Dia daoibh,

When to use - go dit an no chuig an when referring to a word:

eg; colaiste ...... I been told the code is = Do you know if its masculine or feminine...yes I do ...colaiste is masculine.[center]

So the example Im trying to learn states, one should use, go dit an in this case ....so Teim go dti an colaiste .

Ach the example also states if you dont know what gender colaiste is then you use chuig an ? this has me confused I mean once we look up the word in question , in this case colaiste then we know what gender the word is ! , ....now in the example the spelliing is so: chuig an cholaiste and I wonder why an alternative to masc or feminine go dti an exists?

a Bearnard

There are some prepositions meaning "(un)to"
- chun
- chuig
- go
- go dtí
- do
- ionsar

The usage depends on:
- the dialect (I'd guess do is used only in Munster in this sense, rather marginal ion(n)sar used only in Ulster)
- the following word (e.g. go is used only with proper names without an article: go Meiriceá = to America, go dtí with an article: go dtí an teach = to the house)
- the intended meaning (up to the house and stopping in front of the door or including entering the house), compare German "bis zu" = go dtí (lit. until come ...)

But I have never ever heard that it should depend on gender.
Esp. it is nonsense to say "if you dont know what gender then ..." (because native speakers *always* know what gender.)

Yo might say:
chun an choláiste
chuig an choláiste/chuig an gcoláiste (dep. on dialect)
go dtí an coláiste

BTW: In some areas coláiste is feminine (chun na coláiste, go dtí an choláiste).

I think it might be one of those friendly to learners “rules” (which I’d rather call tips or language hacks, as they aren’t real rules of usage but somehow make it easier to speak less broken language), like using as Gaeilge instead of i nGaeilge/nGaelainn/nGaeilg because you don’t need to remember mutation. Then the tip/hack would be to use chuig an when you don’t know the gender, since it always causes the same mutation regardless of gender as it takes dative whereas to correctly use go dtí an or chun an/na you need to know the gender as the mutation in nominative and form of the article in genitive differ depending on gender…

Dia daoibh,

GRMA , a word can be masc and feminine i nGaeilige , ta se suimuil, sa foclair duit se colaiste is masc?

Nil me abalata chuir fada le mo focal le mo keyboard go foil...usaid nua Google Slate agus Brydge keyboard, ach chuir me cupla ceist le ceart forums.

Nil me liofa , ta me beidir dara rang i mo bharbhfuil.

Beidh me ag leamh do fregrair aris agus aris grma.

Bearnard.