha deug ar fhichead dhen t-Sultain
22nd December	An dàrna latha ar fhichead dhen Dùbhlachd

Individual years are said by giving the 'hundreds' first and then the 'tens', for example:

1272	dà cheud deug * trì fichead is a dhà dheug
1817	ochd ceud deug * is seachd deug
1995	naoidh ceud deug ceithir fichead * is a cóig deug
2000	bliadhna dà mhìle
2003	dà mhìle * is a trì

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

BCE? No, we don't use it, because it's pointless. It still uses the same date as a reference point so it's no less "offensive" (???) than B.C. or A.D. and just adds to the confusion.

The Seasons

The four seasons are expressed as follows. Notice 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 spring	in summer	in autumn	in winter
as t-earrach	as t-samhradh	as t-fhoghar	anns a' gheamhradh
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

The Holidays of the Year

Note that while the word for day is normally latha, in these special calendar dates this has shortened to Là.

Faoi. 1	Là na Bliadhna Ùire	New Year's Day	Callainn (fem) (...na Callainne); Nollaig Bheag (fem) (... na Nollaig Bige)
Faoi. 6	Là nan Trì Rìgh	Epiphany	Là Fhéill nan Rìgh; Féill an Taisbeanaidh
Gearr. 2	Là Fhéill Brìghde	Candlemas	Là Fhéill Brìghde nan Coinnlean; Là Féill Moire nan Coinnlean
Gearr. 14	Là Fhéill Bhaileintin	Valentine's Day
Gearr.	Là na Bliadhna Ùire Sìnich	Chinese New Year
Gearr.	DiMàirt Inid	Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day
Gearr.	DiCiadain na Luaithre	Ash Wednesday
Gearr.	An Carghas (masc) (... a' Charghais)	Lent
Màrt 1	Là Dhàibhidh	St. David's Day
Màrt	Là na Màthar	Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday
Màrt 17	Là Phàdraig	St. Patrick's Day	Là Fhéill Pàdraig
Màrt	Seachdain na Càisge	Holy Week
Màrt	DiDòmhnaich Tùrnais	Palm Sunday
Màrt	DiArdaoin a' Bhrochain Mhóir	Maundy Thursday	DiArdaoin Inid
Màrt	DihAoine na Ceusta	Good Friday
Màrt	A' Chàisg (fem) (... na Càisge)	Easter
Màrt	DiSathairne na Càisge	Easter Saturday
Màrt	A' Chàisg Mhór	Easter Sunday	Là Guileagan; Là Bàs nan Uighean; DiDòmhnaich na Càisge
Màrt	DiLuain na Càisge	Easter Monday
Màrt	Co-fhad-tràth an Earraich	Vernal Equinox
Gibl. 1	Là na Gogaireachd	April Fool's Day	Là Ruith na Cuthaige
Gibl. 23	Là Fhéill Seòrais	St. George's Day
Céit. 1	Là Bealltainn	May Day/Beltane
Céit.	Deasghabhail (fem) (... na Deasghabhalach)	Ascension Day	DiArdaoin Freastail
Céit.	Caingis (fem indef)	Pentecost/Whit Sunday
Céit.	DiDòmhnaich na Trianaid	Trinity Sunday
Céit.	DiArdaoin Corp Crìosda	Corpus Christi Transfiguration
Céit.	Là Fhéill an Earraich	Spring Bank Holiday
Ògmh.	Là an Athar	Father's Day
Ògmh. 21	Grianstad an t-Samhraidh Là Leth an t-Samhraidh	Summer Solstice Midsummer's Day
Iuch. 15	Là Màrtainn Builg	St. Swithen's Day
Lùna. 1	Lùghnasa	Lunasa (Harvest)
Lùna.	Là Fhéill an t-Samhraidh	Summer Bank Holiday
Sult.	Co-fhad-tràth an Fhoghair	Autumnal Equinox
Damh. 31	Oidhche Shamhna	All Souls' Day/Hallowe'en
Damh. 31 Samh. 1	Là Samhna	Samhain	Là Fhéill Samhna
Samh. 1	Là nan Uile Naomh	All Saints' Day
Samh. 5	Oidhche Ghuy Fawkes	Guy Fawkes' Night
Samh. 11	Là nan Cuimhneachan	Rememberance Day
Samh.	DiDòmhnaich nan Cuimhneachan	Rememberance Sunday
Samh.	Aidbheint (fem) (... na h-Aidmheint)	Advent
Samh.	A' Chiad Dòmhnaich dhen Aidmheint	Advent Sunday
Samh.	Là na Taingealachd	Thanksgiving	Là Buidheachais an Fhoghair; Là Taingealachd an Fhoghair
Samh. 30	Là Chill Rìbhinn	St. Andrew's Day
Dùbh. 6	Là Bodach na Nollaig	St. Nicholas' Day
Dùbh. 21	Grianstad a' Gheamhraidh	Winter Solstice
Dùbh.	An Nollaig (fem) (...na Nollaige)	Christmas
Dùbh. 24	Oidhche nam Bannag	Christmas Eve	Oidhche na Nollaig
Dùbh. 25	Là na Nollaig	Christmas Day	Là nam Bannag
Dùbh. 26		Boxing Day/St. Stephen's Day
Dùbh. 28	Là Fhéill nan Leanabhan Neoichiontach	Feast of the Holy Innocents
Dùbh. 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-dràsta	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	now (i.e. something is the case now that wasn't before)
(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, occasionally
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 minig	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	whereupon, with which
mu dheireadh thall	at long last
mu thràth (mar-thà)	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 's a ...	when
uaireannan	at times, sometimes

In Gaelic, adverbs of time do not require a preposition as certain English expressions do. They're 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 seachdain.
She wants to go home for a month.	Tha i ag iarraidh a dhol dhachaigh mìos.
What did you do in the afternoon?	Dé rinn thu feasgar?
Wait a moment!	Fuirich tiota!

In particular, the most overused word in modern Gaelic should be avoided - airson.