Fòram na Gàidhlig

I'm used to the "an" bit of a future tense disappearing after a preposition..

Thus : the negative of "an tèid?" is "nach tèid?" not "nach an tèid" - I've always assumed this to be a pronunciation issue.

Ach seall!

"gus an tig" but "mus tèid". And this can't possibly be down to pronunciation.

As far as I can see "far/gus/caite" all keep the "an" but "nach/mus/mura" all lose it.

Am I correct on this point and can anybody say why gus/mus work in this contradictory way?

Le meas, MartinJ

You will just have to remember which word does what.

Pattern 1 - essentially a relative pronoun in the positive form:

am fear a bhios
am fear nach bi

far a bhios
far nach bi

nuair a bhios
nuair nach bi

ma bhios
mura bi

Pattern 2 - essentially like a yes/no question with something stuck in front:

gus am bi
gus nach bi

càite am bi
càite nach bi

am bi
nach bi

mus bi (a little quirk here without the "am")
much nach bi

Tapadh leat. At least I wasn't imagining this.

How about "It 'mus bi' 'gus am bi'"? The others are easier to remember.

MJ

You'll just have to memorize that "mus" is a special case. There is no way around that.