Dè tha thu a' dèanamh? / What are you doing?

[LilithNoor]

Bidh mi a' dannsadh a-nochd. Am bi caraid dhomh (or mo charaid?) a' dannsa cuideachd?
I will be dancing tonight. Will my friend be dancing too? Hope that's correct. Not sure where and when the dh gets added to dannsa, but I expect I will find out eventually in my travels through grammar

"Sona 'drasd 'tha mi". Tha tiocaidean airson cuirm-ciùil Runrig agam. Tha mi a' dol ag eisteachd ri Ruaridh Domhallach!
"I am happy just now". I have tickets for a Runrig concert. I'm going to hear Rory MacDonald (the bassist, who wrote the song 'Sona')

[MarcMacUilleim]

Am bi caraid dhomh (or mo charaid?)

Am bi caraid agam (or mo charaid?)

Not sure where and when the dh gets added to dannsa

It's regional, as far as I am aware, though dannsa is more usual these days: http://www.faclair.com/?txtSearch=dancing

[Mairead]

An toil leat a bhith a' dannsadh, a Lilith? Chan urrainn dhomh a dannsadh glé mhath, ach tha mi a' dol dhan chéilidh aig mo chàraid ath-oidhche. 'S toil leam céilidhean gu mór - 'Strip the Willow' gu h-àraid.

Do you like dancing, Lilith? I can't dance very well, but I am going to my friend's ceilidh tomorrow night. I like ceilidhs a lot - 'Strip the Willow' especially.

[MarcMacUilleim]

Chan urrainn dhomh a dannsadh

Chan urrainn dhomh danns(dh) or, more naturally, cha bhi mi a' dannsa

tha mi a' dol dhan chéilidh aig mo chàraid ath-oidhche

bidh mi a' dol

[Mairead]

Doesn't "Cha bhi mi a' dannsa" mean "I won't dance"? And is it not acceptable to use "tha" for the near future?

[MarcMacUilleim]

Doesn't "Cha bhi mi a' dannsa" mean "I won't dance"?

Yes, but in this sense it conveys the English "can't" which is often used to mean "don't", regular action (or, in this case, inaction!) in the future.

And is it not acceptable to use "tha" for the near future?

Gaelic is quite a bit stricter with its tenses than English.
Dè bhios tu a' dèanamh a-nochd? / What are you doing tonight?
Bidh mi a' dol dhan chèilidh. / I'm going to the ceilidh.

[LilithNoor]

Gaelic is quite a bit stricter with its tenses than English.
Dè bhios tu a' dèanamh a-nochd? / What are you doing tonight?
Bidh mi a' dol dhan chèilidh. / I'm going to the ceilidh.

Learn Gaelic seems to think the present is acceptable in such cases - Speaking Our Language Ep 11/5

'Tha mi ag iarraidh blobhsa. Tha mi dol a-mach a-nochd.' I want a blouse. I'm going out tonight (for added amusement, check out the hideous blouse in question!)

A Mhairead, 's toil leam dannsadh. 'S toil leam céilidhean cuideachd. Oidhche Shathairne bidh mi a dol dhan fhéis dannsa. Feumaidh mi culaidh-choimheach fuaigheal!

[MarcMacUilleim]

Learn Gaelic seems to think the present is acceptable in such cases - Speaking Our Language Ep 11/5

'Nuff said. Please take everything on Speaking Our Language with a HUGE pinch of salt...

[Mairead]

Okay, I was going for the sense of "I am not good at dancing but I will dance anyway". I think my teacher from Harris uses "Tha mi a'dol a-mach a-nochd" but I'm not sure. Interesting how each language has different boundaries for the future tense -- Spanish for example has a much broader use of the present tense than English, with the future tense mainly being reserved for events nowhere near completion. In Japanese, the future and the present are the same.

A Lilith, glé mhath! Cha robh a' chéilidh a' cordadh rium a-bhòn-raoir, ach 's toil leam céilidhean fhathast.
Lilith, nice! I didn't like the ceilidh the night before last, but I still like ceilidhs.

[MarcMacUilleim]

I think my teacher from Harris uses "Tha mi a'dol a-mach a-nochd" but I'm not sure.{/quote]
Fair enough, though purists will tell you that it's Beurlag...

Cha robh a' chéilidh a' cordadh rium
I didn't like the ceilidh

That, to me at least, says that you weren't enjoying the ceilidh, but then something happened and that all changed. That's another VERY common thing that is so difficult to unlearn! When you first start learning Gaelic, because there's no simple present, you learn to use tha / chan eil with the verbal noun and then, by extension, imagine that you can use the past to convey completed actions in the past.

If you are simply saying that you didn't enjoy the ceilidh, nothing more, then it's "Cha do chòrd a' chèilidh rium" or, occasionally, "an cèilidh" if you're one of those who insist that cèilidh is masculine...

[Balgam]

Tha mi air ais aig an taigh a’ gabhail deoch oir bha i caran blàth an-diugh ann an Glaschu.

Ghabh mi cuairt gu An Lèanag ann am Partaig. ’S e sin an Ionad Gàidhlig Ghlaschu. Cheannach mi am film ‘Seachd’. Tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gum bi mi a’ sealltainn air a-nochd. Bha mi a' sireadh (air?) an leabhar ‘The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic’ cuideachd. A bheil sibh eòlach air?

---

I am back at the house having a drink because it was a bit warm in Glasgow today.

I took a trip to An Lèanag in Partick. That’s the Glasgow Gaelic Centre. I bought the film ‘Seachd’. I think that I will watch it tonight. I was searching for the book ‘The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic’ too. Are you familiar with it?

[poor_mouse]

'S dòcha, "chun An Lèanag"??
"...bidh mi ga shealltainn a-nochd", nam bheachd...

[faoileag]

gus an Lèanag
chun na Lèanaige

(up to/as far as)

BUT

you went inside and bought things, so I would use

dhan Lèanag

(to and into)

[poor_mouse]

Ceart, mòran taing!

[Agnieszka]

Tha mi ag sgrìobhadh teacsa mu Pòlainneach agus Seiceach cliar. Tha mi sunndach an-diugh. Ciamar a tha thu?

I'm writing a text about Polish and Czech poets. I'm happy today. How are you?

(How to write "you" in plural?)