Dia daoibh,

I have just joined, so I apologize for what are probably such obvious questions. I live in Tajikistan, and I can pretty safely say that there is no one in this country who has any Irish whom I could ask. When I moved to Tajikistan I brought a couple of books about Irish grammar and even went so far as to buy Rosetta Stone because I knew I had no hope at good pronunciation without something to listen to. I don't have Internet at home, you see.
As you may know, Rosetta Stone does not explain any grammar. I can usually figure it out, but I thought it might help me to ask some things on a forum such as this to be sure. I have two questions

1. I was surprised by the dialog:
Gabh mo leithscéal, an é seo an chógaslann?
Ní hé. Seo é an siopa grósaeireachta. Tá an chógaslann gar don pháirc.
Obviously cógaslann is feminine, I thought, so why are we saying "é" instead of "í"?? I considered that perhaps "seo" is somehow a masculine subject of this sentence, but I really don't know. I am hoping you can tell me. Thank you in advanced for your patience with what must be obvious.

2. I believe at this point that the normal way to say "I am buying bread" is Tá arán á cheannach agam but I was also taught Táim ag ceannach aráin. I feel like these are both grammatically logical, but I can't see what the different would be, and just have the impression that they are two ways to say the same thing. Could someone explain to me what the difference is and when (if ever) to use one over the other? Again, I apologize for what would be easy for anyone working with a teacher.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh, agus go mbeannaí Dia daoibh.

In certain dialects, you can use "é" to refer to feminine nouns when they are things (not people nor female animals). In standard grammar, I think you'd need to use í though.



Both are right, now I guess people would rather use "táim ag ceannach aráin" in everyday speech. Tá arán á cheannach agam means "bread is being bought by me", roughly.

_________________
Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I don't think you need to use í in the standard either. The way I see it, the pronouns é and í have little or nothing to do with the grammatical gender of a noun. They have to do with something being perceived as male or female.

I think this becomes more clear when you talk about people rather than objects. For example:

An é an bainisteoir? / Is he the manager?
An í an bainisteoir? / Is she the manager?

Bainisteoir is a masculine word (grammatical gender), but the person you are talking about could be a man or woman.

Most things in Irish take the pronoun é, so when in doubt use é.

But some things are considered female, such as books, vehicles and machinery, clothing and jewellery. Even if the word is masculine the object itself is considered to be a she/her.

An carr nua í? / Is it (she) a new car?
An leabhar maith í? / Is it (she) a good book?


Lughaidh has explained it, I just want to point out that in English, the so-called "passive voice" (It is being bought by me) is looked down on, and students in school or college will be told to use the "active voice" (I am buying it). But in Irish, the passive voice is fine.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Why yes! I remember coming to a similar assumption a month or two ago when speakers spoke about an cailín using sí and í. I guess it didn't occur to me that things other than people could have gender beyond their grammatical gender.


Thank you both kindly for your responses. If they are truly equal, then I certainly prefer the passive voice at this point because I have not yet been properly introduced to the genitive case.

Oíche mhɑıth ɑᵹɑıbh!

I just realized I have another question!!

Reading these sentences you wrote left me feeling uneasy, like something was not right. Obviously I'm sure they are right, but it reminds me of the way I learned to ask who people are in Rosetta Stone, which I am now curious about. For example,

"Is he your brother?" (or so I assumed I was being taught) was given as:
An é do dheɑrthɑır é?
and "Is she your sister?" (again, my assumption at the English)
An í do dheırfıúr í?
with the answer:
Is í. Is í mo dheırfıúr í.

I am at a loss what these seemingly extra pronouns are for and what meaning they are adding to the sentence. How could I ask "Are you my sister?" Would it be An tú mo dheırfıúr tú? or An tú mo dheırfıúr í? or An í mo dheırfıúr tú? or simply An tú mo dheırfıúr? or even, this may sound crazy, An tú mo dheırfıúr thú?

Thank you again in advance for your responses!

An é do dheartháir é? = Is he your brother?

The last é is the subject of the sentence. (That one which is translated as "he".)
Usually, the subject is last in copula sententences.
The first é is necessary to prevent "An do dheartháir é?" which is impossible. (It is impossible for a definite noun phrase to be next to the copula.)
It is called "fo-fhaisnéis" ("sub-predicate") in Irish grammar terms.

In Ulster Irish An é do dheartháir? is fine.
É is subject, no need for a sub-predicate.

An tú mo dheirfiúr? = Are you my sister?

The subject pronouns mé, tú, sinn, sibh are always next to the copula in identification sentences.
No need for a sub-predicate.

Go rɑıbh míle mɑıth ɑᵹɑt! I really appreciate your grammar-focused response. As a language teacher, this kind of explanation is actually the simplest for me to understand. And, ironically for someone using Rosetta Stone, I know I learn best by first memorizing all the rules, then attempting to produce.

You wouldn't happen to be able to provide a grammatical rule-based explanation for "An é seo an chógaslann?" would you? Because, at least for me, rules make everything easier.

Another quick question -- what is going on here that explains the extra "i" in deifiúr? Is this something to do with vocative or genitive?
So sorry to keep asking so many questions! Tɑ́ mé buɑrthɑ!

Demonstrative pronouns are next to the copula in identification sentences, too.

An é sin an chógaslann? = Is this the pharmacy?

(Impossible: "An í an chógaslann é/í sin?")



Just a typo.

Sorry, I meant as to why it calls for "é" instead of "í"

An é sin an chógaslann? = Is this the pharmacy?



Is this suggesting that the "é" is not meant to agree with "an chógaslann" but rather with "sin"?



Sorry :-( didn't mean to draw attention to that then