Notes on the conversation:

In Ireland, the police are the GardaíSiochána (GAHR-dee shee-K*AWN-uh), but in the United States, police can be called "pólíní".

"Mála mór" is a "big bag", but when you speak of searching (of) a big bag, then the words "mála mór" are put into the genitive case. For "mála", this is simple, since it does not change, but for the adjective following the word "mála", it is necessary to aspirate the initial consonant and slenderize the last consonant. This is why "mór" becomes "mhóir". The change in pronunciation is usually not extensive, so that you will readily understand the spoken word here. You will need some practice before you can make the change easily yourself.

 

Grammar Review

Take the verb "bris" (brish), meaning :"break" and go through the present tense aloud: "I break the glass, you break the glass", etc. "Gloine": (GLIN-e), glass, is feminine, "an ghloine" is "the glass". Go through the negative, the questions, and the negative questions. Then verify your work against the key below.

The free form is next: "someone breaks the glass", etc.

The past tense begins, "I broke the glass", etc. The future tense starts with "I will break the glass". Verify these tenses with the key.

go then to the verbal noun: "He is breaking the glass"; Táséag briseadh na gloine. Past and future tenses come next.

Key: Brisim an ghloine (un GLIN-e), briseann túan ghloine. brisimid an ghloine ; níbhrisim ; an mbrisim ; nach mbrisim ?, etc.

Bristear an ghloine; níbhristear ; an mbristear ?; nach mbristear ?

Bhris méan ghloine, bhris túan ghloine, bhriseamar an ghloine, etc; níor bhris méan ghloine, etc; ar bhris méan ? etc; nár bhris méan ghloine? etc.

Briseadh an ghloine; níor bhris méan ghloine, ar briseadh an ghloine?; nár briseadh an ghloine?

Brisfeadh méan ghloine, brisfimid an ghloine, etc; níbrisfidh méan ghloine, etc; anmbrisfidh méan ghloine? etc; nach mbrisidh méan ghloine? etc.

Brisfear an ghloine; níbhrisfear an ghloine; an mbrisfear ?; nach mbrisfear ?

Táséag briseadh na gloine; bhíséag briseadh na gloine' beidh séag briseadh na gloine.

Irish Lesson 92

We will return now to work on pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

Pronunciation Exercise

Here are several sentences that are written in the form of the pronunciation guide. Read them aloud, or have someone read them to you. As you hear them, form a mental picture of the meaning. Do not translate them word for word. After you have finished, look at the Key at lesson end to verify your understanding.

neel uh EYEM-sheer hoh mah AH-guhs uh vee shee in-YAY*, ahk* TAW*-im uh duhl uh-MAHK* hig un SHOHP-uh, pay* shkay*l ay*. k*uh-NIK may* un YREE-uhn eg EYE-ree er MAH-din, AH-guhs vee NAY*L-tuh DOOV-uh oun FRESH-in. BAY*dir goh GIR-hee shay* SHNAHK*-tuh rev EE-hye.

Grammar

With nouns like "mac" and "bord", the form of the noun changes when you put the noun into an expression like "the son's hat" or "the head of the table". "Hata an mhic" (HAHT-uh VIK) and "ceann an bhoird" (KYOUN uh VWIRD) are the Irish expressions. The words "an mhic" and "an bhoird" are in the genitive or possessive case and show ownership or the larger combination to which some element belongs.

"Mac" and "bord" are first declension nouns, all masculine and all ending in a broad consonant­one preceded by "a", "o", or "u".

In the second declension, nearly all nouns are feminine, and all end in a consonant. Some of the ending consonants are slender (preceded by "e" or "i"), and some are broad (preceded by "a", "o", or "u"). Their plurals form in several ways, and you must learn them as you learn the noun.

Before we begin intensive work on this declension, learn the following groups of words that will be examples of how second-declension nouns change.

grian, an ghrian, solas na gréine (GREE-uhn, un YREE-uhn, SUHL-uhs nuh GRAY*N-e); sun, the sun, light of the sun or sunlight.

bróg, an bhróg, sáil na bróige (brohg, un VROHG, SAW*-il nuh BROH-i-ge); shoe, the shoe, heel of the shoe or the shoe heel.

suil, an tsúil, dath na suile (SOO-il, un TOO-il, dah nuh SOO-i-le); eye, the eye, color of the eye.

áit, anáit, ainm na háite (aw*t, an AW*T, AN-im nuh HAW*-tye); place, the place, name of the place or the place's name.

You can see from this that feminine nouns are preceded by "na" in the genitive. This "na" does not change the noun except that it causes an "h" to be put before the initial vowel, as in:

na háite; the place.

na heaglaise (nuh HAHG-lish-e); of the church.

na hiníne (nuh hi-NEEN-e); of the daughter.

Most second-declension nouns end in "___ e" in the genitive singular, as you can see from the examples.

Second-declension nouns whose basic forms ends in "___ ach" change their ending to " __í" in the genitive singular. An example is:

báisteach, an bháisteach, na baistí(BAW*SH-tuhk*, un VWAW*SH-tuhk*, nuh BAW*SH-tee); rain, the rain, of the rain.

 

Usage of "my, your, his", etc., with these second-declension nouns is similar to that with first-declension nouns. For example:

mo chos, barr mo choise (muh K*UHS, bahr muh K*ISH-e); my foot, top of my foot.

 

Usage of the compound prepositions with these nouns is also similar to that with first-declension nouns. For example:

os comhair na háite (ohs KOH-ir nuh HAW*-tye); in front of the place.