Scottish Gaelic pronouns
From UniLang Wiki
Personal Pronouns
Here are the Gaelic subject and direct object pronouns, along with their equivalents in English.
| Gaelic | English |
|---|---|
| mi | I | thu | you | e | he |
| i | she |
| sinn | we |
| sibh | you |
| iad | they |
Take note: Gaelic has two forms of the word "you." They are not interchangeable. Thu is an informal version of you. You use this with people you are on a first-name basis with, a child, or someone who is otherwise your subordinate. Sibh is formal. You would use this with people for whom you should show respect. The elderly, a police officer, your boss. Anyone whom you would address as "sir" or "ma'am" in English. Sibh also is always used whenever you are addressing more than one person, regardless of their status.
Gaelic also has special versions of each pronoun which are used when you want to give it a special emphasis. These are called the "emphatic forms." For example, I could say: "I went, but he didn't go." In Gaelic, I would say "Chaidh mi, ach cha deach esan."
Here they are, along with their English equivalents.
| Gaelic | English |
|---|---|
| mise | I |
| thusa | you |
| esan | he |
| ise | she |
| sinne | we |
| sibhse | you |
| iadsan | they |
The same rule applies with thusa and sibhse as applies with thu and sibh. It also applies with all words derived from the two.
Another way Gaelic has for adding emphasis is to use the word fhèin. This word is equivalent to the English suffix -self. So mi fhèin would mean myself, sibh fhèin; yourself and so forth.
Back to: Scottish_Gaelic_grammar
