Module 2: Grammar

1. Prepositional pronouns

'Prepositional pronoun' is a terrible phrase indeed, and this type of word doesn't exist in English but is of vital importance in the Irish language.

Prepositional pronouns are two words in one: on the one hand they consist of:

• a preposition - le (with), ar (on), ag (at), do (to), de (from), i (in), as (out of) and so on;

and on the other:

• a pronoun - mé (me), tú (you), sé (he), sí (she), sinn (we), sibh (you = ye) and siad (they).

The prepositional pronouns we meet in our text are:

• dom (...is ainm dom), duit (cad is ainm duit?) (dh... whenever the final letter of the preceding word is a,e,i,o,u) and
• orm (tá cónaí orm...).

Do

Opposite you can see the full list of examples of prepositional pronouns formed with do, so that you can say:

My name is...
What's your name?
His/her name is...
What's his/her name?

You might like to try to practise this by saying in Irish:

My name is X.
Your name is Y.
His name is Z.

If there are two or more of you, you can practise the question and answer:

What's your name
What's his/her name, etc, 
           

and the appropriate answer.

Q: Cad is ainm duit? - What's your name?
A: Sarah is ainm dom - My name is Sarah

Q:Cad is ainm dó? - What's his name? 
A:Niall is ainm dó - His name is Niall

Q:Cad is ainm di? What's her name? 
A:Eibhlín is ainm di - Her name is Eileen.

Ar

Opposite you can see the full list of examples of prepositional pronouns formed with ar, so that you can say:

I live in....
You live in
He/she, etc. lives in...

You might like to try to practise this by saying in Irish:

I live in X.
You live in X.
He/she/we live in X.


Tá cónaí orm i mBéal Átha an Ghaorthaidh.
Tá cónaí ort i gCorcaigh.
Tá cónaí air i mBaile Átha Cliath.
Tá cónaí uirthi i Luimneach.

2. Asking a simple question

We will look at two question words in this section: conas? (how?) and cad? (what?).

There isn't much to learn about these words as they essentially function like their English equivalents, that is they appear at the beginning of the question sentence and are followed by the independent form of the verb ('doing-word', Irish briathar).

However, the letter 'a' separates the question word from the verb. In the case of tá we get the relative form atá after conas or cad:

Conas atá tú? = how are you?
Cad atá ort? = what's wrong with you? (literally "What's on you?").


If you want to ask your friend about another person you both know:

Conas atá sí? = How is she?
Cad atá air? What's wrong with him?

If you ask about a group of people:

Conas atá siad? (how are they?)


And finally, if you want to ask your friend about another person's name: 


Cad is ainm dó? = what's his name?
Cad is ainm di = what's her name?