Ag Adhartachadh Cànan agus Dualchas nan Gàidheal

The Definite Article

There are four sets of forms which the article can take in Gaelic, depending on the case, gender, and number of the noun. These four sets are as follows:

Set A

• am before b, f, m, p
• an t- before vowels
• an before everything else

Set B

• a’ + lenition before b, c, g, m, p
• an + lenition before f
• an t- before sa, se, si, so, su, sl, sn, sr
• an before everything else

Set C

• na before consonants
• na h- before vowels

Set D

• nam before b, f, m, p
• nan before everything else

The following table sets out when each set is used:

	masculine singular	feminine singular	plural
nominative / accusative	A	B	C
genitive	B	C	D
dative	B	B	C

Click here to view or download this page in PDF format (10 KB).