Help in Leaving Cert Irish

hinin

hello
doing my leaving cert on wednesday and i dont understand a part of irish grammer if any one could help that would be class !!

its the an/na thing when do you put a h or an uru i am a bit confused :eek:

thanks x

Spear

Moved from N&F.

red_red_wine

Just to preface this, I'm absolutely open to correction on any of the following points (also, I'm sure there are technical names for a lot of these grammar points, this is just how I remember them )

Most prepositions will either put an urú or a seimhiú (a h) on the noun. This is the most important thing to have clear in your head, because otherwise you leave yourself open to a huge amount of errors.

You can think of these in four groups:

1. Ag, le, go = take nothing. Ag Seán, go Corcaigh, le cúnamh Dé.

2. i = urú . i gCorcaigh, i dtrioblóid.

3. Ar an, ag an, as an etc (preposition + an) = urú. Ag an mbord, ar an mbád, ag an bhfile, leis an mbean.

4. Almost all of the others - de, do, sa, faoi, ar, ó mar - take a H. Faoi bhrón, ó Shíle etc.

NB: These points only apply to nouns in the singular. In the plural, the preposition adds nothing. Ar na daoine, ag na fr, leis na cailíní, leis na daoine.

You will often see an urú on a plural noun (líon na ndaoine etc. )...this is due to the tuisil ginideach and has nothing to do with the preposition.

In relation to having a h after 'an', that is to do with the gender of the noun (again only in the singular!) If the noun is feminine, it takes a h after 'an'.

An fhadhb, an fhilíocht, an ghrian, an pháirc. You can't put a h on an s, so it takes a t if it is feminine - an tsráid, an tsaol.

A masculine noun takes nothing - an fear, an dán, an leabhar.

The tuisil ginideach is a whole other kettle of fish and a complex one at that, so I won't go into it unless you want me to!

Edit: Just remembered the possessive pronouns (my, your etc.)

My = mo = + h, nothing on a vowel. Mo mhála, mo chos, m'athair.

Your = do = + h, nothing on vowel. Do mhála, do chos, d'athair.

His = a = + h, nothing on vowel. A mhála, a chos, a athair.

Her = a = nothing but a h on a vowel. A mála, a cos, a hathair, a huaigneas.

Our = ár = urú. Ár bhfeirm, ár mála, ár gcos, ár n-athair.

Yer = bhur = urú. Bhur bhfeirm, bhur mála, bhur gcos, bhur n-athair.

Their = a = urú. A bhfeirm, a mála, a gcos, a n-athair.