Tip of the Week - Colin Mark
Hallo a h-uile duine, ciamar a bha sibh an t-seachdain sa chaidh? Bha mi gu math. Bha mi ag obair fada a' chola-deug sa chaidh. Bha mi glè thrang agus cha robh an t-àm agam a phostadh.
Hello everybody, how were you this past week? I was fine. I was working the entire two weeks past. I was very busy and had no time to post.
A bheil sibh a' tuigsinn na abairtean "seachdain sa chaidh" agus "a' chola-deug sa chaidh"? Tha Ruairidh MacIlleathain a' cleachdadh an abairt "an t-seachdain sa chaidh" gu tric.
Do you understand the phrases "an t-seachdain sa chaidh - this last week" and "a' chola-deug sa chaidh - these past two weeks"? Rory MacLean uses the phrase "an t-seachdain sa chaidh" often.
Anns an naoi ceud deug 's a naochad 's a naoi, phostadh Cailean Mark srùth de "tip of the week" do liosta a bha an t-ainm "Gaidhlig-B Mailing List" air an liosta. Lorgaidh na "tips" seo http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/6338/tip_o_wk.htm . Bha a' chiad "tip", no sanas anns an Gàidhlig, mu thimcheall na abairte "sa chaidh".
In 1999, Colin Mark posted a series of "Tip of the Week" to a list called "Gaidhlig-B Mailing List". You will find these tips at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/6338/tip_o_wk.htm . The first tip (or "sanas" in Gaelic) is about the phrase "sa chaidh - last".
Ceart ma tha ...
All right then ... (I'm switching to only English this part. My Gaelic isn't up to the explanations - sorry).
This is, in essence, what he posted, including the comments of the thread for this first post. (paraphrased with comments)
"Mu dheireadh" means "the last in a series". You would use it in the sentences:
"Falbh mi a-null thairis an t-seachdain mu dheireadh den mìos = I went abroad the last week of the month."
"Bha mi ag obair anns an leabhar-lànn a' mhìos mu dheireadh den bliadhna = I worked in the library the last month of the year."
But you would not use "mu dheireadh" to say "I went abroad last week" or "I worked last month." For those you would use "seo chaidh" or "sa chaidh". ("seo chaidh" is the more grammatically correct and perhaps more traditional and formal, but there are variations and the one I prefer is "sa chaidh" since I've seen it used frequently. - Caitrin.)
So, the two sentences in the paragraph above would, therefore, be:
"Falbh mi a-null thairis an t-seachdain sa chaidh. = I went abroad last week."
Bha mi ag obair a' mhios sa chaidh. = I worked last month."
There are special words for other time terms preceded by "last".
last night = an-raoir
night before last = a' bhòn-raoir
last year = an-uiridh
Tìoraidh an-dràsta