Another question for you. How do I ask/say:

Which one(s)?
This one.
That one.
This red one.
Those/these red ones.
That big red house over there.

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Thank you once again for your help so far.

Christine.

Cé acu ceann? (Cé acu cinn?)
An ceann seo.
An ceann siúd.
An ceann dearg seo.
Na cinn dearg siúd/Na cinn dearg seo.
An teach mhór dearg thall ansin.

That's my best guess, Christine. I'm never sure what to do with the adjective agreement and second adjectives though, like dearg.

Should it be

Na cinn dearga and an teach mhór deirge?

Dearg feels right but I think it's supposed to be dearga/deirge.

(Message edited by cailindoll on April 02, 2005)

I enjoyed and learned from reading Cailindoll's answers. In regards to Question 3, I think that Irish has two forms for "that." The form used by Cailindoll, "siúd," indicates the object or person is in the distance. In English, we might say "that book over yonder," which in Irish would be "leabhar siúd"

The other form "sin," indicates an object or person is closer, but not as close as "seo" (this). "Leabhar sin" would also mean "that book," as in a book that is on a table that is close to you (but not close enough to be "this book."

Dáithí

Word sequence when asking about or identifying a particular item.

Question: [interogative particle]+[noun]

Cé acu = interogative particle - which...?
Ceann = noun, masculine. (cinn plural)

Statement: [definate article]+[noun]+[adjective]+[demonstrative adjective]

The definate article in this construction : If the noun is singular use an. If it's plural the definate article is na.
The noun : If the noun is masculine it is uneffected by the definate article. If it's feminine the initial consonant of the noun is lenited. Lenition occurs if the noun begins with b,c,d,f,g,m,p,s (but not sc-,sf-,sm-,sp- or st-), or t. Ceann (lit. Head) is a masculine noun, singular.
The adjective : Most adjectives follow the noun which they qualify, but there are exceptions to this rule, and the rules for lenition basically follow those for the noun. Teach is a masculine noun. A following adjective is therefore not lenited. An teach mór - the big house. When more than one adjective is used, the order is pretty much the same as in English; first place being given to descriptive adjectives such as big, small, long etc.. If the noun is plural the adjective must agree in number. For example: ceann dearg a red one - cinn dearga red ones
The demonstrative adjective : There are basically 2 demonstrative adjectives - seo this and sin that
The demonstrative adjective siúd, úd(after a noun): The form úd is usually used following a noun. It indicates a greater distance from the speaker and implies "yonder - not in the immediate vacinity"

An teach mór dearg sin - That big house.
An teach mór dearg úd - That big house yonder.

Or "cinn dhearga" according to the Standard Grammar.

That was actually a typo but Lughaidh is correct. If an adjective qualifies a plural noun ending in a slender consonant, such as cinn, lenition does occur. I apologise if my haste in typing my previous reply in this thread has caused any confusion.

Le meas,