Tá dhá bhriathar sa Ghaeilge, bí agus is, a bhfuil an bhrí chéanna acu ach a úsáidtear i gcomhthéacsanna difriúla. Féach ar an dá abairt seo:
There are two verbs in Irish, bí and is, which have the same meaning but are used in different contexts. Look at these two sentences:
Tá an lá go hálainn, nach bhfuil?
It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?
Is Iodálach í Antonella.
Antonella is Italian.
Ní gá duit a bheith buartha faoi na rialacha anois, áfach – foghlaimeoidh tú de réir a chéile cathain ba cheart duit bí a úsáid agus cathain ba cheart duit is a úsáid.
You don’t have to worry about the rules now, however – you’ll gradually learn when you should use bí and when you should use is.
Idir an dá linn, féachfaimid ar na foirmeacha éagsúla den bhriathar bí san aimsir láithreach.
In the meantime, we’ll look at the various forms of the verb bí in the present tense.
| tá mé (nó táim*) I am | níl mé (nó nílim*) I am not |
| tá tú you are | níl tú you are not |
| tá sé/sí he / she is | níl sé/sí he / she is not |
| táimid we are | nílimid we are not |
| tá sibh you are | níl sibh you are not |
| tá siad they are | níl siad they are not |
* Úsáidtear na foirmeacha seo i gcanúint na Mumhan.
* These forms are used in Munster Irish.
Seo mar a thugann tú freagra ar cheist ina bhfuil an briathar bí:
This is how you answer a question containing the verb bí:
An bhfuil Seán ar ais fós?
Is Seán back yet?
Tá.
Yes.
An bhfuil siad ina gcónaí i Londain anois?
Do they live in London now?
Tá.
Yes.
Tabhair faoi deara nach n-úsáideann tú forainm (mé, tú, sé, etc.) agus tú ag freagairt ceiste mar seo – bíonn sé mícheart de ghnáth forainm a úsáid nuair a bhíonn yes agus no mar fhreagra ar cheist. Tiocfaimid ar ais chuig an riail seo níos déanaí sa chúrsa.
Notice that you don’t use a pronoun (mé, tú, sé, etc.) when you answer a question like this – it’s usually incorrect to use a pronoun when yes and no are the answer to a question. We’ll come back to this rule later in the course.