# attá
## Middle Irish
### Etymology

From Old Irish at·tá.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aˈtaː/

### Verb

at·tá
* to be

#### Conjugation

* Third-person singular preterite absolute/conjunct: boí, bui
* Third-person singular perfect deuterotonic: ro·boí

#### Descendants

* Classical Gaelic: a-tá
* Irish: tá
* Manx: ta
* Scottish Gaelic: tha

### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “attá”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Old Irish
### Alternative forms

* ad·tá, a·tá, at·táa, a·táa

### Etymology

From ad- +‎ ·tá. For forms in b- and f-, see bí and fil respectively.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /atˈtaː/

### Verb

at·tá (prototonic ·tá, verbal noun buith, buid)
* to be
* to have (in the construction at·tá X oc Y (“Y has X”) or with an affixed pronoun)
    Synonyms: táth-, techtaid
For quotations using this term, see Citations:attá.

#### Usage notes

This is the so-called "substantive verb", which takes an adverb, an adverbial phrase, or a prepositional phrase as the predicate. When the predicate is a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective, the copula is is used instead.
As in modern Irish, if there is no other predicate in an existential “there is” clause, the adverb and is used:
* c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 29$^a$28
    Ní taibre grád for nech causa a pectha ꝉ a chaíngníma: ar bíit alaili and ro·finnatar a pecthe resíu do·coí grád forru; alaili is íarum ro·finnatar. Berir dano fri láa brátha.You sg should not confer orders on anyone because of his sin or of his good deed: for there are some whose sins are found out before their ordination, others whose [sins] are found out afterwards. Reference is made, then, to the day of judgment.(literally, “…before orders shall go upon them…”)

#### Conjugation
##### Finite forms

| | 1st sing. | 1st sing. | 2d sing. | 2d sing. | 3d sing. | 3d sing. | Impersonal | Impersonal |
| | 1st pl. | 1st pl. | 2d pl. | 2d pl. | 3d pl. | 3d pl. | | Impersonal | Impersonal |
| Pres.​indic.​prog.* | at·tó | ·tó | at·taí, a·taí | ·taí | at·tá, a(d)·tá, a(t)·táa | ·tá | — | ·táthar |
| ·táthar ||
| Pres.​indic.​prog.* | at·taam | ·taam | at·taïd | ·taïd | a(t)·taat | ·taat | — | ·táthar |
| Pres.​indic.​hab. | bíuu | ·bíu | — | ·bí | bíid; ro·bí (ro-form) | ·bí; ·rubai (ro-form) | bíthir; ro·bíther (ro-form) | ·bíther; ·rubther (ro-form) |
| ·bíther; ·rubther (ro-form) ||
| Pres.​indic.​hab. | bímmi | ·biam | — | — | bíit; ro·bïat (ro-form) | ·bïat; ·rubat (ro-form) | bíthir; ro·bíther (ro-form) | bíther (relative) |
| Pres.​indic.​hab. | bímme (relative) | bímme (relative) | — | — | bíte (relative) | bíte (relative) | | bíthir; ro·bíther (ro-form) | bíther (relative) |
| Imperfect indicative | ·bíinn | ·bíinn | — | — | ·bíth | ·bíth | ·bíthe | ·bíthe |
| Imperfect indicative | ·bímmis | ·bímmis | — | — | ·bítis | ·bítis | | ·bíthe | ·bíthe |
| Preterite | bá | ·bá | — | ·bá | boí | ·boí | bothae | ·both |
| ·both ||
| Preterite | bámmar | ·bámmar | — | ·baid | bátar | ·bátar | bothae | ·both |
| ·both ||
| Perfect | ro·bá | ·roba | ro·bá | — | ro·boí | ·robae, ·robæ | ro·both | ·rabad |
| Perfect | ro·bámmar | ·robammar | ro·baid | ·robaid | ro·bátar | ·robatar | ro·both | ·rabad |
| Future | bia | — | bie | — | bieid | ·bia | bethir | ·bether |
| ·bether ||
| Future | beimmi | ·biam | bethe | ·bieid | bieit | ·bïat | bethir | ·bether |
| ·bether ||
| Conditional | ·beinn | ·beinn | — | — | ·biad | ·biad | | |
| Conditional | ·bemmis | ·bemmis | — | — | ·betis | ·betis | | | |
| Present subjunctive | béo | ·béo | bee; ro·bé (ro-form) | ·bé | beid, beith; ro·bé (ro-form) | ·bé; ·roib (ro-form) | bethir | ·bether |
| ·bether ||
| Present subjunctive | beimmi; ro·bem (ro-form) | ·bem; ·robam (ro-form) | beithe; ro·beid (ro-form) | ·beid; ·robith (ro-form) | beit; ro·bet (ro-form) | ·bet; ·robat (ro-form) | bether (relative) | bether (relative) |
| Past subjunctive | ·beinn | ·beinn | ·betha | ·betha | ·beth | ·beth | ·bethe | ·bethe |
| Past subjunctive | ·beinn | ·beinn | ·betha | ·betha | ro·beth (ro-form) | ·robad, ·rabad (ro-form) | ·bethe | ·bethe |
| Past subjunctive | ·bemmis | ·bemmis | ·bethe | ·bethe | ·betis | ·betis | | ·bethe | ·bethe |
| Past subjunctive | ·bemmis | ·bemmis | ·bethe | ·bethe | ro·betis (ro-form) | ·roibtis (ro-form) | ·bethe | ·bethe |
| Imperative | | | bí | bí | bíid, bíth | bíid, bíth | | |
| Imperative | — | — | bíid, bíth | bíid, bíth | bïat | bïat | | | |
| *Certain conjunct forms of the present progressive are formed with fil, taking an infixed object pronoun as the logical subject, e.g. ní·ḟil "it is not", ní-n·fil "we are not", ní-s·fil "they are not" etc. |||||||||

##### Verbal noun

    buith, buid

##### Verbal of necessity

    buithi

##### Third-person forms with affixed pronouns expressing ‘to have’

    The person of the affixed pronoun corresponds to the subject of ‘have’ in English; the number of the verb form corresponds to the number of the direct object of ‘have’ in English. All forms in the table below have a singular subject unless otherwise indicated.
| Person of aff.​pron.→ | 1st sg. | 2d sg. | 3d sg. masc. | 3d sg. fem. | 1st pl. | 2d pl. | 3d pl. |
| Pres.​ind. | táthum, nom·thá rod·mbí (relative, habitual, ro-form) ním·tha (negative) ním·that (negative; plural subject) | táthut | táithi | táthus | táthunn, táithiunn nín·tá (negative) | táthuib, nob·tá | nís·ta (negative) |
| Preterite | — | — | nís·mboí (negative) | — | — | — | — |
| Perfect | — | — | ro·mbaí | — | — | — | — |
| Future | rom·bia (ro-form) | — | — | — | — | bethib | bethus ros·mbia (ro-form) |
| Conditional | — | — | — | — | — | — | ronda·biad (relative, ro-form) |
| Pres.​subj. | rom·bé | rot·bé | — | — | — | — | — |

##### Combinations expressing ‘than’ with al (“beyond”), ind (“for which”), a (“which”)

| | 1st sing. | 2d sing. | 3d sing. | 1st pl. | 2d pl. | 3d pl. |
| Pres.​indic.​prog. | ol·dáu, ol·dó a·doa | ol·daí, ol·taí in·daí a·taí | ol·daas, ol·doas in·daas, in·dá(a)s | — | — | ol·dát(a)e, oldáta in·dát(a)e |
| Pres.​indic.​hab. | — | ol·mbí | — | — | — | — |
| Preterite | — | — | ol·mboí i·mboí | — | — | ol·mbátar |
| Future | — | — | — | — | ola·mbieid | — |

#### Related terms

* ad·cota
* táth-

#### Descendants

* Middle Irish: at·tá
** Classical Gaelic: a-tá
** Irish: tá
** Manx: ta
** Scottish Gaelic: tha

### Further reading

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “attá”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, §§ 777–90, pages 477–83; reprinted 2017