This is in answer to a question posed in the
"Come and introduce yourself here" thread:
Kay1966 wrote:
cytex wrote:
Dia dhaoibh a Chairde,
Is mise píllib tá mé i mo chonai i Báile átha cliath. Tá mé ag foghlaim as a Gaelige i rang na Gaelige. Tá mé tríocha dó bliain d'aois.
Hi guys
My name is phillip and i live in dublin. I am learning irish in a irish class and im 32 years old.
I am only a beginer so feel free to corect me it would be much appreciated.
Slán
cytex wrote:
Dia dhaoibh, a Chairde.
Is mise Pilib. Tá mé i mo chónaí i mBáile Átha Cliath. Tá mé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge i rang Gaeilge. Tá mé dhá bhliain is tríocha d'aois.
Dia dhaoibh is somewhat standardised. It would be
Dia daoibh in school Irish.
Dia dhíb in Connemara.
There are a number of ways to introduce yourself:
~ is ainm dom "My name is ~" seems to be the preference in schools.
Is mise ~ "I am ~" (I think this used to be reserved for the emphatic "_I_ am ~" but it has become more everyday.)
A more natural way in Irish is to say
~ atá orm. "My name is ~" literally "~ is on me.", e.g.,
Breandán atá orm.
tríocha a dó bliain* is
a common enough mistake. In Irish, you should use the numbers up to ten before the noun with the tens (or more traditionally, the twenties) after
is, e.g.,
bliain is fiche (d'aois) "21 years (old)",
cúig bhliana is daichead "45 years",
leathchéad bliain "50 years",
naoi mbliana is seasca/trí fichid "69 years",
céad is trí bliana déag "113 years", etc.
Note that the noun is usually in the singular after a number but
bliain has its own counting form
bliana from three and upward, so only aon and
dhá lenite, i.e.,
aon bhliain,
dhá bhliain. Normally trí through
sé lenite
a noun but bliana is a special case that doesn't, i.e.,
trí bliana, etc.
, and then seacht through
deich eclipse
(as usual), i.e.,
seacht mbliana, etc.
(See Braoin's post below for the full set.)Not that it applies much to ages, but above 100, you can also put the tens back in their normal order but you still modify the noun by the rule of the final digit, e.g.,
2,334 capall =
dhá mhíle, trí chéad tríocha is ceithre chapall "2,334 horses". Notice that when writing figures you don't modify the noun, but when you read it aloud you lenite the noun.
So too, you may write
18 bliain d'aois, but should read it,
ocht mbliana déag d'aois