Time and dates

uair is an hour, and telling the time is saying how many of them it is: Tha e trì uairean, it is three hours. The numbers are the bare ones that go in front of a noun, from the numbers page, not the counting forms with a.

They follow the rules for counting things. One o'clock is just uair, with no aon; dà keeps the noun singular, so two o'clock is dà uair; from three to ten it is the plural uairean. Eleven and twelve put the noun in the middle, as the teens do: aon uair deug, dà uair dheug.

• Dè an uair a tha e?JAY un OO-ur uh HA ehWhat time is it?

  Dè

  what

  an

  the

  uair

  hour

  a

  that

  tha

  is

  e

  it

  🎙 Say it yourself
• Tha e dà uairha eh DAA OO-urIt's two o'clock

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  dà

  two

  uair

  hour

  🎙 Say it yourself
• Tha e seachd uaireanha eh SHAKHK OO-ur-unIt's seven o'clock

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  seachd

  seven

  uairean

  hours

  🎙 Say it yourself
• Tha e dà uair dheugha eh DAA OO-ur yaykIt's twelve o'clock

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  dà

  two

  uair

  hour

  dheug

  -teen

  🎙 Say it yourself

uair is feminine, so you will also hear Tha i trì uairean, it is three hours, with i for she in place of e. Both are right.

Minutes past the hour are an dèidh, after, and minutes to the hour are gu, to — the same split as English. The hour on the end is the bare number: cairteal an dèidh trì, quarter past three.

mionaid, a minute, follows the counting rules too: plural mionaidean after five and ten, but singular after fichead, which takes a singular noun — fichead mionaid, twenty minutes.

• Tha e cairteal an dèidh trìha eh KARSH-tchal un JAY TREEIt's quarter past three

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  cairteal

  quarter

  an dèidh

  after

  trì

  three

  🎙 Say it yourself
• Tha e leth-uair an dèidh siaha eh LYEH-oo-ur un JAY SHEE-uhIt's half past sixleth-uair is a half-hour: half past is a half-hour after.

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  leth-uair

  half-hour

  an dèidh

  after

  sia

  six

  🎙 Say it yourself
• Tha e cairteal gu naoiha eh KARSH-tchal guh NOO-eeIt's quarter to nine

  Tha

  is

  e

  it

  cairteal

  quarter

  gu

  to

  naoi

  nine

  🎙 Say it yourself
• deich mionaidean gu ochdJAYKH MIN-itch-un guh OKHKten to eight

  deich

  ten

  mionaidean

  minutes

  gu

  to

  ochd

  eight

  🎙 Say it yourself

cairteal is a quarter, and like leth-uair it needs no word for minutes. Neither does the hour itself: uairean drops away once an dèidh or gu comes before the number.

Gaelic has no am and pm. Where it matters, the part of the day goes after the time: sa mhadainn, in the morning, or feasgar, which covers the afternoon and the evening. At a time is aig: aig seachd uairean, at seven o'clock.

• aig seachd uairean sa mhadainnek SHAKHK OO-ur-un suh VAT-inat seven in the morning

  aig

  at

  seachd

  seven

  uairean

  hours

  sa

  in-the

  mhadainn

  morning

  🎙 Say it yourself
• meadhan-lathaMEE-un-LAA-uhmidday

  🎙 Say it yourself
• feasgarFES-kurafternoon, evening

  🎙 Say it yourself
• meadhan-oidhcheMEE-un-UY-khyuhmidnight

  🎙 Say it yourself

madainn is softened after sa — sa mhadainn — and the mh comes out as a v.

Every weekday starts with Di-, from the Latin dies, day. Three of them are named for the planets, as in Latin, and three for the church's fast days: Wednesday is the first fast, Friday the fast, and Thursday the day between the two.

A day name on its own already means on that day, so no word for on is needed: Chì mi thu Diluain, I will see you on Monday.

• Chì mi thu DiluainKHEE mee oo jih-LOO-inSee you on Monday

  Chì

  will-see

  mi

  I

  thu

  you

  Diluain

  Monday

  🎙 Say it yourself
• 'S e Dihaoine a th' annsheh jih-HOON-yuh uh HOWNIt's Friday

  'S

  is

  e

  it

  Dihaoine

  Friday

  a

  that

  th'

  is

  ann

  in-it

  🎙 Say it yourself

In some communities, especially in the Hebrides, Sunday is Latha na Sàbaid, the Sabbath day, rather than Didòmhnaich.

Most of the months are named for the natural year and the old festivals — October, an Dàmhair, is the stags' rut, and August, an Lùnastal, is the harvest festival of Lughnasa. They carry the article: January is am Faoilleach, not Faoilleach on its own.

In a date the month comes after den, of the, which softens it — den Ghiblean, of April. Months beginning with a vowel, with d, t or l, or with s after t-, show no change you can see or hear.

• den Ghibleanden YIB-lanof AprilThe G is softened to gh, which before i sounds like the y in yes.

  den

  of-the

  Ghiblean

  April

  🎙 Say it yourself
• den Mhàrtden VAARSHTof March

  den

  of-the

  Mhàrt

  March

  🎙 Say it yourself

The seasons carry the article too: an t-Earrach, spring; an Samhradh, summer; am Foghar, autumn; and an Geamhradh, winter.

A date is the day's place in the month: an ordinal, then latha, then the month after den. The third of April is an treas latha den Ghiblean, the third day of April.

From the eleventh the ordinal is split around latha, as the teens are split around a noun: an t-aonamh latha deug, the eleventh day. Twenty is am ficheadamh, and the days after it are counted on twenty with ar fhichead.

• Dè an ceann-latha a th' ann?JAY un KYOWN-LAA-uh uh HOWNWhat's the date?ceann-latha is literally day-head.

  Dè

  what

  an

  the

  ceann-latha

  date

  a

  that

  th'

  is

  ann

  in-it

  🎙 Say it yourself
• a' chiad latha den Mhàrtuh CHEE-ut LAA-uh den VAARSHTthe first of March

  a'

  the

  chiad

  first

  latha

  day

  den

  of-the

  Mhàrt

  March

  🎙 Say it yourself
• an treas latha den Ghibleanun TRESS LAA-uh den YIB-lanthe third of April

  an

  the

  treas

  third

  latha

  day

  den

  of-the

  Ghiblean

  April

  🎙 Say it yourself

The words for when are single words in Gaelic, each with an- or a- stuck to the front, where English uses a phrase. They go at the end of the sentence as a rule: Bha mi ann an-dè, I was there yesterday.

• an-raoirun-ROO-irlast night

  🎙 Say it yourself
• an-eararun-YER-urthe day after tomorrow

  🎙 Say it yourself
• an-uiridhun-OO-reelast year

  🎙 Say it yourself
• an ath sheachdainun AH HYAKH-kinnext weekath, next, softens the word after it.

  an

  the

  ath

  next

  sheachdain

  week

  🎙 Say it yourself

Time rush, in the games, shows a time or a date and asks for the Gaelic against the clock, straight from this page's tables. Today, tomorrow, yesterday and tonight are in the phrasebook too, with their recordings, alongside the days, the months and the seasons.