Talk:Irish conjugation

Copyright status

I have started to move my Irish linguistics pages from http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~green/gaeilge/gaeilge.htm, where I can no longer edit them, to Wikipedia. The work is entirely mine, so there are no copyvio problems. --Angr 22:02, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Subjunctive

It's a great source of information. I am a fifth year in Dublin, and am wondering if the subjunctive will be added soon? thanks.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.202.188.59 (talk • contribs) on May 1, 2005.

I've just added an entire section on the Subjuctive Mood in Irish there for anyone who needs help understanding it! naddlem--Naddlem (talk) 02:40, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Infinitives

Which category of infinitive would a construct such as ceist a chur fall? I understand that chur here is a lenited form of the verbal noun, but how does "a" come into play? Thanks!--Ag Foghlaim 20:52, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

A is used to separate a verbal noun from its preceding direct object. Historically it's derived from the preposition do "to", so syntactically ceist a chur is identical to German eine Frage zu stellen. The difference is that in German, all the complements of the verb precede the infinitive, while in Irish, only the direct object does. So if you want to say something like "I'd prefer to ask him a question at 3:00 under the oak tree", in Irish it comes out as "I'd prefer a question to ask at 3:00 under the oak tree to him", while in German it comes out as "I'd prefer to him at 3:00 under the oak tree a question to ask." —Angr 07:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, Angr, this helps. What is the precise grammatical term for the "a"+"verbal noun" construct, if there is one? Would it make sense to add this information to this article? The reason I am asking is because all my study materials seem to use this construct without any explanation. While intuitively I understood how it works, actually seeing how it falls into the grammatical system was helpful.--Ag Foghlaim 15:04, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

I don't know if there is a precise grammatical term for. It's cursorily mentioned at Irish syntax#Syntax of the verbal noun. —Angr 15:11, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Darn, I was hoping for more than that. My problem is that while I can recognize this form in the text and translate it correctly (Gaeilge-Béarla), I am never sure if I myself use it right (Béarla-Gaeilge). That may, of course, be because I need more practice. Thanks anyway, every little bit helps!--Ag Foghlaim 15:22, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry! My expertise is phonology, not syntax, and I'm not a native speaker. My instinct is to use the Noun + a + VN construction whenever the noun is the direct object of a VN, unless the VN is being used to form a progressive (with ag) or a perfective (with tar éis or i ndiaidh). So Is fearr liom ceist a chur, but Tá mé ag cur ceist and Tá mé i ndiaidh cur ceist. —Angr 15:52, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Oh no, no need to apologize. I understand very well that you are not a native speaker. Native speakers, however, are for some reason generally not at all as eager to answer my periodic barrages of questions as you are, and your answers are always helpful. I'll keep what you said in mind and, of course, keep practicing. At the very least I now know for sure that my intuitive perception was not completely wrong.--Ag Foghlaim 19:57, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Verbal noun formation

Are some verbal nouns identical to the verbs they are formed from? I was reading through Irish phonology and saw "[óil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /oːlʲ/ "drinking" (genitive)", which makes me think the verbal noun from ól is also ól. If my interpretation is correct, this would be a useful addition to the section on verbal nouns here. Lesgles (talk) 18:48, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Yes, some verbal nouns are identical to the verbs they're formed from. (The citation form of verbs is the 2nd person singular imperative, so it would be more accurate to say some verbal nouns are identical to the 2nd person singular imperatives of the verbs they're formed from.) This is true for all the verbs with the suffix -áil as well as for a few other verbs like ól. Angr (talk) 21:27, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Synthetic forms of irregular verbs

I see what appear to be incomplete words for some of the synthetic forms of irregular verbs. I presume one would add person-specific endings to complete these words, but (and I'm sorry if I just missed a section somewhere) I don't see what these endings would be. Are they mentioned somewhere on this article? Is my presumption incorrect?

74.69.69.55 (talk) 21:13, 27 August 2020 (UTC)