This dá word sounds really cainteoir dúchasach.

Do you say:

An fear is fearr a bhfuil in Éirinn

or do you say

An fear is fearr dá bhfuil in Éirinn?

Is there a special rule governing the use of this?

Can you give me some samplaí a léiríonn an méid sin?

By the way I've been going through the archives of RnaG and I think some of you guys are on there. Just a thought.

quote:

Do you say:

An fear is fearr a bhfuil in Éirinn

or do you say

An fear is fearr dá bhfuil in Éirinn?

I'd say ...
... either
an fear is fearr in Éireann = the best man in Ireland
or
an fearr is fearr dá bhfuil in Éirinn = the best man of all (men) that are in Ireland. (dá = de+a = of all that)
or perhaps
an fear is fearr atá in Éirinn = the best man who is in Ireland

But never:
*An fear is fearr a bhfuil in Éirinn
(because it is gramatically wrong.)

Lars

An fear is fearr dá bhfuil in Éirinn.

= The man that-is best of-all-who are in Ireland.

A bhfuil in Éirinn = all-who are in Ireland. (or all-that is in Ireland).

You have to use "dá", otherwise it doesn't mean anything.

Go hiontach!

That's a great explanation. I have been trying to figure that one out for a long while.

So as I gather that it would never really be the case that you would say something like "an fear is fearr atá in Éirinn".

I always try to examine things from all sides toget a robust understanding of things.

What about "an fear is fearr a ritheann an rás sin" or would you have to say "an fear is fearr dá ritheann an rás sin", or is it just restricted to some verbs.

You can say "an fear is fearr atá in Éirinn" or even "an fear is fearr in Éirinn".

With "ritheann", you can say both too.

GRMA, Lughaidh.

I think I am more of a "investigator" than a classical learners because I zoom in on some aspects that fascinate me and spend a lot of time on them. I hope I'm not being a pest with my enquiries.

Do these two sentences mean exactly the same:"an fear is fearr a ritheann an rás sin"; "an fear is fearr dá ritheann an rás sin" or is the first one more like "the best man who is running the race" and the second one "the best man of those who run the race".

I see now that the crux of the original question lies in the tá / bhfuil and the spleách / neamhspleách issue.

Are there nouns (like "cuid" and "roinnt") that make the use of "dá" instead of "a" practically unavoidable?

quote:

Do these two sentences mean exactly the same:"

No, they don't.
"an fear is fearr a ritheann an rás sin" = the best man who runs that race.
"an fear is fearr dá ritheann an rás sin" = the best man of all who runs that race (i.e. mor than one is running)

quote:

Are there nouns (like "cuid" and "roinnt") that make the use of "dá" instead of "a" practically unavoidable?

No, but nouns with superlatives or with "gach" are more likely to be followed by "dá" than other nouns.

Lars

quote:

"an fear is fearr a ritheann an rás sin" = the best man who runs that race.

Couldn't this mean "The man who runs the race best"?

quote:

Couldn't this mean "The man who runs the race best"?

Yes, it could.

Lars