Fòram na Gàidhlig

Gàidhlig

English Looking for tr*nsl*t**n of structures like "She should be kissed" or "you should be praised" or "children should be seen"

In other words "Bu choir" + passive. Any brave souls or experts please cite source/reference/authority if you can!

Bu chòir a pògadh
Bu chòir a moladh
Bu chòir a' chlann fhaicinn

chòir doesn't have a passive ending, so you just use it as it is. It would be different with urrainn:

'S urrainnear seo a dhèanamh...

Thanks for reply! Used to always seeing "do" with bu choir. Bu choir DHI a pògadh, bu choir DHUT a moladh, bu choir DO chlann fhaicinn ???

Yes, if you're not using the passive, you would be using the "do". The passive construction for bu chòir is a bit weird.

Bu chòir dha a pògadh
Bu chòir dhuinn a moladh
Bu chòir dhaibh a' chlann fhaicinn

Are you sure about 's urrainnear? I've heard it too, but I've also heard "'s urrainn" on its own (no "do"), and as I understand it that's the more traditional form. 'S urrainnear... well I suspect that's just a modern hypercorrection.

The way I think it works is that any verbal construction that needs a preposition like aig/do/rium to achieve what English uses a subject for is impersonal, so doesn't need a passive form.

Hardly modern, urrainnear goes back at least as far as the 18th century.