Conditional Sentences. Subordinate Clauses. Conjunctions.
by Myles Dillon
T LESSON XVI (For the paradigms, see pages 57 and 58) There are two words for "if in Irish, md (asp.) and dd (eel.). In present and future conditional clauses md is used and takes the present indicative of the verb, with present or future (or an imperative) in the main clause: md thagann se, beidh fdilte roimhe "if he comes, he will be welcome"; md td se agat, tabhair dom e "if you have it, give it to me"; md cheapann tu e sin, nil an ceart agat "if you think that, you are wrong". In these clauses the habitual form of td is used when the main verb is in the future: md bhionn se go bred amdireach, raghaimid ag iascaireacht "we shall go fishing tomorrow, if it is fine". In simple past conditions md is used with the past indica- tive, and a past indicative in the main clause: md bhi se ann nifhaca-sa e "if he was there, I did not see him"; md duirt se e sin, do bhi an ceart aige 1 "if he said that, he was right". In remote conditions dd is used and takes the conditional (or past subjunctive): dd bhfeicfinn (bhfeicinri) 2 e, do labhar- fainn leis "if I saw him, I would speak to him"; dd raghadh (dteadh) se ann, do chifeadh se iad "if he were to go there, he would see them"; dd mbeidis ann, do gheobhaimis iad "if they were there, we should find (get) them". Or, with fein (P- 49), dd mbeidis ann fein, ni bhfaighimis iad "even if they were there, we would not find them". There is no pluperfect in Irish, and these sentences may also have the force of unfulfilled conditions: "if I had seen him, I should have spoken to him"; "if he had gone there, he would have seen them". The context alone distinguishes the 1 cf. Fr. il avait raison, Germ, er hatte recht. 2 Here there is no difference of pronunciation, as the/is silent. The subjunctive mood is given in Lesson XXV. d* 93 94 IRISH two meanings. The negative for both ma and da is mara which takes the present or past subjunctive in the north, and usually the future or conditional in the south: mara raghaidh se ann, nijheicfidh se iad "if he does not go there, he will not see them"; mara raghadh se arm, nifheicfeadh se iad "if he did not go there, he would not see them". With the copula ma makes present mas, past ma ba (asp.), and da makes da mba (asp.): mas fear e "if it is a man", mas fior e "if it is true", ma bfhior e "if it was true", da mba mhaith leat e "if you liked". The negative forms are present marar, maran, past and conditional marar before consonants; and present marab, past and conditional mararbh before vowels: nd teir arm maran maith leat el "don't go there unless you like it"; duart leis gan dul arm marar mhaith leis e "I told him not to go there unless he liked it"; marab e atd arm "unless it be he that is there"; mararbh e a bhi arm "unless it was he that was there". In conditional sentences a more emphatic form of the "if -clause employs the copula with rud "thing" and a subordinate clause (v. inf.): mas rud e go (nd), da mba rud e go (nd), e.g. mas rud e ndrfhead se teacht "if in fact he was not able to come"; da mba rud e ndfeadfadh se teacht "if in fact he were not able to come". Here rud may be omitted: da mba ndfeadfadh se teacht. Finally, there is a construction with the verb td and a subordinate clause: mara mbeadh gur fhead se teacht "if it were not for the fact that he was able to come. SUBORDINATE CLAUSES When a clause is introduced by the conjunction "that", we call it a subordinate clause, e.g. "he said that he would come". You have learned already (pp. 47, 78) that the conjunction in Irish is go (eel.), and the negative ("that not") is nd: duirt se go dtiocfadh se; duirt se nd tiocfadh se. And the forms of is in these dependent clauses were given in Lesson VIII. Bfheidir "perhaps", and cad 'na thaobh "why" are followed by go (nd): cad 'na thaobh nd cuireann tu umat do LESSON XVI 95 chasog? "Why do you not put on your coat?" BJheidir go dtiocfadh se "perhaps he will come". Other common subordinate clauses in English are classi- fied as temporal, final, concessive, causal and consecutive, and we shall see how these are expressed in Irish. The temporal conjunctions are nuair "when", with rel. a, 1 sara (eel.) "before" and 6 "since": nuair a bhionn an cat ar an margadh bionn na luchaigh ag rince "when the cat has gone to market the mice dance"; d'imigh se sara raibh se d'uain agam labhairt leis "he went away before I had time to speak to him"; nifhaca e 6 phos se "I have not seen him since he married". A final clause is introduced by chun or z dtreo "towards", which here serve as conjunctions and are followed by go (nd): do chuaigh se ann daon-ghno chun go bhfeicji e "he went there on purpose to be seen"; do chuireas an t-airgead i bhfolach i dtreo ndfaigheadh aon duine e "I hid the money so that no-one should find it". A concessive clause is introduced by ce "although" with go (nd): ce go raibh se ann, nior labhair se "he did not speak, although he was present". A causal clause is introduced by 6 "since", mar (go) "for", or toisc (go) '"because": bhi se ceart aige labhairt, 6 bhi se ann "he ought to have spoken, since he was present"; nior inseas do e, mar ndfaca in-aon chor e "I did not tell it to him, for I did not see him at all"; d'fhanas amuigh toisc nd raibh sli dhom istigh "I stayed outside because there was no room for me within". A consecutive clause may be introduced (l) by chomh (. . . go): do bhi an sneachta chomh doimhin ndrfhedamair siul "the snow was so deep that we could not walk"; bhi an mala chomh headrom gurbhjheidir e iompar gun dua "the sack was so light that one could carry it without difficulty". (2) by z dtreo go: do chaith se a chuid airgid i dtreo go raibh se gan pioc sa deireadh "he spent his money so that he had nothing in the end". 1 For relative clauses see Lesson XXVI. 96 IRISH But the tendency is to avoid the subordinate clause by using a verbal noun: do chonac e agus me ag imeacht "I saw him when I was going away" (p. 105); roimh imeacht do "before he went away"; tar eis imeacht do "after he went away"; chun e afheiscint "in order to see it" (p. 115); toisc e bheith as baile "because he was not at home". The co-ordinating conjunctions require no separate treatment, but it will be convenient to list them here: ach but mar for agus and marsinfein even so idir. . .agus both. . . and na nor, than chomh so, as no or VOCABULARY am (aum) m. time amanathar (a-monarhar) "the day after tomorrow" amu (a-moo) astray athas (aahas) m.joy feidir (fedir) possible; is feidir Horn / am able feitheamh (fihav) le awaiting, to await fe thrathnona by evening ca bhfios dom? (ko vis dum) fomhar (for.) m. harvest how do I know? caoi (ka) f. opportunity ceapaim (kyapim) I think ciall (keeal) f. sense ciallmhar (keealvar) sensible, wise do shileas (heelas) / thought eigean (egan) f. necessity; is eigean dom "Imusf eirionn leis he succeeds eisteacht (eshdacht) vn. listening, to listen failte (faalhi) f. welcome; cuirim failte roimh 1 / wel- come com- m. gearan (gi-raan) vn. plaining, to complain glacaim (glokim) / take mall (maul) slow misneach (mish-noch) courage naire (naari) f. shame puinn (pweeng) much, many (only with a negative): nil puinn ceille aige he has not much sense sasamh (saasav) vn. satisfy- ing, to satisfy sioc (shuk) m. frost siol (sheel) m. seed tair (tar) cornel The recording has a dialect form of this word. LESSON XVI 97 teip: do theip orm It failed tionoisc (ti-noshk) f. accident me, I failed tost (tost) m. silence Exercise 37 A. 1. Ma chuireann sibh-se an siol, bainfimid-ne an fomhar. 2. Tair go luath, mas feidir leat e! 3. Ma thugann tu a ndothain le n-ithe dhoibh, beid sasta. 4. Ma dheinid a ndicheall, eireoidh leo, agus mara ndeinid, m eireoidh. 5. Maran maith leis dul i dteannta na ndaoine eile, feadfaidh se dul ann ina aonar. 6. Mas rud e go bhfaca se an tionoisc, is aige ata a fhios cad a tharla. 7. Da bhfaighimis caoi chuige, bheadh an obair deanta i n-am againn. 8. Da dtuigfea i gceart e, do ghlacfa a chomhairle. 9. Da mbeadh an la inne go brea, do bheimis amuigh sa ghairdin. 10. Ma bhionn an la amaireach fliuch, fanfaimid sa bhaile. 11. Da mba rud e go mbeadh an talamh le diol, do cheannoinn e. 12. Da mba na beinn ann, ni fheadfainn failte do chur roimhe 1 . 13. Mara mbeadh go rabhas ann go luath, ni fheicfmn i n-aon chor e. 14. Conas a thuigfeadh duine an Ghaeilge mara bhfoghlaimeodh se 1? B. 1. Is docha go mbeidh sioc anocht againn. 2. Cad 'na thaobh gur chuaigh Sean go dti an baile mor? 3. Shil se go mb' 2 fheidir go mbeadh Caitilin ag teacht abhaile. 4. Do cheapamair na tiocfadh si go ceann coicis. 5. Do shileas-sa go mbeadh si anso fe thrathnona. 6. B'fheidir go dtiocfadh si fos. 7. Cad 'na thaobh nar fhan si sa bhaile? 8. Deir a mathair gur deacair i a shasamh. 9. Bhi eagla uirthi go mbeadh uaigneas ar Mhaire. 10. Ca bhfios di go mbeidh Maire ann roimpi? 11. Do scriobh si chuithi agus duirt go mbeadh si ag feitheamh lei. 12. Fanfaidh si go dti go mbeidh Caitilin ina teannta. 13. Ba choir go mbeadh athas ar Chaitiin. 14. Ni rabhas i bhfad aim nuair a thainig uaigneas orm. 15. Theip orm an obair a dheanamh ce gur dheineas mo 1 The sound recording gives a dialect version of 'roimhe'. 2 The copula is here conditional (p. 52), and the ro-form gurbh is not required. 98 IRISH dhicheall. 16. Do chuas go dti e chun go labharfainn leis. 17. Bhi se chomh maith aige an obair a chriochnu, 6 thos- naigh se i n-aon chor. 18. Nior chuas ann toisc go raibh gno sa bhaile agam. 19. Bhi se chomh dorcha gur cheapamair go raibh an oiche tagtha. 20. Bionn an fear ciallmhar ina thost nuair na bionn pioc le ra aige. Exercise 38 A 1. If you come early tomorrow, I shall give you the money. 2. 1 should have given it to you yesterday, if you had come in time. 3. Come if (it is) possible, and if (it is) not (possible), I shall go to you. 4. If he speaks slowly, perhaps we shall understand him. 5. If they wish to come, they will be wel- come, but I shall not ask them to come. 6. Why should they eat meat, if they prefer fish? 7. If we said that, they would be very angry. 8. If in fact they said that, they were wrong. 9. If it were not for the fact that I saw him there, I should not have believed that he was in Dublin. 10. How would they have heard the story, unless someone told it to them? B. 1. Why is Martin going to Cork? 2. He thinks that the boat will be going south a week from to-day. 3. He says he wants to go (together) with his brother. 4. 1 know (td ajhios agam) that he would like to go there, but he must wait till the day after tomorrow. 5. They are afraid that people will believe what (an rud) he says. 6. Tell him {abair leis) that we shall wait till he is ready. 7. Why did you not go to school yester- day? 8. The master says that you were not there. 9. You ought (say "it would be right") to be ashamed! 10. When he saw the men coming, he stood up to welcome them. 11. We gave them a meal before they went away. 12. They did not stay long for they were tired. 13. The night was so dark that we went astray. 14. We did not buy any- thing because we had no money. 15. Although you have courage, you have not much sense. 16. The children complain when they have nothing to do. .