The word denoting the object of the verbal action, can never, even in poetry, be placed between the Verb and its Nominative, without altering the sense. Hence the arrangement in the following passages is incorrect:--Ghabh domblas agus fiongeur iad, _they took gall and vinegar_. "Buch. Gael. Poems," Edin. 1767. p. 14. The collocation should have been ghabh iad domblas, &c. Do chual e 'n cruinne-cé, _the world heard it_, id. p. 15, ought to have been, do chual an cruinne-cé e. So also, do ghabh truaighe, Iosa dhoibh, _Jesus took pity { 151} on them_. Matt. xx. 34, Irish vers. It ought to have been, do ghabh Iosa truaighe, &c.[103].
The Relatives a _who_, nach _who not_, are always put before the verb; as, am fear a thuit, _the man who fell_; am fear nach dean beud, _the man who will not commit a fault_.
In poetry, or poetical style, where inversion is allowed, the Nominative is sometimes placed before the Verb; as doimhneachd na talmhain ta 'n a laimh, _in his hand is the depth of the earth_. Psal. xcv. 4.
Oigh cha tig le clàr 'n an comhdhail, _No virgin with harp will come to meet them._ Smith's "Ant. Gal. Poems," p. 285.
Gach doire, gach coire, 's gach eas, Bheir a' m' chuimhne cneas mo Ghraidh.
_Each grove, each dell, and each water-fall, will bring to my remembrance the form of my love._ Id. p. 30.
An la sin cha tigh gu bràth, A bheir dearrsa mo ghraidh gu tuath.
_That day shall never come, which shall bring the sun-beam of my love to the North._ Fingal II. 192.
Am focail geilleam do Mhorlamh; Mo lann do neach beo cha gheill.
_In words I yield to Morla; my sword to no living man shall yield._ Fing. II. 203. This inversion is never admitted into plain discourse or unimpassioned narrative.
In those Persons of the Verb in which the terminations supply the place of the Personal Pronouns, no Nominative is expressed along with the Verb. In all the other Persons of the Verb, a Noun or a Pronoun is commonly expressed as its Nominative. In sentences of a poetical structure, the Nominative is sometimes, though rarely, omitted; as, am fear nach { 152} gabh 'nuair gheibh, cha 'n fhaigh 'nuair 's aill, _the man who will not take when [he] can get, will not get when [he] wishes_.
A Gharna, cuim a sheas? a Ghuill, cuim a thuit? _Garno, why stoodst? Gaul, why didst fall?_ Smith's "Ant. Gal. Poems," p. 153.