Scottish Gaelic has an impersonal form of the verb which is often translated by using the pronoun "one" or "people" as the subject, or by using the passive voice.
The ending for the impersonal conditional tense is -te, which follows both broad and slender consonants. The older traditional ending of the impersonal conditional tense is -t(e)adh. For example, dh'fheumtadh may be found for dh'fheumte.
thathar ag ithe one is eating, people are eating, is being eaten
dh'ithte e people would eat it, it would be eaten
feumar a ràdh one must say, it must be said
dh'fheumte a ràdh one had to say, it had to be said
faodar a ràdh one may say, it may be said
dh'fhaodte a ràdh one could say, it could be said
Note that even though urrainn is a noun in the phrase is urrainn do (can, be able to), it also has the unusual impersonal form of is urrainnear which is not followed by the preposition do.
is urrainnear a dèanamh one can do it, it can be done
chan urrainnear a ràdh one cannot say, it can't be said
an urrainnear a fhaicinn? can one see it? can it be seen? is it possible to see?
b' urrainnear taigh a thogail one could build a house, a house could be built
far an urrainnear where possible
ma 's urrainnear if possible
The ending for the impersonal imperative is -(e)ar, however, you may sometimes come across the variant -t(e)ar. For example, cluinntear may be found for cluinnear (let it be heard).
In Lewis, there is a dialectal variant where the impersonal conditional ends in -(a)ist or -(a)iste. For example, gheibhte (would be obtained) may appear as gheibhist or gheibhiste, and the dependent forms faighte as faighist or faighiste.
• Elements of Scottish Gaelic Verbs
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• Irregular Verbs • Defective Verbs • Verbal Nouns • Infinitives |
• Tenses • Impersonal Forms • Passive • Derivatives |
• Regular Verb Paradigm (Broad Consonant)
• Regular Verb Paradigm (Slender Consonant)
• Independent Particles
• Dependent Particles
• Prepositional Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Prepositional Possessive Pronouns
• Written Accents