dia dhuit
I am a american who is proud of my Irish herritage. I am trying (and I stress trying) to learn gaelic. I wanted to be able to tell my wife that I love her in gaelic. I have found four different phrases meaning roughly the same thing, I think. Can someone please help clarify what the differneces are and, if you would be so kind, how to pronounce them (My grandmother told me that we originally came here from Munster, if that makes a differnce)

1. tá mé i ngrá leat

2. tá grá agam duit

3. tá grá agam ort

Is there a better or more apropriate phrasing.
Thank you for any help you can give.
Guy

Number one means 'I am in love with you.' Numbers 2 and 3 are the more straightforward ways to say 'I love you.' I somewhat prefer no. 2. Keep up the Irish.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. Could you please help me with pronounciation.
Number 1 is particularly difficult since I cannot find a pronounciation of "ng" in either of my books.
Number 2 I think is pronounced "taw graw agum/agawm gweet"
I understand that "dh" is a sound not found in english and I've been told "gw" is close. Is this true?
Thanks for the help
Guy

one last quick question. I have noticed that the Irish have different responses to phrases. such as "Dia Duit - Dia's muire duit" and "slán agat - slán leat" Is there a proper response to these "I love you" as well.
Thanks
Guy

You want the proper response to "I love you"?? I'll try.

To answer your first question:

1. tá mé i ngrá leat

TAW may ing RAW LAHT.
(TAH meh ing RAW LAHT)

2. tá grá agam duit.

TAW GRAW AHG-um dit(ch).

3. tá grá agam ort.

TAW GRAW AHG-um ort.

That's very approximate but it should do the job.

There is not formalized way to respond. Do as you would in English, or maybe a little more passionately. The traditional Irish attitude is not the common stereotype of repressed feelings and shame. As it's reflected in the language, it's more like Eskimos and snow (although that's a stereotype too :-).

The simplest kind of response would be to reassure the other party that you feel the same way. Try to get some feeling into them. Language learning is as much acting as grammar and pronunciation.

1. Agus tá mise i ngrá leatsa.

UHG-us TAW MISH-uh ing RAW LAHT-suh.

2. Agus agamsa duitse.

UHG-us AHG-um-suh dit(ch)-shuh.

3. Agus agamsa ortsa.

UHG-us AHG-um-suh ORT-suh

The pronunciation of 'ng' is difficult for English speakers. Just remember that you have no problem with it at the end of a word. Now you have to get the knack of putting it on the front of words. I used the trick above of attaching the 'ng' to the syllable before it, but refine that gradually by pronouncing it with the following syllable.