I've never played around much with the past tense of the copula, so I was caught out a bit when I was trying to think of how to say this last week:

"Was I the only one...

Could I say:

Ar mise an t-aon duine...

?

Redwolf

I believe it's "arbh". Which I'm guessing comes from "ar + raibh". That's what I say when talking anyway - arbh mise an t-aon duine...

Wait for more.

I personally would say an mba and use ar for the present tense (Ar dochtúr é -- Is he a doctor?), but I do think that's right in the standard. Gumbi, I think it would be ar over arbh because it starts with /m/. Like, Arbh eisean would be perfect. But, not 100% sure.

Standard Irish arbh (which is originally an + ro + bha > a'r'bh' > arbh) only before words with an initial vowel or fh, otherwise ar.

I don't think "arbh mise" could be used in any dialect.


Ar mise an t-aon duine ... is correct - at least grammatically. But I'm doubtful if idiomatically as well.

So would it be more idiomatic to say something like "Did anyone else...?"

Here's the context:

I was watching Ros na Rún last Thursday. They killed off a long-running character by having him just quietly slip away while resting after a dance. Two other characters found him, and a third joined them and checked his pulse, but no one did anything else about it....they just stared in horror at his wife. When talking with people about the episode afterward, what I'd wanted to say was "Was I the only person who wanted to yell at the screen "Do CPR, for Christ's sake! Or call an ambulance!"

I wasn't have trouble with any other part of the sentence, but suddenly realized that I've never done much with the past tense of the copula.

Redwolf

no, since "arbh" is a form of the copula and "raibh" isn't a form of the copula. And "raibh" can't be preceded by "ar", and anyway why would "arbh" and "an raibh" coexist if they were the same thing?



"arbh" is only used before vowels: arbh é... = was he.

The past tense of the copula isn't necessary if the following verb is already in the past:

An tusa a rinn sin?
Is mise a bhris an fhuinneog.

_________________
Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I'd say, for example "Was it me who did it":

An mise an t-aon duine a dhein é?

_________________
The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

an mise a rinn(e)/dhein é?
No need of "an t-aon duine" if one translates your sentence.

_________________
Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I was translating Redwolf's sentence, but I accidentally forgot the "only" in the English.

_________________
The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal