How to Spot a Feminine Noun

[@professorracc.9780]

Another way to remember the gender of a word, which I do with my german too, is to remember it with the article. For example, if you remember 'am balach' for 'the boy' instead of just 'balach' and 'a' bheurla' for ''(the) english" instead of just 'beurla' then if you know your forms you will know the gender. Helps you learn the forms too.

[@ja3zex]

This is very helpful the duolingo course does not explain why sone things get lenited after some words but not others so I just had to guess I had no idea it had to do with gender until now

[@robertofranciscomonsalvesp8080]

Thanks for the useful tips. They help a lot. Now, making mistakes is good for learning better...but of course looking it up in a dictionary is always safer. Bò is very similar to the Spanish and Italian words for "buey" and "bue"(bull). The same with "caoira" for "cabra" and "capra"(goat). This helps remembering as well. Gracias por la lección.

[@GaelicwithJason]

You're welcome, a charaid. It's neat to hear how words in one language can support learning another one. That would help with memory indeed. Like I said before, you're a lucky fellow for having those connections. :)

[@juliegilmore6293]

One of my biggest questions ha been how do i know if it is feminine or masculine. This really helped to understand.

[@GaelicwithJason]

Sgoinneil! Tha mi toilichte sin a chluinntinn, a Shìleas. :)

[@scotansgeulaiche6248]

Here's a question for a Gàidhlig speaker, Jason. Asking "Dè an t-ainm air a' bheinn?" (What is the name of the mountain?) I gave and expected the answer from my students " 'S e Stob Dearg a th'oirre" or "Is e Stob..." One of my students asked would it not be "Is i Stob Dearg..." using "i" because mountain is a feminine noun. I said that it was grammatically correct to use "Is i..." meaning "she / it is...", because we know we are talking about a feminine noun, mountain, but that I couldn't think to have heard it used by the few Gàidhlig speakers that I know. Your thoughts? What do speakers actually say when using the " 'S e" construction in such circumstances?

[@GaelicwithJason]

A fair question, Scot. I would say that *'S e* has become a fixed part of those kinds of phrases, regardless of the gender of the noun that follows. I get the impression that at one time they did match. I asked my native speaker friend about it. He said that it's a bit old-fashioned to do that and that 'S e is much more commonly used in everyday language. That being said, *'S i* would still work if not mentioning the name: 'S i as motha. 'S i a tha mòr. That seems to be still used.

[@connermcdonald1238]

Thanks Jason for your teaching....all four of my grandparents came from Alba so I got a smattering of Gaelic along the way; but your videos help tighten things up. Air son an cuidich, morain taing

[@GaelicwithJason]

'S e do bheatha, a Chonchobhar. How great that you have Gaelic in the family! I'm happy to be able to help you tighten it all up. :)

[@Seumas-MacDhaibhidh]

"If they'd like to pay me, please get in touch!" Hahahahaha, a Dheusain, tha thu èibhinn!"

[@GaelicwithJason]

Just wanted to put that out there... :D

[@happytraveller8953]

Ding ding ding!!! And final 'e' or 'i' for the winner as to why some words get lenited and some do not. As in Madainn mhath and feasgar math. Now this makes sense. Of course, until I run into the exceptions... this will still be tricky with the spoken word because you can't 'see' the final vowel when someone is talking and if your hearing is rubbish like mine is. I would expect this will help more when reading the words until you really get to know the language as a whole better and then it will all just click...at least that's what I'm hoping.

[@GaelicwithJason]

You got it, Mary Lou! Yes, there will be exceptions but in the big picture, there are only a handful of them. I suppose we're quite lucky that we can look things up later on and see the spelling. Yes, I agree with you: this kind of knowledge aids reading. Over time and many, many repetitions, it all sinks in on a deeper level until it's natural. It's just how it is. It will happen! 🙂

[@kurtbogle2973]

My ancestors used to own ships, One of them was , The Concert of Glasgow.

[@FUSIONJAZZMAN420]

Should we be looking up the gender when we learn the word, or is it okay to learn the word without knowing the gender? A lot of materials and programs don't tell you the gender unfortunately and it's not always easy to look it up all the time.

[@GaelicwithJason]

Madainn mhath, a Dhylain! In my eyes, it's fine not to worry about the gender of the word if you're still learning it. Getting comfortable with the meaning of new words is the highest priority, in my eyes. Later on, if you're working on sharpening the accuracy of your Gaelic, possibly through a bit of grammar study, knowing the gender of a word will be very helpful. First, though, you need to know what a word means and to be able to recognize it when you see/hear it. Does that help, Dylan?

[@barkleyburker7849]

just watched this video..good but went to dictionary..punched in caileag. got the word, run down thru the phrases and in some cases they did not include the caileag which is in the phrase. was it intended for me to insert caileag or not use the word. the phrase was every girl who wished to have a career? whats up thanks

[@nevem5010]

👍👍❤️

[@GaelicwithJason]

Tapadh leat, a Neve!

[@kalinadesseaux8011]

Question: what about a male sheep, the ram, how do say it?

[@GaelicwithJason]

There are a few words out there for ram. You could go with "rùda" (roo-dah).

[@tawnymacleod4022]

Helo Jason

[@GaelicwithJason]

Hi Tonya! Thanks for watching. How's your new year going so far?

[@kurtbogle2973]

To Celts Feminine is Devine. I don't however think that's all inclusive and across the board.

[@annmacleod1099]

If people are saying I can't speak the scottish gealic why would I just write the language that doesn't make sense .

[@saxonwillow]

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[@kurtbogle2973]

Pero, Italian se egual a espanol, no egual a gail.