One of the most interesting things about Gaelic is the way it uses possessives, there are two ways in Gaelic. Some things are “at you” meaning in English, close to you, and other things are the same as in English with a version of my, yours, his etc…
The possessives of My yours his etc are only used in Gaelic if it is something very very close, like a body part, a family member or a quality which is cherished. Everything else is “at you” or “at him”
This topic also introduces certain behaviours like Lenition where “h” is inserted in the word as well as others which we have yet to discuss such as mo becoming M´
Please study the following, taken from the Gaelic Grammar wiki page:
Examples
Before words beginning with consonants
- my foot: mo chas
- your foot: do chas
- his foot: a chas
- her foot: a cas
- our feet: àr casan
- your (pl) feet: ùr casan
- their feet: an casan
Before words beginning with vowels
- my father: m’athair
- your father: d’athair
- his father: athair
- her father: a h-athair
- our father: àr n-athair
- your (pl) father: ùr n-athair
- their father: an athair
Possessive Pronouns using Aig
To express a less close relationship between the possessor and the possessum, a combination of an article, a noun, and an accordingly inflected preposition, in this order, is used.
- my cat: an cat agam
- your cat: an cat agad
- his cat: an cat aige
- her cat: an cat aice
- our cat: an cat againn
- your (pl) cat: an cat agaibh
- their cat: an cat aca
- Iain’s Cat: an cat aig Iain”
Kilbirnie & Beyond 