modh àithneach

[Tobias]

I'm a beginner of Gàidhlig. I don't know how to use the imperative.
I want to say: Please write in Gàidhlig.
I would translate: Sgrìobh Gàidhlig, but I don't know how to translate please. - With Is toigh leam...

[ceid donn]

For singlar second person, the imperative simply uses the verb root form

Buail! - Hit!
Buail e! - Hit it!

Tog do làmh suas - Lift your hand up

Lorg do phoca-droma - Find/look for your packback

Paisg do aodann - Fold your clothes

A common idiom:

Gabh air do shocair! - Take it easy! (more literally it means "put at your ease")

Negative imperatives use na:

Na buail air mo chas--tha i goirt! - Don't hit on my leg--it's sore!


With plural or polite second person imperatives, you need to use either -ibh or -aibh, depending on if the final vowel in the verb root is slender or broad:

buail > buailibh
tog > togaibh
lorg > lorgaibh
paisg > paisgibh
gabh > gabhaibh

Likewise the rest of the phrase needs to reflect the plural/polite form:

Gabhaibh air ur socair
Lorgaibh ur pocannan-droma
Paisgibh ur n-aodann

You use na with the polite/plural form as well:

Na togaibh ur làmh/làmhan suas - Don't lift your hand/hands up

So to say "Please write in Gaelic", unless you're specifically speaking to one person in particular, in an informal setting, it will be:

Sgrìobhaibh anns a' Ghàidhlig or simply Sgrìobhaidh sa Ghàidhlig (anns a' can be shortened to sa, but if you're a beginner, I recommend using the long form until you learn it well.)

Since you are already using the polite form here, that is sufficient.

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Side note: Gàidhlig has a complete imperative tense but the 1st person form is not used as often as the 2nd person form, and 3rd person form is pretty rare. At your level you need only learn the 2nd person forms, for both singular and plural/polite and for slender and broad final vowels. But if you're curious, the full imperative tense looks like this, with the slender and broad variations:

buaileam - Let me hit
buail - Hit
buaileadh e, i - Let him/her hit
buaileamaid - Let us hit
buailibh - Hit
buaileadh iad - Let them hit

togam - Let me lift
tog - Lift
togadh e, i - Let him/her lift
togamaid - Let us lift
togaibh - Lift
togadh iad - Let them life