1)I want to say he wanted or desired: is it
Ba mhian leis...? I wonder does this mean he would want or desire. If not,also, how would I say this ?

2)Also, I understand /B'éigean dom/ is a way of saying "I had to ". How do I say "I have to " using this form? is it " is éigean dom" and what about the conditional tense- i would have to do this?

3)Lastly, i think "is ar éigean dom an aiste a chríochniú.. " means "i hardly have the essay finished..." . How would I say "i hardly had the essay finished..".
Sorry for multiple questions. Thanks in advance

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{Is geal leis an bhfiach dubh a ghearrcach féin}

Let me answer No. 3. You said "is ar éigean dom an aiste a chríochniú". I don't know if there is some dialect that has this -- I'm only telling you the forms I know -- but ar éigin is what I'm familiar with. Éigean means violence, and this is masculine, with the genitive éigin. It seems that you could parse it as feminine in the dative, at least in the phrase ar éigin, "hardly". I've never seen do after this either. What you want is this:

Is ar éigin a bhí an aiste críochnaithe agam, nuair.....

[Peadar Ua Laoghaire wrote ar éigin. Amhlaoibh Ó Loingsigh had ar éigint. Someone might give information on further forms.]

1. The past and conditional of the copula is the same. So ba mhian leis means "he wanted to" or "he would want to". Dob áil leis - is another way of saying it. D'oir do, "he wanted/needed to". D'oirfeadh do, "he would want to". This is from Séadna:



= I would like a word with you alone

2. I have to:
tá orm
caithfead (I must - I believe this is often future-tense)
ní mór dom/ní mór dhom (can be pronounced ní muar 'om)

tá orm dul ann
ní mór dhom dul ann, etc

Conditional forms:
(do) bheadh orm - for some reason I find less frequent attestation of this in the conditional, and think tá orm best used in the present
(do) chaithfinn
níor mhór dhom

Ba mhian leis - There’s no difference between past and conditional in copula forms (ba).
Ba mhian leis = He wanted / he would want



Is éigean dom = I must / I have to, but there are more common ways in present tense, esp. caithfidh mé
So, éigean is usually used in past tense, b’éigean dom. (again the same form in conditional mood)



There’s no "ar éigean dom", just ar éigean = hardly
It is an often fronted adverb followed by a relative clause:
(Is) ar éigean a chríochnaigh mé an aiste ...
or rather
(Is) ar éigean atá an aiste críochnaithe agam ...

As there are various gradations of the modals (have to... must), Peadar Ua Laoghaire wrote this on the differences:



He used his own spellings, so oireadh, oireann and caithfead would be better there.

great. Thank you all so much!

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{Is geal leis an bhfiach dubh a ghearrcach féin}