Hi,

Here is my confusion which is right? And if both are right then when are they used:

tá: yes,
Is ea: Yes

Ní hea: no
níl: no

dia dhuit tráthnóna: good evening
tráthnóna maith agat: good evening

dia dhuit ar maidin: good morning
Mora duit ar maidin: good morning

Thank you

Tráthnóna maith agat - is said while leaving not for greeting.

Móra duit - it is a borrowed from English "morrow" (mornig) - so no surprise that there is some duplication.

Anyway - saying "Dia dhuit um thráthnóna/ar maidin" is possible but again - it is English logic that there should be "Good morning/afternoon/evening" - in Irish people just say "Dia dhuit". Adding specification on the time of the day is not necessary.

re - yes and no,

There are no such words in Irish. Just the verb from question is repeated. So you can see not only is ea/tá but also deinim/ithim/caithfead and all other verbs.

As Róman said, in Irish, if someone asks you a question, you can't just say yes or no; you have to conjugate the verb. So if you are asked "Are you happy?", you would answer with "I am" or "I am not", rather than "Yes" or "No". If someone asked you "Do you drink Guiness?", you would respond with "I drink" or "I don't drink."

Tá and Níl are used to answer questions where the verb is "An bhfuil". So if someone says "An bhfuil tú go maith?" (Are you well), you would answer either "Tá" (I am) or "Níl" (I am not).

Is sea and Ní hea are used to answer questions where the verb is "An". "An múinteoir tú?" (Are you a teacher) would be answered with either "Is ea" (I am) or "Ní hea" (I am not).

Don't worry that you're confused! It's tricky not only because there are no words for "yes" or "no", but because there are two different verbs you could use to say "I am" (Tá vs. Is ea). (I'll let someone else here explain the difference and when you would use each.)

(To make it even more confusing, you will hear some speakers of Irish use "Is ea" as a general "yes" to answer any verb, but many people consider this to be blatantly incorrect, so it's something you probably won't want to emulate.)

Don't worry if you find yourself wanting to answer every question with "tá" at first...it just takes practice!

"Dia dhuit" literally means "God to you", so you don't have to specify the time of day when you use it. It's a more general greeting.

Go raibh maith agat for the explanation, but just to be sure which form for the good evening and good morning greetings should I use when?

Amethyst - use Dia dhuit all the time - and you won't be in any trouble.

Go raibh maith agat is said to one person, so I assume to said "thanks" to our fair lady.

But if, by chance, you fancied to say "thanks" to both of us you should have said "go raibh maith agaibh" :-))

quote:

which form for the good evening and good morning greetings should I use when?

How about "top of the morning?" JUST KIDDING!!!

Go raibh maith agaibh,

That is what I meant Róman and go raibh maith agat for the instruction, I've learned so much already from just being on this site.

Can anyone recommend a good dictionary? I don't mean an online one I mean a book. Some thing I can get on Amazon if possible le de thoil (is this right?)

The two standard works are

Foclóir Gaeilge- Béarla O Dónaill

http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=256

and

English Irish Dictionary (De Bhaldraithe)

http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=46_25&products_id=250

http://www.buy4now.ie/eason/search.aspx?loc=SI&s=Title&sv=Irish%20Dictionary&es= &esv=

Try this. Its the Eason's web shop and they have all the Irish Language info you could want.

Or you could Use Aonghus'... ha ha ha

There's no denying that the two dictionaries that Aonghus mentions are standard works, and quite comprehensive in the definitions and various phrases found in the Irish Language. From a beginner's viewpoint, what I found as a good start for a dictionary is either Foclóir Scoile (School Dictionary) or Foclóir Póca (Pocket Dictionary). Both are essentially the same dictionary, except the Foclóir Póca is much smaller in size and print. The reason I feel these dictionaries are good for beginners is because they're the only dictionaries that contain pronunciations of the Irish words.

The pronunciations are based on the Official Standard form of Irish, which causes much angst amongst some contributors to this forum, since Irish really has three distinct, major dialects and the dictionaries I mention are based on the Official Standard which is a compromise between the three dialects. After a beginner gets a grip on the basics of Irish pronunciation, which is no mean feat, then I think the standard works mentioned by Aonghus would be the next step. I have the Foclóir Gaeilge- Béarla by Ó Dónaill and I absolutely love it. But I'm glad I started with the Foclóir Scoile and got a handle on the Irish pronunciations.

I don't know if you'll have any luck with Amazon, but here's a site that I've been buying from over the years and their service is excellent: www.irishbook.com

A Amethyst,

I see from your profile that you're in Kuwait so the website I mention may not handle overseas orders; they're based in Minnesota, USA.

The website mentioned by Aonghus probably carries both the Foclóir Scoile and the Foclóir Póca.

A chairde,

Re "tráthnóna maith agat," I have heard it used as a greeting...
on the TG4 news a few years ago, the news anchor with the Conamara blas used to start his broadcast with "Tráthnóna maith agaibh."

Le meas, Paul

go raibh maith agaibh

Or click on the "Siopa" link at the bottom of this page and you can order Focloir Poca from Daltai. It's really the best for the beginner.

quote:

Or click on the "Siopa" link at the bottom of this page and you can order Focloir Poca from Daltai. It's really the best for the beginner.

Yes indeed; I should have mentioned Daltai's Siopa in my first post - Daltai's Shiopadóir is great!