I'm finally reading "Sarah Eile" and my simple dictionary fills most grammatical holes, ach tá cúpla ceist agam faoi some things anyway.

1)' "Táim," arsa Sarah, á freagairt ' - why á ?

2)' "Déanfaidh tú dearmad ar...b'fhéidir" ' - "Maybe you will forget..." - Is this a set phrase? Like: Dearmad ar [sth] a dhéan?

3) I can't make out the meaning of "Ní raibh caite ach seachtain" ?

4) "...ba cheart go mbeadh múineadh ort" - I get the meaning, but how do you translate it precisely? "It was right that you would have manners"?

5) "Ar mhaith leat dul síos chuig an siopa?" - Are you fine with going to the shop?

6) I also noted that the book uses "le" instead of a verb, like in "síos an staighre léi..." which should mean "She went down the stairs"? Is this common in all Irish dialects?

Ní raibh caite ach seachtain

There was only a week spent / only a week had passed

Hi Norwegiandame, I'll try to explain just one: the sentence "Táim," arsa Sarah, á freagairt" The translation is "I am," said Sarah, answering her".

Now for "á"

-- "freagairt" is a part of the verb called an t-ainm briathartha / the verbal noun. Usually we meet it in phrases like "ag caint" (talking) or "ag obair" (working) so "ag freagairt" would be "answering".

Here however there is also an object "answering her" and we would be tempted to write "ag freagairt í" but that is not how it is done. The possessive adjective "a" (her) is introduced and put with "ag" so in English the sentence becomes "at her answering".

The two words "ag" and "a" combine to form a new word "á" which behaves like the possessive adjective so that "á freagairt" means "answering her" and "á fhreagairt" means "answering him". Sorry for being longwinded. I hope this helps.

No harm in being longwinded a Léitheoir. Well said/put; maith thú.


>> 4) "...ba cheart go mbeadh múineadh ort" - I get the meaning, but how do you translate it precisely? "It was right that you would have manners"?

-- You ought to have manners;
it would be right that you would have manners.


5) "Ar mhaith leat dul síos chuig an siopa?" - Are you fine with going to the shop?

-- Would you like to go down to the shop?

Both numbers 4 and 5 have (conditional) forms which are similar to past tense. The context lets you know which ought to apply.

Sgf.

Thanks for all answers, they were all veeery useful! *cheers* I knew how you translate the first sentence though, Léitheoir, just not 'á'. :-)

1) "I promise (that.)" = Geallaim duit -or just- Geallaim (sin.)?

2) Do I write "leitir chugat"? (Here I'm wondering if chug is the right prep to use!!!)

3) "Níor cheart di iad a fhágail faoina máthair" - They shouldn't be left to/for her mother ?

4) "Bhí Mam i gcónaí ag súil leis go ndéanfadh sí rud éigin le cabhrú léi" - Mum always expects to do things together [?]to help her[?] ?

Could someone be so kind to reply to no. 2 in above as well?

(Message edited by norwegiandame on June 29, 2006)

1) Both are possible.
2) sea.
3) It wasn't right of her to leave them to her mother
4) always expected her to do something to help her

2) above. Yes. Déantar dearmad ar rudaí.

Thanks, Aonghus!

Is there any difference between the usage of "cur...ar [someone]" and "bain....as [someone]" ?

Can I for instance say both "bain múisc as" and "cur múisc ar" ?

Nouns, verbs, and prepositional pronouns in Irish are commonly associated together so that if one word were left out the reader or listener would assume that the missing word was one of the commonest used in the phrase depending on the context.

Whatever about "múisc a chur ar dhuine" (to disgust someone or make someone sick) I would expect "geit a bhaint as duine" (to startle someone) or even "gáire a bhaint as" (to make someone laugh)so there is a difference in the usage. "Ná cuir múisc orm!" (Don't make me sick!) and "Ná bain geit asam mar sin!" (Don't startle me like that!) might illustrate the usage of each verb. The verb noun and prepositional pronoun go together for no explicable reason that I can think of.

I think reading and listening and watching for the more commonly used phrases using "bain" and "cuir" would be a help. Ó Dónaill's dictionary has a long list of meanings and usage for both of these verbs some of which may be only seldom used. Nevertheless it would be worthwhile having a look and copying out some of the more useful phrases.

Thanks, Léitheoir.

1) The adj. "go cluais", what does it mean?

2) "Ná himigh ar..." ?

3) "Is gearr gur..." ?

4) "Ba chúnamh di an sciorta a bhí á chaitheamh di.." ?

5) "gheobhaidh muid a bhfuil uainn ar..." ? I can make out everything but "uainn" but I know it comes from 'ó'.

1) to the ears (a smile perhaps)
2) don't go (somewhere)
3) It was short until (i.e. it wasn't long until)
4) More context please: It was helpful to her to (something) the skirt she was wearing
5) we will get what we want for (1st plural of ó)