Hi,

I am looking for a way to say "boys, behave" as if talking to children (but really speaking to adults - so, adults acting like children) I found "Gasra" as possibly working for "Boys" but could only find this for "behave" "féin a iompar díbh féin"

Any way I could get some help with this phrase? thank you in advance.

I'm far from fluent, but in school the teachers used to say "Ná bí dána!", to say "Don't be bold!" to one person, and "Ná bígí dána!", to more than one person. A literal translation of "behave yourselves" might be different, but if you're looking for the phrase that an average Irish person is most likely to understand, I think this is it.

"Boys" is "buachaillí". Putting it together, I guess it's "Ná bígí dána a bhuachaillí!", for "Don't [yous] be bold, boys!" Or I guess it could also be said "A bhuachaillí, ná bígí dána!", for "Boys, don't [yous] be bold!".

But I don't remember them saying "a bhuachaillí". It was usually just "Ná bígí dána anois!" (Don't [yous] be bold now!).

But hey, I'm not fluent at all, just thought I'd give it a go because this is the first translation request which looked like I might have a chance at knowing it I hope someone else replies!

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Pages I made:
(These are unfortunately offline for the near future, but they'll be back!)

• Teaching Young Kids Irish (It's just my notes, a work in progress.)
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Anothr suggestion would be:
A bhuachaillí, bíodh múineadh oraibh -Boys, have manners or behave yourselves

Séamus

Hmm, wonder where you found this. It's a collective noun, most often used these days with the meaning of "group". IANANS, but it would sound odd to me to address several people in this way.

It does, however, bear a certain resemblance to garsún (and its variant gasúr), which means "boy". Garsún is most common in Munster and the vocative plural form of it would be a gharsúna! In Munster, however, the "yous" form of the imperative is bídh (pronounced [bʲiːɟ]) rather than bígí.

What about simply, 'Bígí go maith'? 'Be good' ie. behave yourselves.

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I suggest - (but it's only a suggestion - I'm not sure that it's correct)

Seo anois a bhuachaillí, bígí múineadh beag oraibh!

Bígí is a 2P form. But the subject is múineadh, so what you need here is a 3S imperative, i.e. bíodh. (The construction is impersonal, i.e. "May good behaviour be upon yous".)

you could add, a bhuachaillí if you wanted to make sure in getting their attention

Other options:

A bhuachaillí, bigí béasach/ dea-mhúinte, más é bhur dtoil é! 'Boys, be well-behaved, please!'

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

bígí

I use Irish with my little ones and I would say "Bígí go maith (do do mhama)" or "Bígí go deas." I'm not a native speaker (I'm not even Irish), but you'll find that usage here:

‘Ceart go leor. Bí go maith do d’athair, is feicfidh mé amárach thú.’
http://www.feasta.ie/2014/bealtaine/alt4.html