I believe that "tig liom" means "I can".

Can you say "tagann liom" as well.

"Tig" is connected to "tar", nach ea?

"Tig" is kind of irregular; is it not?

Can you say "tháinig liom é sin a dhéanamh"?

And what about "féad", what is the deilbhíocht mar gheall ar sin?

School learners do not seem to use either "féadaim" and "tig liom" but use "tá me in ann" etc.

Regarding both verbs, which ones would one use if one were an expert Irish speaker, or if you had designs to become one?

When I listen to RnaG (as little of it I can understand) I can still gather that a lot of regular or basic modhanna cainte are different to what people learn in school.

It is information I am looking for - please don't start big arguments amongst yourselves about the "system".

Tháinig liom - I succeeded

Tig is indeed a variant of tar

féad is a variant of féidir

Someone else may be able to give you a list of forms.

Tá mé in ann is a cop out, but is thaught because it is easier.

Cop out is maybe too strong.

But fluent speakers are always going to have a wider range of forms than those taught to learners.

(Thought/taught .. English trips me up! )

As a learner of Munster Irish, I'm quite comfortable with féad (is neamheisceachtúil a réimniú) but I never use tig le; it sounds very Ulster to me.

Another form I hear often from learners is tá...ábalta, which does sound very much like a cop-out to me.

quote:

féad is a variant of féidir

It's not a variant, they are related by etymology (old Irish, say) but féad is a verb and féidir is more like an adjective, I think. At least it's not a verb. It may be confusing to say they are variants...

Tá... ábalta is over-used by learners (I heard it a lot in the university too, by students), basically it means "to be able to" ; you wouldn't use it to say you have the opportunity or you may or you might something...

quote:

It's not a variant, they are related by etymology (old Irish, say) but féad is a verb and féidir is more like an adjective, I think.

Féidir is listed by de Bhaldraithe as a substantive. I suppose the point is moot since it never occurs without the copula and, as far as I know, can't take any sort of modification. Ó Siadhail only says "[I]t is difficult to classify féidir in is féidir liom 'I can'."

(Message edited by Domhnaillín_Breac_na_dTruslóg on August 11, 2009)

Actually, I was wrong.
Féad is a form of the auxiliary verb
féadachtáil [ainm briathartha][cúntach]
bheith in ann, bheith ábalta (ní fhéadfainn é a dhéanamh); cead a bheith agat (féadann tú imeacht); é a bheith de cheart agat (féadann tú áthas a bheith ort).

féidir [ainmfhocal ]
(leis an gcopail) indéanta (ní féidir liom é); ceadaithe (ní féidir dó fanacht anseo); seans, tharlódh sé (b'fhéidir é).

There are quite a few expressions in Irish that cover the meaning of "can", "be able to".

As for tig, I agree that it's probably historically related to the verb tar (to come) but that link is completely severed today. They're not variants, you can't swap one for the other. You certainly can't say *tagann liom and mean "I can".

Actually, I don't know what part of speech tig is. Is it a verb? If it is verb, then it's definitely a defective one. You can use it in the present (tig liom I can), you can put it in the interrogative and in the negative (an dtig leat? can you?, ní thig liom I can't, nach dtig leat? can't you?) but that's about all you can do with it. You can't put it in the past or future or conditional or anything like that. It's a freak of a verb.

Now féidir is just as bizarre. What part of speech is it? It certainly isn't a verb. Some people have suggested that it is an adjective but if it is, again, it must be a defective one: you can't grade it and you can't use it either attributively or predicatively with a noun.

I have to say that people normally say 'thig liom' rather than 'tig liom'.

Tig liom certainelty looks more correct but.

Féidir derives from Early Irish étir, translated in the DIL as "able, possible, feasible"... (adjectives)

http://www.dil.ie/results-list.asp?Fuzzy=0&scount=2&searchtext=xmlid%20contains% 20%C3%A9tir&sortField=ID&sortDIR=65602&respage=0&resperpage=10&bhcp=1

Anyway, noun or adjective, it doesn't make any difference there since féidir is only used in phrases with "is"...

quote:

You can use it in the present (tig liom I can), you can put it in the interrogative and in the negative (an dtig leat? can you?, ní thig liom I can't, nach dtig leat? can't you?) but that's about all you can do with it. You can't put it in the past or future or conditional or anything like that. It's a freak of a verb.

Of course you can put it in the conditional: thiocfadh liom = I could (cf Modern Irish p289 and 293)

Oh yes you're right with tig in the conditional, I forgot about that.

Le 'b'fhéidir' a aicmiú a chairde, is briathar diúscartach é ó bhunús (.i. deponent an Bhéarla).
Ceann eile a d'fhoghlaimíos ó m'athair lá amháin is ea: 'd'óbair'/hóbair'.
Mar a chéile: (is) 'méanar'; agus (ní) 'fheadar' = (ní) fhiodra (mé)/ (ní) fheadair (mé)'.

Do mo cheartú féin. Tá mé ag scaradh 'féidir' leis an dream briathra thuas.

Ainmfhocal a bhí i 'féidir' nach mbíonn an 'f' tosaigh, a d'fhás (is cosúil) roimhe, le clos go fóill ag cuid mhaith cainteoirí i gConamara. 'Is éitir' a chloistear ag na cainteoirí maithe sin. Is ainmfhocal i gcónaí é chomh maith.