Unit 8 - Simple counting and reading the clock
Dè ’n uair a tha e? "What is the time?"
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions
How are numbers employed in relation to objects i.e. when we say "thirteen books"? Well, traditionally, we say trì leabhraichean deug, splitting the trì and the deug with the noun.
It is important to notice that, following dà (the unlenited form of dhà, 2), fichead (20), ceud (100) and mìle (1000), a qualified noun is always in its singular form. The same is true of nouns used with cia mheud? (how many?).
Listen to Iain and Eilidh’s conversation which illustrates the above points.
Before we move on to telling the time later in the unit, listen to this short conversation. It shows how you might use numbers in relation to a person’s age. Notice the characteristic question (here given in the informal singular thu form) – dè an aois a tha thu? (what age are you?). You will also hear that, when dealing with age, the word for "year" – bliadhna – remains in its singular form, even when you might expect it to be in the plural form (bliadhnaichean).
