Book 3:
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exercise XCIX
§ 550. The present tense of the verb "to be" in English is:—
| Singular | Plural |
| I am | We are |
| Thou art | You are |
| He, She, It is | They, etc, are |
For he, she, it we can substitute any noun; as John is, the horse is, the earth is. For(they) we can substitute any noun in the plural, as, the horses are, John and James are, etc.
§ 551. We have already seen that the ordinary form in Irish is atá mé, etc, or as people generaly say, 'tá (thau) mé; thus,
| 'tá me | 'tá sinn |
| 'tá tú | 'tá siḃ |
| 'tá (sé, sí) | 'tá siad |
It is just as easy to us to use the correct form atá mé, etc. hence we have used it throughout.
§ 552. We can now go a step farther. Although we now say atá mé, I am, this was not always the case. The older and better form is atáim. And so with the other parts:
| atáim | ăthau'-im | I am |
| atáir | ă-thau'-ir | thou art |
| atá sé/sí | is | |
| atámuid | ă-thau'-mwid | we are |
| atáṫaoi | ă-thau'-hee | you are |
| atáid | ă-thau'-id | they are |
The student should commit this to memory.
§ 553. We may notice that (I) the form atáṫaoi, you are, is now confined to the South, atá siḃ being always used elsewhere; (2) in West Munster the form ataoi, 'taoi (thee) is used for atáir in many phrases; as sonn ataoi (sŭNă-thee'), here you are! ca'nnas 'taoi? (koN'-ăs thee) what way are you? (3) The other forms are in use especially in answers to questions. The use of atáim, atámuid, etc for atá mé, atá sinn is one of the best tests of a good speaker of Irish. (4) In Munster atámuíd (usually spelled atámaoid) ă-thau-mweed, is used for atámuid, the last syllable being lengthened.
An ḃfuil tú astiġ? Atáim. Are you within? I am (yes).
An ḃfuil siḃ go maiṫ? Atámuid. Are you well? We are.
§ 554. In the same way, instead of ní ḟuil mé, an ḃfuil sinn? It is better to say ní ḟuilim, an ḃfuilmid? Thus—
| fuilim (fwil'-im) | fuilmid (fwil'-mid) |
| fuilir (fwil'-ir) | fuiltí (fwil'-tee) |
| fuil | fuilid (fwil-id) |
Fuiltí is only spoken in the South. As fuil is generally found after a word that aspirates or eclipses it, the forms of this verb most in use are—
§ 555. With ní ḟuilim, etc, contracted to nílim, etc.
| ní'lim | (neel'-im) | I am not |
| ní'lir | (neel'-ir) | thou art not |
| ní'l sé/sí | is not | |
| ní'lmid | (neel'-m | we are not |
| ní'l siḃ (ní'ltí) | you are not | |
| ní'lid | (neel'-id) | they are not |
In Munster, ní'lmid (neel'-meed) for ní'lmid
note that
phonetic
symbols
are not
necessarily pronounced
as in English