dá ... bheadh

Unreal Past Conditions

Level 4

A past anchor can give a conditional sequence a counterfactual past reading: Dá mbeadh a fhios agam inné, ní dhéanfainn é. Without that context the same forms can express a current hypothetical; explain the intended time.

How It Works

A past anchor can give a conditional sequence a counterfactual past reading: Dá mbeadh a fhios agam inné, ní dhéanfainn é. Without that context the same forms can express a current hypothetical; explain the intended time.

Conditional forms can receive a counterfactual past reading when the surrounding context locates the unreal situation in the past. Inné makes that time explicit below. Without such context, similar forms can describe a present or future hypothetical; English tense wording should follow the intended time.

Examples (3)

  1. Dá mbeadh a fhios agam inné, ní dhéanfainn é.

    If I had known yesterday, I would not have done it.

  2. Dá mbeinn ann inné, chabhróinn leat.

    If I had been there yesterday, I would have helped you.

  3. Dá bhfeicfinn í inné, labhróinn léi.

    If I had seen her yesterday, I would have spoken to her.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

dá ... bheadhLevel 4Unreal Past Conditions

Learn This First

Interpret the hypothetical construction against an explicit past time anchor.

Words in This Pattern

dábí