The Definite Article
The definite article is simply the word ‘the’. When you put ‘the’ in front of a word, you are pointing out something in particular. When you say the car, you are saying it is something definite. It is a particular car.
In English the indefinite article exists. In the statement "Can you rent a car to France?", the car which is being referenced is any car. The indefinite article does not exist in Gaelic.
In English ‘the’ is the only form of the definite article. In Gaelic there are eight different forms of the definite article.
The first four articles in the list below (an, am, a’ and an t-) are used in the nominative singular case. These four articles can appear in other cases, but we shall only consider them in the nominative case.
The next two (na, na h-) can be used to show that the definite article is in the nominative plural case.
The last two (nan, nam) are used to show that the article is in the genitive plural.
1. an
In Gaelic the definite article an is used in the following circumstances
- before feminine words beginning with a vowel.
- before masculine nouns beginning with the three consonants c, g and s - before masculine and feminine nouns
- beginning with the consonants d, l, n, r and before feminine nouns beginning with the letter s apart from those beginning with sl, sn, sr, or s+ vowel (see below for information on these nouns.)
- before feminine nouns beginning with the letter f followed by a vowel. A word like this requires the letter h to be inserted before the vowel when using the definite article. Take faoileag (a seagull), for example. It becomes an fhaoileag.
2. am
In Gaelic the definite article am is used in front of masculine words beginning with the consonants b, f, m and p.
3. a’
In Gaelic the definite article a’ is used in front of feminine words beginning with the consonants b, c, g, m, and p.When you put a’ in front of feminine words beginning with the consonants b, c, g, m, and p, you also insert an h after the initial consonant, e.g a’ bhanais, a’ bhean:
4. an t-
In Gaelic the definite article an t- is used before masculine and feminine nouns. An t- is used before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel. An t- is used before feminine nouns beginning with with sl, sn, sr, or s+ vowel.
5. plural
In English, there is no difference whether the noun after the definite article is singular or plural, the article is still ‘the’. In Gaelic, however, when the noun is plural the definite article changes to na or na h-.
Na is used when the noun following it begins with a consonant, eg na faoileagan (the seagulls) or na daoine (the people).
Na h- is used when the noun following it begins with a vowel, eg na h-òrain (the songs) or na h-eich (the horses).
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