Cad é an Gaeilge atá ar...

freethink3r wrote: »

Chónaigh mé ann ó rugadh mé

And is this correct grammar?

Grammatically, yes. But it needs some sort of a complement.

Tá mé i mo chónaí ann ó rugadh mé.
is what i'd say.

Or you could say something like this:

Chónaigh mé ann ó rugadh mé go dtí go raibh mé sé bliana d'aois.

gaiscioch wrote: »

Táim ar strae leis an abairt seo:

"I asked him if he could give me a job for the summer"

D'fhiafraigh mé de má d'fhéadfadh sé post a thabhairt dom don samhraidh?

Míle buíochas.

Well you have a few options with 'don samhradh'.

See this from nualéargais grammar guide online:

ts: In Ulster and Munster, a t-prefix is used with all nouns, beginning with s, if the preposition + article normally incurs lenition, and not eclipsis.
e.g.: ar an tsúil = on the eye, ar an tsagart = on the priest
ts (fem.): In the standard and Connacht, a t-prefix only precedes feminine nouns, independent of a customary lenition or eclipsis following the preposition + article.
e.g.: ar an tsúil = on the eye but: ar an sagart = on the priest

So, in other words if you are writing using the standard or Connacht dialect then you can leave it as 'don samhradh' but with Munster dialect or Ulster, it would be 'don tsamhradh'.

I can't see the reason to add in the 'i' here unless it's some use of historic dative singular. It's probably fine though.

gaiscioch wrote: »

Táim ar strae leis an abairt seo:

"I asked him if he could give me a job for the summer"

D'fhiafraigh mé de má d'fhéadfadh sé post a thabhairt dom don samhraidh?

Míle buíochas.

".....an bhféadfadh sé"

gaiscioch wrote: »

I.S.: Before this = 'roimhe seo' nó 'roimh seo'?

Níl a fhios agam a chara.

You could try searching on 'corpas.focloir.ie' to see which one of the two turns up with the most references. You'll need to register first before you can search there.

They do come down to the same thing as far as I know.
The difference between them might be a question of dialect or even that 'le' is softer.
I've heard 'le haghaidh rud a dhéanamh' as well.

Someone else may be better able to explain the difference. I'm not a native speaker.

gaiscioch wrote: »

Are both of these correct, and if so do they mean precisely the same thing?

"chun [rud] a fheiceáil/a dhéanamh etc"

"le [rud] a fheiceáil/a dhéanamh etc"

I would use 'chun' in the above context, but "le feiceáil/le déanamh", ach nílim cinnte an bhfuilim ceart nó mícheart agus cén fáth.

They are both correct and mean the same thing.
'Chun' is rarely used in Donegal and in the case you mention the 'le' is exactly what is used there instead of the 'chun'.

gaiscioch wrote: »

1) I'm going shopping = Táim ag siopadóireacht
2) I'm going shopping = Táim ag dul chun siopadóireacht a dhéanamh (Lit. I'm going to do shopping)

I would say that number 1 above means 'I am shopping' not 'I am going shopping'.

Third, I think I am overusing 'chun' when I write such sentences as in No. 2 above. Is it possible, indeed better Irish, to leave it out and say, for instance, "Táim ag dul siopadóireacht a dhéanamh".

That does not look right to me, I would use chun in that sentance.

An File wrote: »

Simplest thing above would be to say "Táim ag dul ag siopadóireacht".

OK. That's what I would have used. However, I'm now trying to expand my Irish and fully understand why people would use, say, "ag siopadóireacht" (shopping) over "siopadóireacht a dhéanamh" (do the shopping?). Also, can one use the latter, for instance, without "chun" or "le" before it?

Would anybody know if the Irish, and English translations, of the following sentences are correct?

Bhí sé ag siopadóireacht (He was shopping)
Bhí sé ag déanamh a chuid siopadóireachta (He was doing his shopping)
Chuaigh sé chun a chuid siopadóireachta a dhéanamh (He went to do his shopping)
Chuaigh sé chun siopadóireacht a dhéanamh (He went to do shopping)

Teanga = feminine noun, according to Focal.ie.

I came across the following sentence: "D’fhoilsigh sí aistí faoi ghnéithe den aistriúchán de Dracula in Bliainiris, agus faoi ról an teanga Ghaelach sa Churaclam"

The highlighted part means "the role of the Irish language in the curriculum"? Yes? If so, why isn't the feminine noun 'teanga' preceded by 'na' rather than 'an'?

gaiscioch wrote: »

Would anybody know if the Irish, and English translations, of the following sentences are correct?

Bhí sé ag siopadóireacht (He was shopping)
Bhí sé ag déanamh a chuid siopadóireachta (He was doing his shopping)
Chuaigh sé chun a chuid siopadóireachta a dhéanamh (He went to do his shopping)
Chuaigh sé chun siopadóireacht a dhéanamh (He went to do shopping)

That looks fine to me.

gaiscioch wrote: »

I remember, I think, that after the verbal noun the word goes in the genitive case - e.g. Bhíos ag ól di (I was drinking a drink) but "Bhí sé ag déanamh oibre bhaile" (He was doing homework) doesn't look correct, although 'Bhí sé ag déanamh a chuid oibre bhaile' (He was doing his homework) sounds OK.

Yep, 'bhíos ag ól dí' is spot on, but don't be surprised if you hear 'ag ól deoch' without the genitive form. The genitive here has disappeared in Conamara Irish and even good and older native speakers in that dialect will say 'ag ól deoch' so don't let that confuse you.
If you have or can get your hands on Ó Siadhail's 'Learning Irish', he explains this in that book.

The genitive is much easier when it comes to definite nouns but with indefinite nouns just be careful as there are different rules for different stuff.

You may already be familiar with this, but say in something like
'ag ól deoch the'
deoch stays in its nominative form as it is said to be qualified by an adjective. Whereas in the first phrase 'ag ól dí', deoch is an indefinite noun and is unqualified, so the genitive applies.

The Coiste Téarmaíochta has a great guide, http://www.acmhainn.ie/tearmai/seimhiu.htm, and covers a lot of ground in one place. Don't be put off if it looks a bit intimidating at first! It was Micilín Muc who posted this link in a thread I started here a while back.

The examples you gave above also throw up another thing. Cuid is said to be a partitive genitive so it is a special category.
So with your phrase 'ag deanamh a chuid oibre bhaile' I think this section of the guide applies:

Ainmfhocal éiginnte agus cáilitheoir faoi réir ag focail éiginnte ghinearálta
Má ghabhann aidiacht, nó ainmfhocal sa ghinideach i gcáil aidiachta, le hainmfhocal éiginnte, moltar an t-ainmfhocal agus an aidiacht a fhágáil gan infhilleadh i ndiaidh na bhfocal saghas, sórt, cineál agus focal a bhfuil an bhrí ghinearálta cineál, méid, cuid, easpa, iomarca leo:
sórt lá breá, go leor fíon dearg

So it should be:

'Bhí sé ag déanamh a chuid obair bhaile'

pog it wrote: »

Great page here on this topic from Ciarán Ó Duibhín:
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/alba/ouch.htm

Brilliant piece pog it. Thanks for posting it.

Thug sí spreagadh dom