A Big If 2

[Continued from A Big If ]

Mura ndéanaim ragobair gach lá, ní féidir liom mo chuid a shaothrú.

If I do not do overtime each day, I cannot earn my living.

[There is a reasonable probability that the person does not do overtime every day.]

Mura mbeidh siad anseo ag a seacht a chlog, caillfidh siad an bád.

If they are not here at 7 o’clock, they will miss the boat.

[There is a reasonable chance that they will not show up at 7]

Mura stadfaidh siad den ragairne, ní ghnóthóidh siad cluiche eile go brách.

If they don’t stop the carousing, they will never win another match.

[If appears to be unlikely that they will stop the carousing.]

[Note: The last 2 examples show that, unlike má, mura can be used with the future tense (mura mbeidh, mura stadfaidh) to express a future condition.]

In case it is encountered elsewhere, it is also worth noting (but not worrying about) the fact that, rather than the future, the present subjunctive may be used with mura to express a future condition:

Mura bhfágfaidh tú eochair faoin mata, beidh orm fuinneog a bhriseadh.

If you do not [more accurately: if you will not] leave a key under the mat, I will have to break a window.

[There is a reasonable probability that a key will not be left under the mat.]

Here, not surprisingly, the verb fág is in the future tense.

However, this sentence could also be written with the present subjunctive rather than the future to give the very same meaning:

Mura bhfága tú eochair faoin mata, beidh orm fuinneog a bhriseadh.

Examples of using mura to express unlikely negative-ifs

(i.e ones where there is a remote chance of the if……not condition being fulfilled or attained and where dá would have been used if they were positive if-clauses)

Before going further, I will refer back to a previous example lest I inadvertently caused confusion (although this is somewhat foolhardy since I may muddle things even more):

Mura raibh tú caochta, an raibh tú beagáinín súgach?

This was translated as:

If you were not paralytic/blind drunk, were you a little bit merry?

This is a likely if-clause. The person asking the question is accepting that there is a reasonable likelihood that the other was not completely inebriated. However, at first glance it may have appeared to have been an unlikely if-clause because of the word were in the if-clause. That is to say that I may have created some confusion by translating previous unlikely-if-clauses with the word were and the English past subjunctive (if you were to marry him, etc…). But, of course, were is not only used in the past subjunctive. It is also used in the “ordinary” (indicative) past – which is how it is being used in our if you were not paralytic example. If we were dealing with an unlikely if-clause, it would need to be handled differently as may be seen from the following:

Mura mbeifeá caochta, ní bheadh dhá thaobh an bhealaigh leat.

If you would not have been paralytic, you would not have been all over the road.

This is an unlikely if-clause. It could also be translated as:

If you were not paralytic/were you not paralytic, you would not have been all over the road.

Unlike the other example (which was also translated as if you were not paralytic), here, it is being suggested that there is practically no chance that the person was not paralytic i.e, the suggestion is that the person was well and truly inebriated. So, we have 2 different if-clauses – both of which may be translated into English as if you were not paralytic – but each conveying opposite meanings. The first one suggests that the person was not completely intoxicated and the other suggests that complete intoxication reigned supreme!

The clue, should one be needed, that one is an unlikely if-clause is that mura has been followed by the conditional mood (mura mbeifeá). Similarly, the clue that our other example was a likely if-clause is that mura was followed by the past indicative rather than the conditional (mura raibh).

Looking at this example again:

Mura mbeifeá caochta, ní bheadh dhá thaobh an bhealaigh leat.

If you would not have been drunk, you would not have been all over the road.

We can see that it illustrates another issue to which we referred (briefly) earlier – i.e. that the conditional mood is the same for all tenses.

This is to say that the same construction would be used even if we were talking about present or future time:

Mura mbeifeá caochta anois, ní bheadh dhá thaobh an bhealaigh leat.

If you would not be drunk now, you would not be all over the road.

Mura mbeifeá caochta Dé Sathairn seo chugainn, ní bheadh dhá thaobh an bhealaigh leat.

If you would not be drunk next Saturday, you would not be all over the road.

Other examples:

Mura mbeinn i mo spásaire, bheinn i mo mheicneoir.

If I would not be an astronaut, I would be a mechanic.

[Or - if I were not an astronaut/were I not an astronaut…i.e. the likelihood of me not being an astronaut is low i.e. I am an astronaut.]

Mura rachfá ar scoil, ní éireodh na scrúduithe leat.

If you would not go to school, you would not pass the exams.

[or – if you were not to go to school/were you not to go to school,.........i.e.the likelihood of this person not going to school is low – this person is attending/is going to be attending school, like it or not.]

Chuirfeadh sé an t-éadach ar crochadh amuigh sa ghairdín anois, mura mbeadh sé ag cur báistí.

He would put the clothes hanging out in the garden now, if it would not be raining.

[Or – ….if it were not raining……i.e. the chances of it not raining are remote – in fact, it is raining.]

Before moving on, it might be fun to try to turn all of our previous examples on their heads i.e. to create unlikely if clauses where we previously had likely ones – and vice versa. However, maybe we will content ourselves with doing this with the last example only. This could be made into a likely negative if-sentence by getting rid of the conditional mood of the verb:

Cuirfidh sé an t-éadach ar crochadh amuigh sa ghairdín anois, mura bhfuil sé ag cur báistí.

He will put the clothes hanging out in the garden now, if it is not raining.

The sense here is that there is at least a reasonable chance that it is not raining – unlike our last example where there was the definite sense that the weather was wet.

Brief note on “murach”

Murach (a contraction of mura mbeadh) is a useful word that can be translated as if it were not for// only for//without. It is typically used when describing a particular state of affairs/situation that would come to pass if a certain existing condition did not apply. It will not be discussed in detail here but the following points are worth noting:

The verb in the main clause is usually (but not always) in the conditional mood.

Murach (unlike má, dá or mura) may be followed by a noun or pronoun (rather than a verb).

If it is followed by a verb, a verbal particle (e.g. go or nach) is needed and the meaning becomes if it were not that// only that (rather than if it were not for//only for).

Examples

Murach thusa,
A lao, ní fhéadfainn an doras a fháil,
Ní fhéadfainn an t-urlár féin a fheiceáil,
Bheinn brónach is dubhach,
Murach thusa.

“If not for you,
Babe I couldn’t find the door,
Couldn’t even find the floor
I’d be sad and blue,
If not for you.” [From “If not for you” by Bob Dylan]

Murach a chuid airgid, ní bhfaigheadh sé bean ar bith.

Only for his money, he wouldn’t get any woman at all.

Murach go ndearna tú do dhícheall, ní bheinn sásta leat.

If it were not that you did your best, I would not be satisfied with you.

Murach gur thit sí, bheadh an báire lei.

Only that she fell, she would have won.

In the last example above, the verb in the main clause above could also be in the past tense (see our rule above that stated that the verb in the main clause was usually but not always in the conditional mood):

Murach gur thit sí, bhí an báire lei.

Only that she fell, she had won.

If and the copula (briefly)

Má, dá and mura may also be used with the copula. This will not be discussed in any detail, other than to point out, by means of a few examples, that, as above, má is used with likely if-clauses, dá with unlikely if-clauses and mura with both types. At this stage, to avoid flogging the point even further, I will refrain from following each example with a laboured explanation as to the likely or unlikely nature of the if-clause.

Examples

Is spásaire é Liam.

Liam is an astronaut.

Más spásaire é Liam, caithfidh sé a bheith ina shláinte.

If Liam is an astronaut, he must be in good health.

[Má combines with is to become más]

Mura spásaire é Liam, cén fáth a mbíonn sé ag feamaíl timpeall na háite agus culaith spáis air?

If Liam is not an astronaut, why does he gad about the place in a space suit?

Is meicneoir é Liam.

Liam is a mechanic.

Ba mheicneoir é Liam.

Liam was a mechanic or Liam would be a mechanic.

[Note: In this type of copular construction, ba can mean both was or would be depending on the context]

Má ba mheicneoir é Liam, is dócha go raibh breithiúnas maith aige ar ghluaisteáin.

If Liam was a mechanic, it is probable that he was a good judge of cars.

Murar mheicneoir é Liam, cén tslí bheatha a bhí aige?

If Liam was not a mechanic, what was his occupation?

[Mura combined with the copula becomes murar in the past tense and in the conditional mood]

Dá mba mheicneoir gluaisteáin é Liam, ní bheadh air eolas a chur ar an réaltfhisic.

If Liam would be a car mechanic, he would not have to acquaint himself with astrophysics.

[Or - If Liam were a car mechanic/were Liam a car mechanic,…..]

Murar mheicneoir é Liam, bheadh áthas air a bheith ina spásaire.

If Liam would not be a mechanic, he would be delighted to be an astronaut.

[Or – if Liam were not a mechanic/were Liam not a mechanic,..]

Summary

Anyone who has chosen to make straight for this section after reading the opening paragraph may well have done exactly the right thing because the core of the whole if topic can be summarized succinctly as follows:

If we have a likely if, we use má.

If we were to have an unlikely if, we would use dá.

Firstly submitted by: Merryploughbhoy