I don't know but this might be worth considering as well...

Tá a oiread grá agam ortsa agus atá de ghrá agam ar mo chlann féin. - I love you as much as I love my own children.

Would you need the "agam" in the second phrase as well?

It should be "an" oiread. That's what I'd say anyways... You can leave out the second agam, and I would, too I would say it without the "de" too, but not absolutely sure it's correct. I use "do" too, but ar is fine AFAIK. Here's what I'd say in total:

Tá an oiread grá agam duit is atá grá do mo chlann féin

... and in writing that, I think I'd leave out the second grá, too Wait for others opinions on this suggestion, it's a somewhat tricky composition

I think an oiread is used with sin, e.g., an oiread sin "so much", but a oiread more generally, i.e., a oiread deifre, a oiread aithne, a oiread de mhisneach, etc. (see FGB for more examples)

Perhaps:

Tá a oiread grá agam duitse agus atá do mo chlann féin.

Await further input ...

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

You're probably right, or you're just plain right :P I actually don't use "oiread" often (if at all) in speech personally.I should have said this in my post. It seems you've agreed with the rest of my post, though.

I love you as much as I love my own children.
Tá a oiread grá agam duitse agus atá do mo chlann féin.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to be patient enough to walk me through this.

Why would you drop "de" and just use "grá"?
Would it then not have to be "an grá ar mo chlann.."?

I definitely don't understand why you would drop "grá" completely.

And lastly, I have seen both "do" and "ar" used in this construction, but is one better, or more common than the other?

Thanks.

I'm fascinated by this discussion.

I am, as they say, awaiting further input.

Tá a oiread grá agam duitse agus atá do mo chlann féin.
"I love you as much as my own children"
literally "I have as much love for you as for my children."

Tá a oiread grá agam ortsa agus atá ar mo chlann féin. is probably also possible.

do vs ar are interchangeable but I think the prefernce for which one is used is dialectal. I think ar is used mainly in Ulster and do is more prevalent elsewhere.

You yourself had a oiread grá in the first half and de ghrá in the second half.

Have another look at the literal translation above (in this post) and see if you still feel there is any reason to put de ghrá in the second half.

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

If the alternatives vary according to dialect, as you were saying, Breandán, then I need the most likely version that someone from Dublin would use as that's where my character is from.

Also I asked a supplementary question which has got lost in the thread, and it was about whether the 'I' and the 'you' would be different depending on the sex of the speaker and the person spoken to. My assumption is that it makes no difference, but I'd be grateful for confirmation please.

Thanks again to those who are helping me out.

@Empathist. First let me apologize for hijacking your thread with my questions.
I'll try and answer yours though...
The sex of the speaker would not affect either of these pronouns.
Going by Breandán's explanation I would say that "do" would probably be the best bet for a Dublin Irish speaker, bearing in mind that Dublin was one of the first places in Ireland where Irish was supplanted by English.

@Breandán. I was thinking of the original sentence - "I love you as much as I love my own children" where the love was repeated but I see that you have actually translated "I love you as much as my own children" that's where I was getting confused.

Why is "...de ghrá..." not correct?
And why would you just use "grá" without an article?
"....agus atá grá do mo chlann féin" or "agus atá an grá do mo...", I don't know for sure but I think it would have "an". Grá by itself there sounds a bit strange to me.

Sorry for being such a pedantic nuisance...again.

I don't think it is incorrect, as such. If you see the examples I gave for a oiread above, i.e., a oiread deifre, a oiread aithne, a oiread de mhisneach, you can see that de is sometimes present sometimes not. I am not sure of the difference in nuace there myself. Economy of words says if in doubt leave it out. Perhaps someone else might have a reason that de should be there?


grá without the article is "(some) love". An grá with the article is the whole concept of "love", often expressed with a capital l in English, i.e., "Love". If this were about love in general, i.e., a "Love is ..." type construction, I would use the article, but the idiom is tá grá agam do ~, not tá an grá agam do ~.


If we were to add the superfluous elements back into the second clause:

Tá a oiread grá agam duitse agus an grá atá agam do mo chlann féin.
literally "I have as much love for you as the love I have for my own children."

By the way, agus here isn't "and", it is the "as" that introduces the comparison relative to a oiread.

At least, that is the way I see it. I am not always right and it may need correcting ...

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).