'If' in Irish

MilkTheGroup

Hi I was wondering if anyone could clarify how you would use 'mura' in irish and also if they could translate this sentence 'If I am not able to get the bread'. Go raibh maith agat

An Sionnach Glic

MilkTheGroup wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone could clarify how you would use 'mura' in irish and also if they could translate this sentence 'If I am not able to get the bread'. Go raibh maith agat

You use 'Mura' to indicate 'if' in the negative ('má' in the positive sense). Mura bhfuil mé in ann an t-arán a fháil.

mr chips

There's also "Mura mbím in ann an t-arán a fháil" - I know this was put forward to me a long time ago as a better way to express this than "Mura bhfuil", but I can't remember why. Might simply be down to what's more commonly used by native speakers, but I'm open to correction on that.

An Sionnach Glic

mr chips wrote: »

There's also "Mura mbím in ann an t-arán a fháil" - I know this was put forward to me a long time ago as a better way to express this than "Mura bhfuil", but I can't remember why. Might simply be down to what's more commonly used by native speakers, but I'm open to correction on that.

Certainly, depending on context, 'Mura mbím' could be better than 'Mura bhfuil'; it all depends on whether you want to use the perfect present tense (I am (not) doing this now) or the imperfect present tense (I do/don't do this on a regular basis). More specifically, 'Mura bhfuil' would refer to something happening right now and 'Mura mbím' would refer to something being done continually/habitually over a period of time.

So the question is whether the person in question is only unable to get the bread right now (and in this moment in time), or is unable to get the bread at anytime.

Gumbi

An Sionnach Glic wrote: »

mr chips wrote: »

There's also "Mura mbím in ann an t-arán a fháil" - I know this was put forward to me a long time ago as a better way to express this than "Mura bhfuil", but I can't remember why. Might simply be down to what's more commonly used by native speakers, but I'm open to correction on that.

Certainly, depending on context, 'Mura mbím' could be better than 'Mura bhfuil'; it all depends on whether you want to use the perfect present tense (I am (not) doing this now) or the imperfect present tense (I do/don't do this on a regular basis). More specifically, 'Mura bhfuil' would refer to something happening right now and 'Mura mbím' would refer to something being done continually/habitually over a period of time.

So the question is whether the person in question is only unable to get the bread right now (and in this moment in time), or is unable to get the bread at anytime.

Agreed.

Feathers

An Sionnach Glic wrote: »

Certainly, depending on context, 'Mura mbím' could be better than 'Mura bhfuil'; it all depends on whether you want to use the perfect present tense (I am (not) doing this now) or the imperfect present tense (I do/don't do this on a regular basis). More specifically, 'Mura bhfuil' would refer to something happening right now and 'Mura mbím' would refer to something being done continually/habitually over a period of time.

So the question is whether the person in question is only unable to get the bread right now (and in this moment in time), or is unable to get the bread at anytime.

One thing that would trip me up when trying to phrase an expression like that in Irish is the tense alright — if I say for instance,

"If I'm unable to get the bread when I go to the shops, will I get a baguette instead?".

It's not really in the present tense at all, but we use 'if I am' in English as a way of expressing it. (Is it future conditional? — can't remember ). I know the phrasing is OK to use in English though, but I'm always unsure when to use the same structures in Irish & feel like I'm thinking too much in an English language mindset.

Would you ever say "Mura mbeidh mé in ann an t-arán a fháil."? As in, "if I will not be able to get the bread?". Or is "mura bhfuil" a natural way to say it in Irish too?

deirdremf

An Sionnach Glic wrote: »

Certainly, depending on context, 'Mura mbím' could be better than 'Mura bhfuil'; it all depends on whether you want to use the perfect present tense (I am (not) doing this now) or the imperfect present tense (I do/don't do this on a regular basis). More specifically, 'Mura bhfuil' would refer to something happening right now and 'Mura mbím' would refer to something being done continually/habitually over a period of time.

So the question is whether the person in question is only unable to get the bread right now (and in this moment in time), or is unable to get the bread at anytime.

"mura" refers to a hypothetical/unfinished action in the future, is followed by "bhíonn".
"má" is similar, and as such you say "má bhíonn" when it has a future meaning.
To illustrate this, if you know the song "Casadh an tsúgáin", the words "má bhíonn tú liom, bí liom" will be familiar to you.