DASG Blog

LEACAN BLOG 8: ‘Ever’ and ‘never’

Scottish Gaelic does not use different words to convey the meanings of English ‘ever’ and ‘never’. Both meanings may be expressed by each of the following adverbs:

• riamh (or a-riamh)
• chaoidh (or a-chaoidh)
• gu bràth.

The distribution of these adverbs, however, depends on the time that they refer to relative to the point of reference, i.e. whether that time precedes, coincides or follows the point of reference. Consequently, their use often depends on the tense of the verb that they modify, as described below.

Depending on context, riamh can also mean ‘always’ and chaoidh and gu bràth ‘forever’. (How exactly these expressions translate in particular contexts, however, is a question of English grammar, rather than Gaelic.)

All three expressions can be intensified, primarily by the word tuilleadh, as shown below.
 
Riamh
This adverb refers to the relative past, i.e. to the period that precedes the point of reference. It is almost invariably used with the past tense, which usually corresponds either to the English present perfect or past perfect, depending on whether the reference time is the moment of speaking or is itself located in the past.

Riamh normally means ‘always’ in affirmative clauses (AFF), ‘never’ in negative clauses (NEG), and ‘ever’ in questions (interrogative clauses) (INT), in if-clauses, and in some other contexts.

• [AFF] Sin mar a bha riamh… ‘That is how it has always been…’
• [NEG] Chan fhaca mi duine riamh coltach rium fhìn. ‘I have never seen anyone like me.’
• [INT] ’N cuala tu siud a-riamh, a Ghoraidh…? ‘Have you ever heard that, Godfrey?’ Robh e riamh san Spàinn? Bha dùil acasan a dhol ann as t-samhradh. ‘Had he ever been to Spain? They hoped to go there in summer.’
• [if-clause] Ma thoill duine riamh an tiodal “maor-sìthe”, thoill Seòras e. ‘If anyone has ever deserved the title “constable”, George (definitely) has.’.

Examples of the past perfect occur in the corpus too, but they are few.

• Cha robh e riamh air am faicinn. ‘He had never seen them.’.

Riamh often occurs in (affirmative) relative clauses accompanying equative, comparative and superlative expressions, where it corresponds to English ‘ever’.

• [EQU] Bha i cho fallainn ’s a bha i riamh. ‘She was as healthy as ever.’ (lit. ‘as she had ever / always been’)
• [COMP] Mar sin tha na fulmairean a’ fàs nas pailte na bha iad riamh. ‘So the fulmars are getting more numerous than ever. (lit. ‘than they have ever been’)
• [SUP] Bha e nuas an rathad ugainn a’ marcachd air an each òg bu ghrinne chunna’ mi riamh. ‘He was (coming) down the road towards us riding the most beautiful young horse that I had ever seen.’.

The expression riamh roimhe corresponds to English ‘(n)ever before’, as in:

• [AFF] Gun teagamh, is ann a rinn am batal sin iad na bu chàirdeile na bha iad riamh roimhe. ‘That battle certainly made them more friendly than they had ever been before.’
• [NEG] Cha robh riamh roimhe a leithid againn. ‘We have never had anything like that before.’
• [INT] Na thuit seòladair a-mach à long a-riamh roimhe? ‘Had a sailor ever fallen out of a ship before?’

The expression riamh tuilleadh corresponds either to English ‘ever after’ or ‘(n)ever again’. The beginning of the period that it refers to is defined by the situation described in the sentence, so riamh tuilleadh refers to relative future. In this context, the Gaelic past tense corresponds to the English past tense.

• [AFF] Nuair a dh’éibh mise Maighstir Ciss air thubhairt esan, “T-Seon.” Is b’ e t-Seon a bha air riamh tuilleadh. ‘When I shouted Mr Ciss to him, he said “T-Seon”. And he was called t-Seon ever after.’
• [NEG] Cha do dh’fhan piuthar mo mhàthar air Gleann Dail oidhche riamh tuilleadh. ‘And my aunt never stayed at Glendale overnight again.’.

Although it is normally used with the past tense, riamh may also occur with conditional forms that describe hypothetical past processes, e.g.

• Lean na smaointean seo Eilidh fad na maidne ’s i a’ gabhail a h-àite san teaghlach mar nach biodh i air falbh riamh. ‘These thoughts followed Eilidh all morning while she was taking her place in the family as if she had never been away.’.

It can also accompany conditional forms that describe past habitual processes, in which case it does not necessarily refer to a period that extends to the point of reference, e.g.

• Chan innseadh sgiobachan nam bàtaichean eile riamh dé na fhuair iad, ach bha a’ chùiltearachd sin an còmhnaidh ’na dhearbhadh dhuinn nach d’fhuair iad uiread ruinne. ‘The crews of the other boats would never say how much they caught, but this skulking / secrecy was a proof for us that they did not catch as much as we did.’
• Ach an là-sa a bha muinntir a’ bhaile ast[a]igh aice, rinn bean a’ mhinisteir barrachd bruidhinn ris a’ chuilean na rinn i riutha-san, is bhiodh iad a riamh a’ còmhradh mu dheighinn sin. ‘But that day that she had the village people in the house, the minister’s wife talked more to the puppy than she did to them, and they always used to talk about that.’.

 
Chaoidh / gu bràth
These adverbs refer to the relative future, i.e. to the period that follows the point of reference. They are normally used either with the future tense (if the reference time is the moment of speaking) or with the conditional that acts as the future-in-the-past (if the reference time is in the past). However, other verb forms have also been attested in this context.

Both chaoidh and gu bràth normally mean ‘forever’ in affirmative clauses, ‘never’ in negative clauses, and ‘ever’ in questions, if-clauses, and various other contexts.

Examples that contain the future tense:

• [AFF] Bidh i beò a chaoidh. ‘She will live forever.’ (lit. ‘she will be alive forever’); Bithidh e gàireachdaich gu bràth oirbh. ‘He will laugh at you forever.’
• [NEG] Chan fhàg mi a chaoidh thu. ‘I will never leave you.’; Chan eil thusa a’ tuigsinn idir ’s cha tuig gu bràth. ‘You don’t understand at all and you never will.’
• [INT] An till mise chaoidh? ‘Will I ever return?’; Saoil an cluinnear a leithid sin gu bràth air bilean an t-sluaigh? ‘Will anything like these ever be heard on the lips of the people?’
• [if-clause] Ma chuirear buidheann a chaoidh air chois… ‘If an organisation is ever established…’; Ma thachras e gu bràth… ‘If it ever happens…’.

Similarly, the two adverbs may occur in imperative and elliptical optative expressions, which refer to future time:

• [IMPV] A chaoidh na sgar bhuat sinn. ‘Do not ever separate us from you.’; Na dèan a leithid gu bràth. ‘Do not ever do anything like that.’
• [OPT] Mo shoraidh slàn gu bràth leis. ‘My farewell to him forever.’.

They can also accompany verbal nouns acting as infinitives that refer to future time (even if the main verb is in the past tense), e.g.

• Ach chaidh a’ chùmhnant a bhristeadh nuair a dhrùidh e air nach robh math dha pòsadh a chaoidh. ‘But his vow was broken when he realised that there was no point in him ever getting married’; An toiseach, nach bu chòir dhuinn gu bràth sgur a dh’urnuigh… ‘First, that we should never stop praying…’.

The conditional, functioning as the future-in-the-past, usually occurs in subordinate clauses. The adverbs translate as ‘never’ if the verb in the same clause is negative, and as ‘ever’ in other contexts (even if the main clause is negative), e.g.

• [AFF+NEG] Bha an saoghal a bha sin cho ùr dhomh (…) agus shaoilinn nach fhaighinn mo leòr dheth a chaoidh. ‘That world was so new for me (…) and I thought that I would never get my fill of it’; Bha dùil agam nach tigeadh e gu bràth. ‘I expected that he would never return.’
• [AFF-AFF] Thug i dùil gu ’n tilleadh Iain gu bràth. ‘She gave up hope that Iain would ever return.’
• [NEG+AFF] Cha robh dùil agamsa gum pòsainn a chaoidh. ‘I did not expect that I would ever get married.’
• [if-clause] (…) mhionnaich e gun cuireadh e às dhomh na faigheadh e chaoidh ma sgaoil. ‘(…) he swore that he would eliminate me if he ever got free.’.

In some cases, the conditional has a more hypothetical meaning and the meaning of chaoidh is akin to ‘under no condition’, e.g.

• Ch[a] dèanadh Calum a leithid a chaoidh. ‘Calum would never do anything like that.’.

With the verb bi ‘to be’, the (hypothetical) conditional can be replaced by the past tense bha / robh, which adds certainty. The adverb refers to the relative future. Note the (innovative) perfect conditional in the following example:

• Mura biodh e fhèin air bruidhinn, cha robh sinne air aithneachadh a chaoidh. ‘If he had not spoken, we would never have recognised him.’.

The adverb gu bràth, meaning ‘forever’, may occur in affirmative expressions that contain other tenses, including the past tense, e.g.

• [PRES] Tha sinne às a geasan gu bràth. ‘We are free of her spell forever’; Tha ’n saoghal ud air falbh gu bràth. ‘That world is gone forever.’
• [PST] O sin suas gus an d’ fhàg e Alba gu bràth, bha am Prionnsa air cùram Chlùnaidh. ‘From then on until he left Scotland forever, the Prince was in Cluny’s care.’.

Similarly, both gu bràth and chaoidh have been attested with negative past tense verbs, also referring to the relative future. The Gaelic past tense corresponds to English past tense in this context (cf. riamh tuilleadh above):

• [PST] Chan fhaca mi a chaoidh e an dèidh sin. ‘I never saw him after that.’
• [PST] Ann an dealachadh ris na chàirdean dìleas a dh’fhàgte ’na dhéidh, is dòcha, co-dhiùbh, gu robh e-fhéin an dùil r’a thilleadh (…) Ach cha do thill e gu bràth. ‘Parting from his loyal friends who would be left behind him, he himself may have hoped to return (…) But he never returned.’.

A few examples of chaoidh with negative past habitual verbs occur in the corpus (cf. a similar use of riamh above):

• Nuair a thiginn-sa dhachaigh air cuairt á tìrean-céine no air fòrladh ás an t-saighdeireachd chan fhaighnicheadh mo mhàthair a-chaoidh dhomh… ‘When I would come home from distant countries to visit or on holiday from the army, my mother would never ask me…’.

Finally, both chaoidh and gu bràth can be modified by the noun tuilleadh, whereby the resulting expression means ‘(n)ever again’, e.g.

• [FUT] Chuala mi ceòl ’na mo latha nach cluinnear a chaoidh tuilleadh. ‘I heard music in my day that will never be heard again.’
• [FUT] Cha bhi ar leithid-ne ann gu bràth tuilleadh. ‘There won’t be anyone like us ever again.’
• [PST] Seo a’ mhadainn a bha dealbht’ a-chaoidh tuilleadh air clàr inntinn. ‘This is the morning that was etched on his mind forever and ever.’.

There do not seem to be any examples involving equative, comparative or superlative adjective constructions, comparable to those with riamh.
 
* * * * *

The following conclusions can be drawn based on the data presented above:

• Riamh translates into English as ‘always’ in affirmative sentences, as ‘never’ in negative sentences and as ‘ever’ in questions, if-clauses and various types of relative clauses.
• Riamh normally refers to the relative past and is used mainly with the past tense. In this context, the Gaelic past tense corresponds to the English present perfect and past perfect.
• Riamh can also be used with the conditional expressing hypothetical past events (cf. English as if…).
• Riamh roimhe (used in similar contexts as just riamh) means ‘(n)ever before’.
• Riamh tuilleadh ‘(n)ever again’ is used with the past tense and refers to relative future.
• Chaoidh and gu bràth both translate into English as ‘forever’ in affirmative sentences, as ‘never’ in negative sentences and as ‘ever’ in questions, if-clauses and some types of relative clauses.
• Chaoidh and gu bràth normally refer to the relative future and are used mainly with the future tense or with the ‘future-in-the-past’ conditional, depending on the reference time.
• Both can also occur with other verb forms (the present and past tenses, hypothetical conditional, imperative, verbal noun), always referring to (relative) future time.
• Chaoidh tuilleadh and gu bràth tuilleadh translate as ‘(n)ever again’. Chaoidh tuilleadh, referring to relative future time, has also been attested with the past tense (cf. riamh tuilleadh).
• All three adverbs, meaning ‘always’, ‘(n)ever)’, can be used with the habitual conditional, in which case they refer to the past generally (and not just relative past).

We would be interested to receive comments, feedback and suggestions about the use of the adverbs riamh, chaoidh and gu bràth with different verb forms in various contexts. Does the situation described above correspond to modern vernacular usage? Are there any other contexts in which these adverbs are used?
 
Please email us with your feedback and comments at mail@dasg.ac.uk.

Dr David Mandić
Professor Rob Ó Maolalaigh
Oilthigh Ghlaschu / University of Glasgow