The Verb "to have" and the past participle The Perfect Tense
by Myles Dillon
T here is no proper verb "to have" in Irish, and the notion is expressed by the verb "to be" with the preposition ag "at": td se ag Sean "John has it" (lit. "it is at John"). This idiom, with the past participle of a verb, provides a perfect tense, distinct from the simple past: td se deanta ag Sean "John has done it"; td an dinnear ite ag Tomds "Tom has had (eaten) dinner"; td an leabhar caillte ag an ngarsun "the boy has lost the book". The past participle is formed with the ending -te, -ta, according as the verbal stem is slender or broad. bris- "break" briste cafll- "lose" caillte doigh- "burn" doighte, doite dun- "shut" dunta ith- "eat" ite leigh- "read" leighte, leite 61- "drink" olta scriobh- "write" scrite (irreg.) The t is aspirated after b, bh, c, g, m, p, r: scuab- "sweep" scuabtha treabh- "plough" treabhtha, treafa strac- "tear" stractha leag- "knock down" leagtha cum- "compose" cumtha stop- "stop" stoptha scar- "separate" scartha It is pronounced as h also after /, but is written t. 41 42 IRISH An adjective follows the noun it qualifies: gort mor "a big field"; scoil nua "a new school"; clock bheag 1 "a small stone". Sean(a)-"old" precedes the noun and forms a com- pound: seana-bhrog "an old shoe", seana-thigh "old house", an seana-dhream "the old folk". 2 VOCABULARY Aifreann (afiran) m. Holy Mass anois (a-nish) now barr, barra (baar, bora) m. top briste (brishdi) broken caillte (kaylhi) lost cheana (hona) already cnoc (knok) m. hill cota mor (kota mooar) over- coat deanta (deeanta) made, built dunta (doonta) shut Eibhlin (ay-leen) Eileen guna (goona) m. dress leite (leti) read litir (letir) f. letter Maire (maari) Mary Maighread (may-reead) Margaret olta (olha) drunk Padraig (paadrig) Patrick scoil (sgol) f. school scrite (shgreeti) written trucail (trukil) f. cart Exercise 12 Translate: 1. Ta broga nua ag Maire. 2. Ta gadhar 6g ar an mbothar. 3. Ta cota mor ag Tadhg anois. 4. Ta an tAifreann leite ag an sagart. 5. Ta litir scrite ag Padraig. 6. Ta an doras dunta ag an bpaiste. 7. Ta an fhuinneog briste ag na garsunaibh. 8. Ta maide beag ag an ngadhar. 9. Ta scoil nua ar bharra an chnoic. 10. Ta an t-airgead caillte ag Micheal. Exercise 13 1. Tom has read the letter. 2. Eileen has a new dress. 3. The young man has lost the books. 4. There is a cart at the door. ^eep. 15. 2 seanduine "old man", with sean and unaspirated dis an exception. LESSON V 43 5. The child has drunk the milk. 6. The man has money. 7. Tim has lost the overcoat. 8. The boys have broken the bottles. 9. The old school is closed, and a new school has been built on top of the hill. 10. Margaret has written the letter. .