Hi, I'm presently studying the book Learning Irish. I’m at lesson 7 presently.

I've been a bit confused lately with knowing when to apply 'go leor' or 'mórán/neart'. They both seem to mean the same thing and I'm not exactly sure when to use which. What is the difference between these words and when are they used?

It seems to me that 'go leor' and 'neart' are interchangeable but that 'mórán' is strictly used in questions and negations (An bhfuil mórán..., Níl mórán...). Is that correct? Could 'go leor' also be used in questions and negations of this form?

In the following sentences taken from the book:

1. Bhí neart daoine soibhir anseo.
There were many rich people here.

2. Bhíodh go leor beithígh agus caiple anseo...
There used to be lots of cows and horses here...

Could I have used 'go leor' instead of 'neart' in number 1? In Number 2, would it have been correct to use 'neart' instead of go leor?

Well here's my two cent for what it's worth

Bhí neart daoine saibhir ann. That's fine, perfect!

But I'd more than lightly say: Bhí go leor daoine saibhir ann. I don't really know why but neart has layers as a word. Could be a dialect thing?

Neart is a funny word, because it can also mean strength.
Tá neart Gaeilge 'am. - I have a lot of Irish. I have a power of Irish.

In some dialects, "go leor" only means "enough", so be careful.
Go leor daoiní = enough people.

In some dialects, mórán is only used in negative sentences:

ní raibh mórán daoiní ann = there weren't many people there.

Rich people is daoine saibhre, not saibhir.

quote:

In some dialects, mórán is only used in negative sentences

Or interrogative (i gConamara, ar aon nós):

An raibh mórán daoine ann?
Ní raibh mórán daoine ann.
Bhí a lán daoine ann.

Oddly enough, in my English I follow a similar pattern, using "many" like "mórán" in interrogative and negative sentences, but not comfortably in an affirmative sentence:

Were there many people there?
There weren't many people there.
There were a lot of people there.
*There were many people there. (This latter strikes my ear as grammatically correct, but slightly foreign or school-bookish.)

Ar thug tú an rud seo faoi deara i mBéarla riamh, a Lughaidh, nó i dteanga ar bith eile seachas an Ghaeilge?

(Message edited by dennis on March 30, 2007)

I gcanúint Vannetais na Briotáinise tá ’n rud céarna le fáil:

cuid mhór = ur bochad, paot-mat, hileizh (abairtí +)
mórán = kalz, paot (abairtí diúltacha)

I think that in Central Donegal (Blue Stack Mountains), people use mórán in affirmative sentences as well.

Thanks everyone, but I'm still confused about this thing.


To me it seems that in the two sentences I gave above the meaning of 'go leor' and 'neart' is exactly the same. Also both sentences are affirmative yet the book uses a different word in each. Should I conclude from this that in Cois Fhairrge dialect 'neart' and 'go leor' are simply synonyms that are interchangeable? Does anyone know?

Also I would be interested to know in what cases exactly Standard Irish applies 'go leor & mórán/neart'.

So, a Lughaidh, conas atá Gaeilc sa Chruacha Gorma anois? An bhfuil sí láidir, a chor ar bith?

Níl ’s agam, mar nach rabh mé ann ariamh! Chuala mé ’n stuif si ó mo mhúinteoir, a chuaigh ’na gCruach Gorm féin. D’úrt sé fosta go rabh Gaeilg iontach maith ann agus gur furast í a thuigbheáilt siocair gur mall a labhras na cainteoirí sin.

quote:

To me it seems that in the two sentences I gave above the meaning of 'go leor' and 'neart' is exactly the same.

Yes. There are quite a few (or: a lot of, plenty of, a good many, etc.) other synonyms in Irish:

neart airgid (lit. a strength of money)
a lán airgid (its full(ness) of money)
go leor airgid (to sufficiency of money)
flúirse airgid (abundance of money)
raidhse airgid (profusion of money)

For the semantic range of "go leor", compare English "plenty of": "plenty of money" can mean either "a lot of money" or "enough money" depending on context.

You know, I imagine, that "go leor" gave us "galore" in English. The older construction, still the standard one in Scottish Gaelic, puts "go leor" after the noun, which stays in the nominative: "airgead go leor".

Dennis,
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (?), you're right about the etymology of 'galore':

http://www.bartleby.com/61/44/G0024400.html