possession in the past tense

[Aislingeach]

My dog had a bone
Bhí cnámh ag mo ghadhar?

She had a bone
Bhí cnáamh aici?

Are these structurally correct?

GRMA

[Lughaidh]

Yes, it works with all tenses 🙂

[Aislingeach]

Yay! Go me! 🙂 So:

Bhí cnámh aici/beidh cnámh aici
She had a bone/she will have a bone

Bhí brón orm/beidh brón orm
I was sad/I will be sad

Bhí grá agam duit/beidh grá agam duit
I loved you/I will love you

Bhí orm dul obair/beidh orm dul obair (I think something might be wrong with this?)
I had to go to work/I will have to go to work

Yes?

And could you please explain to me why “I like it” is “Is maith liom” and not “Tá maith liom”? I thought “tá” was used with adjectives.

GRMA

[Lughaidh]

Bhí orm dul obair/beidh orm dul obair (I think something might be wrong with this?)
I had to go to work/I will have to go to work

Bhì orm dul ag obair (Munster)
Bhì orm a ghabhàil ag obair (Connachta)
Bhì orm a ghabhìl a dh’obair (Ulster)

And could you please explain to me why “I like it” is “Is maith liom” and not “Tá maith liom”? I thought “tá” was used with adjectives.

yes, but in certain cases, especially in certain set phrases like “is maith le”, you use “is”.

[aonghus]

An aidiacht maith anseo?

Is maith/aoibhinn/breá/gráin/fuath liom X.

[Marcoman]

Is it correct that “is” is used in “is maith liom” because the adjective is just after the verb and before the subject?

[aonghus]

I believe it is the other way around, i. the adjective must follow the copula in sentences like this, and follow the subject in others.

i. Is maith liom ceol.
Tá mé maith go leor ag ceol.
Duine maith mé.

One for the mavens.

[Lughaidh]

The pattern “is + adjective + le + X + Y” means “X considers that Y is “adjective”.
Is maith liom seaclàid = I consider that chocolate is good, etc.

Some nouns (fuath, gràin etc) can be used instead of the adjective in the same pattern.

[Aislingeach]

The pattern “is + adjective + le + X + Y” means “X considers that Y is “adjective”.
Is maith liom seaclàid = I consider that chocolate is good, etc.

Some nouns (fuath, gràin etc) can be used instead of the adjective in the same pattern.

Sweet! I like patterns; they make things seem so much more logical. 🙂 Does this apply only to “le”?

GRMA!

[Cúnla]

Does this apply only to “le”?

—arsa [url=http://www.daltai.com/forums/member/911/]Aislingeach[/url]

Nope. Cf. also, e.g., ‘ba cheart dom,’ ‘is gá dom,’ ⁊rl. There’s a bunch of such combos around.

[Aislingeach]

Does this apply only to “le”?

—arsa [url=http://www.daltai.com/forums/member/911/]Aislingeach[/url]

Nope. Cf. also, e.g., ‘ba cheart dom,’ ‘is gá dom,’ ⁊rl. There’s a bunch of such combos around.

Thank you for your input. But now I’m confused again. “Ceart” and “gá” are nouns, are they not? I would expect a noun to follow the copula; that was what sparked my question….

[Cúnla]

Well, “ceart” is here more adjectival… You can also say ‘ba chirte dom‘ (in the comparative), ⁊rl….

[Aislingeach]

Hmm…I hadn’t considered it functioning as an adjective there because it wasn’t modifying another noun. But that’s a digression; with regard to adjectives following the copula, I could actually broaden the pattern to “is + adjective + preposition + X + Y” (with the appropriate change in the meaning, of course)?

[Author]

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