Hi I was looking for a bit of help in answering the questions I have been given for my obair bhaile in a beginners Irish class I am doing.

So we basically have to write the answers to questions asking the colour of things. I will give you a few examples.

Cén dath atá ar sneachta?

Cén dath atá ar nóiníní?

Cén dath atá ar dhuilleoga úra?

Now from my school days I would have answered these questions with - Ta an sneachta bán but the handout she gave us says that in Irish you say a colour is 'on' a thing so for example Tá dath buí ar bhanana.

So for number one should I be saying - Tá dath bán ar sneactha?

Thanks in advance

Well, there's nothing wrong, as far as I can see, with saying "Tá sneachta bán," but if that's how she wants you to answer, I think you've got it right, other than that you need to lenite after "ar": So "Tá dath ban ar shneachta." I'd read that at "Snow is colored white."

Redwolf

Hi Redwolf thanks for that. When you say I must add a lenite to all the words after 'ar' I assume in the case of - Cén dath atá ar dhuilleoga úra? The h is already there so I dont need to change any words there?

thanks

Also there is examples of answering this way (below) so I think you have the choice to answer either way:

Cad iad na dathanna atá ar bhratach na héireann? and the answer is Ta glas, bán agus oráiste air. How do I determine what word to add to the end of the sentence, as in air or uirthí? Is it due to whether or not the noun is feminine or masculine? And is the noun feminine if it has a h and masculine is without the h.

Sorry for all the questions. I am just trying to get my head around all of it!.

Thanks for your help.

I would have thought that for the colours of the Irish national flag, they'd say uaine for green (uaine is supposed to be for man-made objects, whereas glas is for all things natural such as grass - but it can also mean grey) and flannbhuí for orange.

My surname is Greene and it is Ní hUaine but on the handout we got that is the way they answer that question. Its all very confusing haha

Yes, I was taught glas for grass or any vegetation. Oráiste was the fruit and flannbhui the color. Don't understand why now this is not so.

Franc is right in that the colors of the Irish flag are usually described as "Uaine, Bán, Flannbuí." You certainly wouldn't use "glas" or "oráiste" in that situation. I'm wondering now where your teacher got his/her handouts?

I'm also wondering why the é in the name of the country isn't capitalized, as it should be ("na hÉireann"). Was that just a typo, or is it another mistake on the handout?

As far as whether you use "air" or "uirthi," it depends on the grammatical gender of the noun in question: "air" for a masculine noun, "uirthi" for a feminine noun. "Bratach" is feminine, so takes "uirthi."

Redwolf

Okay thanks. That was a typo on my part re hÉireann.

The handouts are directly out of a book used for teaching in schools It is a book that uses Donegal Irish so I am not sure if that makes a difference, probably not.

I think I answered the questions correctly. I will see later when she corrects it.

Thanks for all your help

What is the name of the book?

Redwolf