We were just talking about the difference (or not) between:

Tá an ceart aige.

Tá sé ceart.

In a message elsewhere today, Mr. X, a native speaker from Donegal and a full-time academic and published author of a number of books in Irish (does all that give him cred, or what??) wrote the following (and no, he didn't put in the fadas):

Sin an chuis go silim go bhfuil a leitheid i gceart.

He was talking about the choice of a particular verb in a particular context. The sentence struck me, since I'd have just said "ceart", not "i gceart". But I do use "i gceart" in some contexts -- all adverbial, I think, such as:

Ní dhearna sé i gceart é. = He didn't do it right.

So... two questions, le bhur dtoil:

1) Is Mr. X's use of "i gceart" here typical of Ulster Irish? Ortsa atá an cheist sin, ar ndóigh, a Lughaidh.

2) How do you all use "i gceart"?

Den bhFocloir Beag :

i gceart (gan locht, gan cháim)

ó cheart (ó thús, go bunúsach)

A Dennis,

I notice in Foclóir Póca, that when "ceart" is used as a noun, there's usually an "i" before it. For example, from FP, "níl a fhios agam i gceart" (I don't really know). But when used as an adjective, there isn't an "i" before "ceart." For example, again from FP, "nil an fear sin ceart" (that man is not right in the head).

I just thought I'd provide the above for review and comment, and I don't mean to sound as though this is the correct approach that FP takes.

I did get a kick out of the definition of "níl an fear sin ceart" as being "not right in the head." I would have thought it to mean "that man is not right" and that it would have nothing to do with his state of mind. Perhaps then there is a difference between the two forms, that is, for example:

Níl an ceart aige: He is not right

Níl sé ceart: He is not right in the head.

Just thinking. (Hmmm...I smell wood burning. )

quote:

I notice in Foclóir Póca, that when "ceart" is used as a noun, there's usually an "i" before it. For example, from FP, "níl a fhios agam i gceart" (I don't really know). But when used as an adjective, there isn't an "i" before "ceart."

Right... mmm... tá an ceart agat. As I said above, I use "i gceart" adverbially, so that it could usually be translated as "correctly":

Níor thuig mé i gceart thú. = I didn't understand you correctly.
Rinne siad i gceart é. = They did it correctly.

The phrase "i gceart" literally means "in(to) correctness", which is pretty clear when you say:

Chuir tú i gceart é. = You put it into rightness. = You made it right. = You straightened it out, you fixed it.

Gan trácht ar saíocht ainm na Roinne atá freagrach as justice in Éirinn:

http://www.justice.ie/80256DFD00637EE0/vWeb/pcSSTY5UBER3-ga

An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt (agus mórán rudaí eile).

Ní hionann an ceart a bheith agat agus an dlí a chomhlíonadh!