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*'''fu''' (ful): /fu/, /fɪ/, /fɑ/ or /fe/ depending on dialect. Also 'fu'', 'fie', 'fy', 'fae' and 'fa'.
*'''fu''' (ful): /fu/, /fɪ/, /fɑ/ or /fe/ depending on dialect. Also 'fu'', 'fie', 'fy', 'fae' and 'fa'.
*The word ending '''ae''': /ɑ/, /ɪ/ or /e/ depending on dialect. Also 'a', 'ow' or 'y', for example: ''arrae'' (arrow), ''barrae'' (barrow) and ''windae'' (window), etc.
*The word ending '''ae''': /ɑ/, /ɪ/ or /e/ depending on dialect. Also 'a', 'ow' or 'y', for example: ''arrae'' (arrow), ''barrae'' (barrow) and ''windae'' (window), etc.
==Grammar==
===The definite article===
''The'' is used before the names of seasons, days of the week, many nouns, diseases, trades, occupations, sciences and academic subjects. It is also often used in place of the indefinite article and instead of a possessive pronoun: ''the hairst'' (autumn), ''the Wadensday'' (Wednesday), ''awa til the kirk'' (off to church), ''the nou'' (at the moment), ''the day'' (today), ''the haingles'' (influenza), ''the Laitin'' (Latin), ''The deuk ett the bit breid'' (The duck ate a piece of bread), ''the wife'' (my wife) etc.
===Nouns===
Nouns usually form their plural in -(''e'')''s'' but some irregular plurals occur: ''ee''/''een'' (eye/eyes), ''cauf''/''caur'' (calf/calves), ''horse''/''horse'' (horse/horses), ''cou''/''kye'' (cow/cows), ''shae''/''shuin'' (shoe/shoes).
Nouns of measure and quantity unchanged in the plural: ''fower fit'' (four feet), ''twa mile'' (two miles), ''five pund'' (five pounds), ''three hunderwecht'' (three hundredweight).
Regular plurals include ''laifs'' (loaves), ''leafs'' (leaves), ''shelfs'' (shelves) and ''wifes'' (wives), etc.
===Diminutives===
Diminutives in -''ie'', ''burnie'' small ''burn'' (brook), ''feardie''/''feartie'' (frightened person, coward), ''gamie'' (gamekeeper), ''kiltie'' (kilted soldier), ''postie'' (postman), ''wifie'' (woman), ''rhodie'' (rhododendron), and also in -''ock'', ''bittock'' (little bit), ''playock'' (toy, plaything), ''sourock'' (sorrel) and Northern –''ag'', ''bairnag'' (little) ''bairn'' (child), ''Cheordag'' (Geordie), -''ockie'', ''hooseockie'' (small house), ''wifeockie'' (little woman), both influenced by the Scottish Gaelic diminutive -''ag'' (-''óg'' in Irish Gaelic).
===Modal verbs===
The modal verbs ''mey'' (may), ''ocht tae'' (ought to), and ''sall'' (Shall) are no longer used much in Scots but occurred historically and are still found in anglicised literary Scots. ''Can'', ''shoud'' (should), and ''will'' are the preferred Scots forms.
Scots employs double modal constructions ''He'll no can come the day'' (He won't be able to come today), ''A micht coud come the morn'' (I may be able to come tomorrow), ''A uised tae coud dae it, but no nou'' (I could do it once, but not now).
===Present tense of verbs===
The present tense of verbs adhere to the Northern subject rule whereby verbs end in -''s'' in all persons and numbers except when a single personal pronoun is next to the verb, ''Thay say he's ower wee'', ''Thaim that says he's ower wee'', ''Thir lassies says he's ower wee'' (They say he's too small), etc. ''Thay're comin an aw'' but ''Five o thaim's comin'', ''The lassies? Thay've went'' but ''Ma brakes haes went''. ''Thaim that comes first is serred first'' (Those who come first are served first). ''The trees growes green in the simmer'' (The trees grow green in summer).
''Wis'' 'was' may replace ''war'' 'were', but not conversely: ''You war''/''wis thare''.
===Past tense of verbs===
The regular past form of the verb is -(''i'')''t'' or -(''e'')''d'', according to the preceding consonant or vowel ''hurtit'', ''skelpit'' (smacked), ''Mendit'', ''kent''/''kenned'' (knew/known), ''cleant''/''cleaned'', ''scrieved'' (scribbled), ''telt''/''tauld'' (told), ''dee'd'' (died). Some verbs have distinctive forms: ''greet''/''grat''/''grutten'' (weep/wept), ''fesh''/''fuish''/''fuishen'' (fetch/fetched), ''lauch''/''leuch''/''lauchen~leuchen'' (laugh/laughed), ''thrash''/''thruish''/''thrashen~thruishen'' (thresh/threshed), ''wash''/''wuish''/''washen~wuishen'' (wash/washed), ''gae''/''gaed''/''gane'' (go/went/gone), ''gie''/''gied''/''gien'' (give/gave/given), ''pit''/''pat''/''pitten'' (put/put/put/), ''git''/''gat''/''gotten'' (get/got/got(ten)), ''ride''/''rade''/''ridden'' (ride/rode/ridden), ''drive''/''drave''/''driven~dreen'' (drive/drove/driven), ''write''/''wrat(e)''/''written'' (write/wrote/written), ''bind''/''band''/''bund'' (bind/bound/bound), ''find''/''fand''/''fund'' (find/found/found), ''fecht''/''focht''/''fochten'' (fight/fought), ''bake''/''bakit~beuk''/''baken'' (bake/baked), ''tak(e)''/''teuk''/''taen'' (take/took/taken), ''chuise''/''chuist''/''chuisen'' (choose/chose/chosen).
===Word order===
Scots prefers the word order ''He turnt oot the licht'' to 'He turned the light out' and ''Gie me it'' to 'Give it to me'.
Certain verbs are often used progressively ''He wis thinkin he wad tell her'', ''He wis wantin tae tell her''.
Verbs of motion may be dropped before an adverb or adverbial phrase of motion ''A'm awa tae ma bed'', ''That's me awa hame'', ''A'll intae the hoose an see him''.
===Ordinal numbers===
Ordinal numbers ending in -''t'' ''seicont'', ''fowert'', ''fift'', ''saxt''— (second, fourth, fifth, sixth) etc. ''first'', ''Thrid''/''third''— (first, third).
===Adverbs===
Adverbs are usually of the same form as the verb root or adjective especially after verbs. ''Haein a real guid day'' (Having a really good day). ''She's awfu fauchelt'' (She's awfully tired).
Adverbs are also formed with -''s'', -''lies'', ''lins'', ''gate''(''s'')and ''wey''(''s'') -''wey'', ''whiles'' (at times), ''mebbes'' (perhaps), ''brawlies'' (splendidly), ''geylies'' (pretty well), ''aiblins'' (perhaps), ''airselins'' (backwards), ''hauflins'' (partly), ''hidlins'' (secretly), ''maistlins'' (almost), ''awgates'' (always, everywhere), ''ilkagate'' (everywhere), ''onygate'' (anyhow), ''ilkawey'' (everywhere), ''onywey''(''s'') (anyhow, anywhere), ''endweys'' (straight ahead), ''whit wey'' (how, why).
===Subordinate clauses===
Verbless subordinate clauses introduced by ''an'' and expressing surprise or indignation ''She haed tae walk the hale lenth o the road an her sieven month pregnant'', ''He telt me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg'' (and me with my sore leg).
===Negation===
Negation occurs by using the adverb ''no'', in the North East ''nae'', as in ''A'm no comin'' (I'm not coming), ''A'll no learn ye'' (I will not teach you), or by using the suffix -''na'' (pronunciation depending on dialect), as in ''A dinna ken'' (I don't know), ''Thay canna come'' (They can't come), ''We coudna hae telt him'' (We couldn't have told him), and ''A hivna seen her'' (I haven't seen her).
The usage with ''no'' is preferred to that with -''na'' with contractable auxiliary verbs like -''ll'' for ''will'', or in yes no questions with any auxiliary ''He'll no come'' and ''Did he no come?''
===Relative pronoun===
The relative pronoun is ''that'' ('''at'' is an alternative form borrowed from Norse but can also be arrived at by contraction) for all persons and numbers, but may be left out ''Thare's no mony fowk'' (''that'') ''leeves in that glen'' (There aren't many people who live in that glen). The anglicised forms ''wha'', ''wham'', ''whase'' 'who, whom, whose', and the older ''whilk'' 'which' are literary affectations; ''whilk'' is only used after a statement ''He said he'd tint it, whilk wis no whit we wantit tae hear''. The possessive is formed by adding '''s'' or by using an appropriate pronoun ''The wifie that's hoose gat burnt'', ''the wumman that her dochter gat mairit''; ''the men that thair boat wis tint''.
A third adjective/adverb ''yon''/''yonder'', ''thon''/''thonder'' indicating something at some distance ''D'ye see yon''/''thon hoose ower yonder''/''thonder?'' Also ''thae'' (those) and ''thir'' (these), the plurals of ''this'' and ''that''.
In Northern Scots ''this'' and ''that'' are also used where "these" and "those" would be in Standard English.