Unit 20 - Remembering your Schooldays
"I was polite"
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In transcript 2 we see how the conditional form of verbs can be used as a past habitual, in order to tell of occurrences that happened (“would happen”) over time, or in a habitual fashion. This time we add –a or –e to the end of the past tense form of the verb:
| past | conditional | example | translation of example |
|---|---|---|---|
| chuir | chuireadh | he would put water in a pot | |
| thog | thogadh | they would lift the rocks | |
| ù | ùeadh | they would close the school |
Look out for the negative and interrogative forms of verbs in the conditional in the conversation that follows. And look out also for the verb “to be”, which in the conditional is bhiodh or, in its emphatic form, bhitheadh
| past | conditional | example | translation of example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bha | bhiodh | they would be there every day |
The verb “to be” can be used, as in other tenses, to create a conditional with a verbal noun. Compare it with the present tense in the examples below (note that we say tu in the conditional for singular informal “you”, rather than thu) :
- you write (you are writing)
- you would write (you would be writing)
- the teachers are scolding me
- the teachers would scold me (the teachers would be scolding me)
Listen to transcript 2, where Cèitidh and Alasdair use past conditionals when reminiscing about their schooldays.
This is the end of unit 20.
