barra79 wrote:
"Tá go maith!" translates as "It is good" and means "Thats fine" in English, correct? Why isn't it "Tá sé go maith!"? Is it common to drop the subject like this in Gaelic? Is "Tá go math!" idiomatic?
Does "Tá sé sin go breá" have the same meaning? Can I say "Tá go breá" or "Tá sin go breá"? If so, do they have the same meaning?
Tá go maith!means 'Good!' or 'Grand!' in a general sense is indefinite without specifying anything in particular.
Tá sé go maith or
Tá sé sin go maith is definite and means 'It is good'
If you want to say more than just 'grand' or 'good' and wish to convey 'beautiful' or 'great'
then put in 'breá' where the 'maith' is.
Tá go breá! - indefinite as outlined above
Tá sin go breá. or
Tá sé sin go breá. - definite as outlined above
Although 'Tá go maith' you might say every day, for the other one I would usually go for 'Togha!' or 'Thar cionn!' for the indefinite - that everything is fantastic, etc.
and
'Tá sin go breá' for the definite - referring to how wonderful, fantastic whatever is said or whatever object we are talking about at the time.
Hope you can make sense of that for starters... but others will shortly help out and clarify anything that needs changing, etc.