I know of a dialect study book where it mentioned the people of one area (can't recall which) used to use the conditional all the time! and these were people hardly much versed in English as they were born prior to the famine and many of them mono-lingual, tho of course, Sprachbund influences could be at work

_________________
__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

I didn't realise about conditional use in Donegal.

As for conditional vs. past habitual, what I recall saying was that the conditional was used for the past subjunctive (not for the past habitual, even though that has the same form).

I think I should use clár adhmaid in line with Bríd's post. I still don't like stróichthe - but only because I've never come across it, and as it is common in the Connemara, it has got to be a good translation.

Can I ask is there a particular reason why you always say ''in the Connemara'' instead of ''in Connemara''?

Not sure English has anything to do with it. In Scottish Gaelic, the conditional/habitual past distinction is long, long gone. There is only one form for the two of them, so the loss of it in Donegal Irish is probably more of "Hebridean Sea Gaelic" feature than the influence of English.

_________________
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.

Thanks for that. I've been meaning to ask about the past habitual/conditional in Scottish Gaelic. I'm glad there are precedents for the same phenomenon that aren't the result of English language influence. In Donegal Irish it seems to be more recent though. The past habitual was used widely in literature of the 20s, 30s, 40s, for example, and in traditional story-telling you still hear it today, even if the trend is very much to use conditional in everyday speech, or a set expression (ba ghnáth le...). But the strange thing is you do hear the past habitual in everyday speech too (some verbs more than others), so it's a little inconsistent and I suppose that's why I always imagined the influence of English was there somewhere. I've tried asking native speaking friends about it but never really get a satisfactory answer. I don't really mind though - I end up mixing the use of the two tenses myself.

Slán,

Domhnall

_________________
Ultach mé agus Gaeilg Uladh a labhraim go measardha maith!

I've never been there, but if you're telling me it is 'in Connemara', I'll take your word for it.

Conemara has long been a proper noun proper, so to speak. I grew up saying the Ukraine, the Lebanon, the Palestine, the Philippines, the US and the UK. The last three still stand, though many people now drop the article for the first three (however, I do hear Americans... ) say in US, in UK...

My feeling was that the first four were once, as territories or areas (as in the Philippine Islands) part of a longer phrase that got clipped later on

_________________
__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

I realise the conversation has moved on, but just thought I'd say thanks for clearing that up for me.

_________________
Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

I feel he's making a very valid point here. When I used to teach English to learners in Asia, lexical and grammatical aspect was a big thing for them which I felt was never really focused on.

As an aside, I noticed that any non-native that had their tense and aspect down pat, has their abstract/concrete, countable/uncountable, single/plural aspects down too. I was like on a cognitive level, the circuits that did for real world quantification, helped with or worked for making temporal distinctions too, so I'd love Patrick and others who understand the language's grammar more than me to delve more into it

_________________
__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___