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It's a wet night

  • 23-10-2011 07:50PM
    #1
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 27,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Hi,
    I'm just looking for a quick bit of help if anyone is willing please! :)

    I've learned 'go dona' is bad
    'go breá' is fine... and so on.

    So if I'm saying it's a bad night or a fine day I'd say 'tá an oíche go dona' or 'tá an lá go breá.'
    I think that's right, but please correct me if it isn't!

    But, for example 'fluich' is wet and 'tirim' is dry.
    Now, these words don't have 'go' in front of them so I'm wondering two things:

    What is the 'go' before 'go breá?' Can breá ever be used alone?

    And, how do you say 'it's a wet night' or 'it's a dry day?'
    Is it just 'tá an oíche fliuch' or is that wrong?

    The 'go' is mightily confusing me anois. :confused:


Comments

  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,554 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    Oíche fliuch atá ann, lá tirirm atá ann.Brea is used with a noun usually


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 27,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    So 'Tá lá breá ann' means 'It's a fine day'

    But why is this different to 'Tá an lá go breá?'

    Or is it just an equally correct way of saying the same thing?

    (Could I say 'Tá an oíche go dona' or 'tá oíche dona ann?')
    (or 'Tá an oíche tirim' or 'tá oíche tirim ann' or would 'tá an oíche tirim' be wrong?)

    Thanks! :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭Krusader


    Oíche fliuch atá ann, la tirirm atá ann.

    ^^^^ This is a more natural way to say it OP, literally, it's a wet night that's in it, a dry day that's in it, which you'll here in Hiberno-English


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 27,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    Go raibh maith agaibh! I will use that way of saying it from now on. :)

    (so what's the 'go' then, in 'go' breá or 'go' dona?)
    If I'm just saying 'It's fine' would I say 'tá sé go breá' or 'tá sé breá' or 'tá breá ann?' :o


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭Krusader


    Tá sé go breá, the go is left over from centuries ago, all adjectives that went after tá had to be paired with go, there are only a few left that still keep it

    tá sé go maith
    go breá
    go hiontach
    go hainnis
    go huafasach
    go dona

    I think there's 1 or 2 more that escape me


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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 27,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭Posy


    Aaaaah. Now I get it, thank you so much. That word 'go' was just freaking me out there! :o

    So 'tá sé go dona' or
    'oíche dona atá ann' if I'm specifically referring to night or day.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭Krusader


    Well the X atá ann, is an emphatic sentence structure and can be used with any noun usually in identification

    dochtúir atá ann - a doctor, he is
    múinteoir atá inti - teacher she is
    foghlaimeoir atá ionam - a learner I am

    this is called fronting, to make the noun more emphatic


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,378 ✭✭✭deirdremf


    Posy wrote: »
    And, how do you say 'it's a wet night' or 'it's a dry day?'
    Is it just 'tá an oíche fliuch' or is that wrong?
    Oíche fliuch atá ann, lá tirim atá ann. Breá is used with a noun usually
    Just to be slightly pedantic, "tá an oíche fliuch" is correct, but "oíche fliuch atá ann" has a grammatical error.
    "Tá an oíche - fliuch" here the adjective (fliuch) doesn't have to agree with the (feminine) noun
    BUT
    "Oíche fliuch - atá ann" does need agreement between the adject and the noun, so you have to say:
    "Oíche fhliuch atá ann"

    Apart from that when you use "go" is it not a mark of an adject being used adverbially?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 45,643 ✭✭✭✭Mr.Nice Guy


    Just to follow on from the OP's query if I may...

    I've been learning that we can use 'Is' when talking about the weather so we can say:

    'Is breá an lá é' - 'It's a fine day'

    And that here we bring the adjective forward and add 'an' before the noun. So with this being the case can one say for example when describing the weather is wet:

    'Is fliuch an aimsir í?'

    Or is it better to use the 'Tá sé fliuch' structure?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    deirdremf wrote: »
    ...
    Apart from that when you use "go" is it not a mark of an adject being used adverbially?

    That is how I understand it.

    In a construction like Tá an lá go breá it seems a bit marginal, especially if your mindset is formed by English syntax. But is a verb that can be modified by an adverb, unlike is (as in Is lá breá é) which is a copula, and not modifiable by an adjective.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭Enkidu


    But is a verb that can be modified by an adverb,
    Exactly, in fact the "to be" verb being used with an adverb is quite common in Indo-European languages which is why in English you say "I am well", not "I am good". "Táim maith", would be like saying "I am good" in English, when you should say "Táim go maith" = "I am well".

    (Of course it doesn't matter as much in English today.)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    Enkidu wrote: »
    ...

    (Of course it doesn't matter as much in English today.)

    It does to me!

    (But I accept your point; not everybody is as particular as I am.)


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