Hello, could you tell me if something is wrong in those sentences ?

Múinteoir is ea an fear go bhfuil gra agam air
Is é seo an t-uill ataim ag dul ag ithe
Is é an fear go bhfuil a chat ag ithe
cad is do bharúil?

quote:

Múinteoir is ea an fear go bhfuil gra agam air

Múinteoir is ea an fear go bhfuil grá agam air

right (in Munster Irish)

quote:

Is é seo an t-uill ataim ag dul ag ithe

Is é seo an t-úll atáim ag dul ag ithe.

I guess it's right in Munster Irish.

quote:

Is é an fear go bhfuil a chat ag ithe

right in Munster Irish.

"Go bhfuil" in your sentences would be "a bhfuil" outside Munster and in standard Irish.

The first sentence is good.

For the second sentence, I think you mean to say, "this is the apple that I'm going to eat," no? In that case, you might say something like... "is é seo an t-úll a íosfaidh mé"... Or, in Conamara I might say, "siod é an t-úlla a íosfas mé."

As for your third sentence, I think you mean to say, "he is the man whose cat is eating"? If so, "is é an fear é go bhfuil a chat ag ithe (na luiche)," though you could replace the first part with "is eisean an fear go bhfuil..." And of course in the standard or in Connacht, you'd likely say "is eisean an fear a bhfuil..."

would the second sentence be better if I used the simple future?
I haven't yet studied the simple future, so I only use the ag dul ag + VN one. I have read it could be used as an intentional future.

I wonder if the object "úll", in this case, must really be a nominative as if I said "táim ag dul ag ithe an t-úill seo", it would be a genitive.

(Message edited by hugo75 on March 21, 2011)

quote:

would the second sentence be better if I used the simple future?

not better, just different.

quote:

I wonder if the object "úll", in this case, must really be a nominative as if I said "táim ag dul ag ithe an t-úill seo", it would be a genitive.

in this case it would be in the genitive, yes, ie.
táim ag dul ag ithe an úill seo

(the article doesn't prefix t- to masculine singular nouns in the genitive).

quote:

Is é seo an t-úll atáim ag dul ag ithe.

Shouldn't it be "ag dul a ithe", the "a" particle standing for the possessive pronoun 3rd person singular masculine (an t-úll)? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, since he is fronting the object of a progressive clause, usually you'd change the ag + VN clause to a + VN, with lenition in the case of consonants. So it becomes an infinitive clause. I am not sure if this is the case with "going to". So perhaps Is é seo an t-úll atáim ag dul a ithe would be correct. I am not sure because I always use a in this form.


http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/verbnom1.htm#absichtsform
http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/verbnom1.htm#vorusgObjekt

Out of curiosity, I googled the "ag dul + VN" structure and came across phrases, such as "tá mé ag dul a dhéanamh" and "is é an rud atá muid ag dul a dhéanamh", both from quite reliable sources.

So I would be tempted to say that "Is é seo an t-úll atáim ag dul a ithe" is indeed correct.

As for the other alternative ("ag dul ag ithe"), I'm not competent to jugde it, not being a native speaker.

My understanding is this:

Donegal: ag + VN + a (L) + VN
Standard: ag + VN + ag + VN

A sort of Ulster dialect sentence I would say:
Seo an t-úll atá mé ag gabháil a ithe.

Thanks, Seánw! But would you also say "Tá mé ag gabháil a ithe úll" in Donegal?

In Connemara, there's a difference between the 'neutral' structure and the one using fronting. That is:

1) Tá mé ag goil ag ithe úlla.

But

2) Seo(d) é an t-úlla atá mé ag goil a ithe.

I wonder if the same distinction is not made also in Standard Irish...

PS. The actual exaple I found in University of Aberystwyth exam paper was "céard atá tú ag goil a dhéanamh".

Tá mé ag gabháil a ithe úill.

ag + VN + a (L) + VN + Object(Genitive)

I am not sure why. I think because the second verbal noun is an object of the first verbal noun. I think the A is lenited due to analogy with the infinitive A. I don't know the history of the form, though.

Tá mé ag goil ag ithe úlla

is "úlla" a nominative or a genitive?
I guess it's a nominative, but I'd like to be sure.

Seo(d) é an t-úlla atá mé ag goil a ithe

When would there be a d?


(Message edited by hugo75 on April 07, 2011)

I always thought 'chun' was used in the sense of 'going', as in 'táim chun dul' i'm going to go, so couldnt you use 'is é seo an t-úll atáim chun ithe'?

You'd say:

Ta mé ag gabhail a (dh') ithe ulla (Donegal)

quote:

I wonder if the same distinction is not made also in Standard Irish...

In Standard Irish I think you can use both the Donegal way and the Connemara/Munster way, with "ag".

quote:

PS. The actual exaple I found in University of Aberystwyth exam paper was "céard atá tú ag goil a dhéanamh".

It's different.
In Connemara I think you'd say "Ta mé ag goil ag déanamh ruda" but "Sin an rud ata mé ag goil a dhéanamh" (not *ag déanamh).

When the object is before the verbal noun clause, you use "a" instead of "ag".

What surprises me, is that they use the spelling "goil" in a university exam paper! That's not standard at all :-)
But that's nice to see non-standard stuff taught in universities ;-)

Tá mé ag goil ag ithe úlla

Is úlla in the "ag goil ag + VN" form, a genitive or nominative object?
In standard Irish, úlla is a plural form so I think in connemara irish it must be different.

edit : I looked at the declension of "rud" and I saw ruda was the gen form. I think I have the answer

And how would you say I'm going to eat it?

Tá mé ag goil á ithe ?

(Message edited by hugo75 on April 09, 2011)

quote:

Is úlla in the "ag goil ag + VN" form, a genitive or nominative object?
In standard Irish, úlla is a plural form so I think in connemara irish it must be different.

edit : I looked at the declension of "rud" and I saw ruda was the gen form. I think I have the answer

After "ag goil ag ithe..." you use the genitive. Now, úlla is both the nominative and the genitive (in Ulster and Connachta) so in this case you don't see the difference.

quote:

And how would you say I'm going to eat it?

Tá mé ag goil á ithe ?

Yes, exactly.
I'm going to eat it (feminine noun) : Tá mé ag goil á hithe...