Dia Daoibh,
Gabhaim pardún agaibh as an teachtaireacht seo i mBéarla.
Níl mórán Gaeilge agam, ach tá mé fhoghlaim!

I've a few questions/queries to post..

*I've been looking for someplace to order Irish childrens books from, but have been unsuccessful, if anyone has a lead on a distributor, online shop, etc. I'd greatly appreciate it.

*I'm starting an Irish journal, but there is nobody close by to check my translations and correct my errors, would it be troublesome of me to ask for these corrections in this forum?

*In regards to numbers, is it necessary to use "an" before the number, as in.. one = an hAon, two = an dó. How does the addition or removal of "an" change the translation?
I've drawn up an Irish calendar using written Irish to help me with dates and numbers, and I've numbered the days with the "an" prefix.

*Lastly, I've been prefixing my verbs with "ag" to change the verb as in "ag rith" = running, wheras "rith" would be "run", but I've encountered in my translation dictionary instances where this doesn't apply (see opening scentences - foghlaim. Also, was I right to add the h), ie: in Collins Pocket Irish Dictionary "scríobh" means "write", but "scríofa" means "writing", I would have written it "ag scríobh". Am I wrong or are there particular instances where "ag" does not prefix. Are there any general rules to help me with other verbs?

Go raibh míle maith agaibh as bhur gcúnamh,
Alan Shepherd

1) http://www.litriocht.com

2) Depends on volume!

3) should be a hAon, a dó, a trí.... If you are using ordinals it would be an chéad, an dara, an triú etc.
I have written a javascript calendar which takes the time from your computer and turns it into Irish text, see here http://homepage.eircom.net/~aonghus/feilire.html
Contact me if you would like the script at


4) ag scríobh means writing as in "I am writing", tá mé ag scríobh. I would have translated scríofa as written.
And writing (the noun) as scríobhneoireacht. I assume the latter is what Collins intended.

Fáilte romhat
Aonghus

Go raibh maith agat, a Aonghus,

I was looking into your site and it has sparked another question, when I am writing the date:
Dé Céadaoin 31ú Eanáir 3901
what does the "ú" following the 31 signify, would that somehow become 31st? What would the literal translation of the date be, "Wednesday, the 31st of January, 3901", "Wednesday, January 31st, 3901", or "Wednesday, January 31, 3901", etc...?

Also, does the "ag" prefix work with all verbs in that context (the "I am/He is/She was" context)?

I will only be writing short, extremely simple journal entries to start, but I expect my grammar will be atrocious. I have been doing okay with learning vocab., but the grammatical structure and phrasing of sentences is where I need (much) work. I will be starting a weekly classroom course next week but up until now I have been self taught, with the help of wonderful Irish speakers such as yourself of course. Because of this my studies have been spread out all over the place, just now am I beginning to put structure to my efforts.

"The more I learn, the less I know."-Alan Shepherd

Basically at first learning Irish was similar to discovering a new landscape, but as I explored that landscape it grew into a continent, then a planet, then a solar system, now I feel as if I have a whole universe to learn about. But if it takes a few decades, so be it.

Arís eile, tá mé buíoch díot as do chúnamh,
Alan Shepherd

>>what does the "ú" following the 31 signify, would that somehow become 31st?

precisely!

Fáilte romhat arís, agus go n-eirí leat
Aonghus

Agusín:
>>Also, does the "ag" prefix work with all verbs in that context (the "I am/He is/She was" context)?

I will go out on a limb and say yes. Abstract grammar is my achilles heel - if I see something written I will have a gut feeling as to whether it is right or wrong, but I won't usually be able to say why. Other, more advanced, learners are a safer guide here.

Irish verbs have two important forms, the root and the verbal noun. The root is the dictionary form but most dictionaries will also give you the verbal noun. For some verbs (like 'scríobh'), the two forms are identical to each other. For most verbs they are different.

You'll learn that to use the verbal noun where you use both the present participle and the infinitive in English:

Bhí mé ag scríobh litreach.
I was writing a letter.
(was I at writing [of a] letter) (Note that litir -- letter -- is in the genitive case in this pattern.)

Ba mhaith liom litir a scríobh.
I would like to write a letter.
(would be good with me a letter to write)

And look at this example:

Táim (or, Tá mé) ag déanamh tae.
I am making tea. ('Tea' is tae in both the nom/acc and genitive cases, typical of nouns that end in a vowel.)

Ba mhaith liom tae a dhéanamh.
I would like to make tea. (Notice the lenition of 'déanamh' because an object came before it linked by 'a'. You would have lenited scríobh above as well but it isn't possible to lenite 'scr')