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The weather An t-Sìde

The weather is almost always a great topic for striking up a conversation. Watch the video below to learn about some of the particular elements of talking about the weather in Gaelic

i

Remember the weather is feminine, consequently use i when describing what it is like outside.

Tha i brèagha

It is fine

Tha i garbh

It is harsh

Tha i fuar

It is cold

Nouns for weather

Another way of describing weather is to use nouns, such as stoirm (storm), reothadh (frost), and uisge (rain):

Tha stoirm ann

There is a storm

Tha reothadh ann

There is a frost

Tha an t-uisge ann

There is the rain

Tha stoirm mhòr ann

There is a big storm

Tha reothadh cruaidh ann

There is a hard frost

Tha uisge mìn ann

There is a gentle rain

Tha an dìle bhàite ann

There is a heavy downpour

Adjectives for weather

We can also use some nouns, like 'fras' (shower) and 'grian' (sun), to form adjectives, such as frasach and grianach, to describe the weather:

Tha fras ann, bha i frasach an-dè cuideachd

There is a shower, it was showery yesterday too

Tha a' ghrian a' deàrrsadh, tha i grianach

The sun is shining, it is sunny

Adding emphasis

We can use 'S e along with adjectives such as deagh (bad) and droch (good) for emphasis. Deagh and droch lenite the following word where possible:

'S e droch latha a th' ann

It is a bad day

'S e deagh shìde a th' ann

It is good weather

Ro and glè, also commonly used for emphasis, lenite the following word as well.

'S e latha gle mhath a th' ann, ach tha i ro bhlàth aig na caoraich

It is a very good day, but it is too warm for the sheep

More examples

Look at the following examples. Which would you prefer if you were going skiing in the Alps?

Tha i a' cur an t-sneachda

It is snowing

Tha tàirneanaich is dealanaich ann

There is thunder and lightning