I've been translating a list of the 1000 most common English words into Irish for the use of an Irish conversation group I belong to. Unfortunately, I'm still a relative beginner, so I don't think my work can be trusted. I was hoping someone here could glance through the partial list of the 100 or so most common words that I've posted below, fill in the few blanks and correct any mistakes? Granted, this is a pretty boring request, but I expect there are a lot of learners besides us who would find a list like this useful.
Go raibh maith agat,
Mark

_________________________________________________________
about -faoi
after =tar éis
again -arís
air -aer
all -uile
along -ag teacht linn
also -freisin
an -
another -eile
any -aon
are -tá
around -timpeall
as -chomh
at -ag
away -imithe
back -droim
be -tá
because -mar
been -?????????????????????
before -roimh
below -faoi
between -idir
both -araon
but -ach
by -le
came -tháinig
can -féad
come -tar
could -féadfaidh
day -lá
did -rinne
different -difriúil
do -déan
does -déanann
don't -??????????????????????????
down -síos
each -gach
end -deireadh
even -cothrom
every -gach
few -tá_beag
find -faigh
first -céad
for -do
found -bunaigh
from -as
get -éirigh
give -tabhair
go -téigh
good -maith
great -mór
had -beidh ag
has -tá ag
have -tá ag
he -é, sé
her -a
here -anseo
him -é
home -baile
house -teach
how -conas
I -mé
if -má, dhá
in -istigh, i
into -isteach
is -tá
it -sé
its -a
just -cóir, ar éigin
know -tá a fhios ag
large -mór
last -deireanach
left -clí
like -is maith le
line -líne
little -beag
long -fada
look -cuardach
made -rinne
make -déan
man -fear
many -mórán
may -?????
me -mé
men -fir
might -????????????????
more -níos mó
most -bunáite
mr. -An tUasal (Smith)
must -????????????????
my -mo
name -ainm
never -riamh
new -nua
next -an dhiadh??????????????
no
not -ní
now -anoish
number -uimhir
of -de
off -as
old -sean
on -ar
one -aon
only -amháin
or -nó
other -eile
our -ár
out -amach
over -thar
own -is_le 2. féin
part -cuid
people -daoine
place -áit
put -cuir
read -léigh
right -ar_deis(direction)
said -dúirt
same -céanna
saw -chonaic
say -abair
see -feic
she -sí, í
should -??????????
show -éiriú
small -small
so -chomh
some -roinnt
something -rud éigin
sound -folláin
still -fós
such -leithéid_de
take -glac
tell -innis
than -ná
that -sin
the -an
them -iad
then -ansin
there -ansin
these -na (...) anseo
they -siad
thing -rud
think -smaoinigh, síl
this -seo
those -na (...) ansin
thought -shíl
three -trí
through -trí
time -am
to -go, do
together -le chéile
too -ró
two -dó, dhá
under -faoi
up -suas
us -sinne, muid
use -úsáid
very -an
want -ba mhaith le
water -uisce
way -bealach
we -sinn, muid
well -tobar
went -chuaigh
were -???????????????
what -cad
when -cén am
where -an áit
which -cé acu
while -tamall
who -cé
why -cén fáth
will -beidh
with -le
word -focal
work -obair
world -domhan
would -beidh
write -scríobh
year -bliain
you -tu
your -do
was -bhí

With the greatest respect, Mark, I don't think such a list would in any way be helpful because almost all of the words in that list would depend on context. Taking just one example:

You - tu (which should actually be tú)
That's the singular. You also have tusa and sibh (plural).

It would be better, in my opinion, to simply acquire a good dictionary, preferably one which gives at least some grammar explanations.

Le meas,

Let me further illustrate my point by analysing the following sentence:

"Is tusa an t-aon duine amháin a scríobh chugam" - You are the only person who wrote to me
Is tusa - you are. "are" in this context is "Is". You wouldn't use "tá".
a scríobh - who wrote. You wouldn't use "cé"
chugam - to me. You wouldn't use "go/do" or "mé"

Do you see what I'm getting at, my friend?

The oldie-but-goodie course Buntús Cainte was constructed based on research into the most commonly used words/constructions in Irish. All three (?) volumes have glossaries. If you just vacuum (nó "hoover") up the contents of those glossaries, you should have what you want.

Yup.

http://www.eofeasa.ie/cuplafocal/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3164

http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=3158

That'd be ideal, but to be honest, I'm a student right now, learning Irish in my spare time, and I just won't have 28 pounds plus shipping to spend on study materials anytime in the near future. As that's the case, it's the following words, mostly to do with the subjunctive mood, I think, that I'm really baffled about:

been
might
would
should
may
must

Could someone please take a shot at explaining how to translate these? I understand a lot of these take the form of idomatic phrases rather than words in Irish?

Larry:

I appreciate the concerns you've expressed, but I think having a core list of common words is useful for learning any language -particularly for use with a conversation group. It's not hard to plug words you already know into grammar structures and idiomatic usages as you learn them. The people in my group are familliar with the distinctions you made regarding tú, how to form the verb in the various tenses and person, etc. ,so I don't think that will be such a problem.

(Message edited by markv on December 22, 2005)

Mark, a chara,

With the caveat that word-for-word translations are not always possible, some very quick examples off the top of my head using your recent list:

"Been" uses the present tense of the Irish verb bí which is tá. Tá mé i mo chónai ansin seachtain anois - I am (have been) living there for a week now.

"Might/May". B'fhéidir go ndéanfainn é - I might do it. b'fhéidir go... can be translated as "It might/may be possible that..."

"Would". Use the conditional mood of the particular verb. Thógfadh sí - She would take.

"Should". Ba chóir do or Ba cheart do. Ba cheart duit an leabhar a úsáid - You should use the book

"Must". Caithfidh mé a rá - I must say.

Please understand that these examples are by no means exhaustive, my friend.

... and looking back at your original post in this thread:

quote:

don't -??????????????????????????
next -an dhiadh??????????????
were -???????????????

"don't": Ná déan sin - Don't do that. Níl a fhios agam - I don't know. Nach bhfuil a fhios agat? - Don't you know?

"next": An chéad duine eile - The next person.

"were": - Use the past tense of the verb/copula, as in Bhí siad go deas - They were nice. Ba shaighdiúrí iad - They were soldiers.

If the door were opened — Dhá bhfosclaítí an doras.