I think most people agree that Fadhb ar bith* (on it's own) is Béarlachas, but the more natural alternatives aren't always clear. Ní fadhb ar bith é sin exists as a sentence but dropping the ní changes ar bith from "no" to "any". Adding gan doesn't really solve the problem either.

So what do native speakers say? It depends on the context. Focloir.ie offers a few suggestions here.

Borrowing and elaborating on some of their examples:


Expressing willingness to do something:

"An ligfidh tú amach anseo mé ?" "Cinnte."
"Will you let me off here?" "No problem."

Cinnte is literally "certainly."

You can also use agus fáilte:

An déanfaidh tú dhom é? "Déanfad agus fáilte"
"Will you do it for me?" "Yes, with pleasure."


Reply to thanks:

"Go raibh maith agat as an gcabhair." " Fáilte romhat."/"Tá fáilte romhat."
"Thanks for the help." "No problem."
"Go raibh maith agat as do chuidiú." "Go ndéana a mhaith duit."
"Thanks for the help." "No problem."

Tá fáilte romhat/fáilte romhat is "You're welcome"
Go ndéana a mhaith duit. is another way to say "You're welcome"


Reply to apology:

"Tá brón orm faoin moill." "Ní dada é."
"Sorry about the delay." "No problem."

Ní dada é means "It's nothing."

(You can also say Ná bac leis. "Don't bother about it." or Is cuma. "It doesn't matter." in reply to an apology.)


Some other ways I have found to say "It is no problem/bother/trouble (to do that for you)":

Ní meáchan ar bith orm é. "It is no weight on me."
Ní stró ar bith é. "It is no trouble."

Perhaps others have some suggestions for the different contexts? ...

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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).

Maybe ná bíodh imní ar bith ort (fá/faoi sin) could work for replies to apologies?

Domhnall

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Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!

I have heard "Ná habair é", but that might be Bearlachas as well.

There's also;

fáilte is fiche

'Sé do bheatha-sa

"Ní raibh sé aon iallait orm", I made that one up though!

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

I've always understood - ná habair é - to be a direct translation of - don't mention it, so it would be considered as bearlachas. I'm guessing that they used to answer this with some kind of a blessing.

I've heard it used that way too, as "Don't mention it." Dinneen only has it listed as meaning "Ah, no !" "I hope not !" "you don't mean it." The nuance seems to be more "Tell me it isn't so." than "Don't mention it." Anyone from the Gaeltacht able to elucidate on that?

(Interestingly, abair is also listed in Dinneen as an interjection "say" when giving an example or suggesting an amount of something, as in "fiche punt, abair" "twenty pounds, say", which might otherwise sound like Béarlachas.)

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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).

I have heard it and used that quite often as well. But the problem is at what point does a phrase stop being considered pure Béarlachas, how long does it need to be established in native speech before it is accepted? Many would think if native speakers use such phrases than its acceptable. But I have heard somethings from natives that would be considered blasphemous by many, and now you have a greater discrepancy than ever between young people with native Irish and their parents and grandparents. Now, there is always the argument, I know, that older people are always giving out about the speech of younger people #totes amazeballs etc... but we're talking much more than language use, features of native pronunciation are being lost within a generation or two... is that acceptable?

Dineen in the réamhrá of his dictionary commented on this dilemma, I think he said something along the lines of that many loan phrases and words were coming into the language that he wasn't to fond of and that in his compilation he made every effort to use native phrases and words or loan phrases and words that are well established in the language. Going by that premise, if the usage of abair in expressing an idea similar to "twenty pounds, say" is given then it must be there a good while.

Abraimíst is used a lot in Munster Irish and is used exactly like its English cognate phrase Let's say..

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

I figure if it is in Dinneen then it is well-established by now.

Incidentally, some of these phrases and interjections came from Latin equivalents and others have equivalents in a range of unrelated languages, so if they are not exactly "universal", they are at least widespread in their commonality.

In English, or any modern language, young people try new things and many come and go as fads, but good teachers usually resist many of the more recent developments in the language until their usage proves to be established.

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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).

I think so too.

Interestingly, here are some phrases from the Cork Irish website that some might think are pure Béarlachas but have been used by reputable native Irish speakers.

http://corkirish.wordpress.com/idioms-t ... ish-idiom/ (a lot of people may have seen this before)

Not surprising when bilingualism is the norm and code-switching is common.

Cian

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

Scottish Gaelic uses "can" (equivalent to "abair") the same way. Now that you mention it, though, I always thought of "say" in English as something of an Americanism. Maybe it's a Gaelicism in American English...?

(I think I'd normally say "maybe" in English in that situation, personally, although I may be wrong... none of us are fully aware of how we speak after all....)

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

In my particular neck of the American woods, we also use "say" to mean "for example":

"Pretend you're driving down the road...Highway 1, say, or Highway 9."

Redwolf