Irish Pronunciation Videos | Bitesize Irish: Recent Episodes
Eoin Ó Conchúir: Irish language speaker from Ireland
Watching the excellent ‘Fathaigh na Farraige’ documentary on TG4 got me thinking that it would interesting to take a bitesized look at the language relating to whales and dolphins in Irish!
The Irish for dolphin is simply deilph /deh-ilf/
The term for porpoise is more colourful:
muc mara /muk mor-a/
This translates as “sea pig”!
The broad term for whale is
míol mór /mee-ul moor/
Míol is a general term meaning variously animal, insect or creature, but combined with the adjective mór (“big”) it means whale.
My children have been known to tell me that I snore like a whale.
Here ‘s how to say “He snores like a whale” in Irish:
Bíonn sé ag srannadh ar nós míl mhóir /Bee-un shay egg ssran-ah air noes meel voo-irr/
Here the word míol is in itsgenitive singular form(míl) because it is preceded by the compound preposition ar nós (meaning “like”). The adjective mór has changed to mhóirbecause it is describing a noun that is in the genitive case. In Irish the adjective follows the gender, number and case of the noun.
The Irish for the largest mammal on the planet, the blue whale is míol mór gorm /mee-ul moor gur-um/
The fin whale is known as droimeiteach/drrim eh-tukh/
Here droim means “back” and eiteach means “finned”.
Eiteach /eh-tukh/ can also mean “winged” or “feathered”. The root of the word is present in the Irish word for aeroplane, eitleán /eh-til-awn/. You will also find it in the Irish verb “to fly”, eitil /eh-til/.
One whale that seems to be making a come-back in Irish waters is the humpback whale. The Irish for this majestic beast is míol mór dronnach /mee-ul moor drun-ukh/. The adjective dronnach can variously be used to mean
“humped”, “hunch-backed”, “arched” or “convex”.
Let’s finish today with a whale-related expression in Irish:
Ná déan míol mór de mhíoltóg /Naw den mee-ul voor deh vee-ul-thowg/
Literally translated this means “Don’t make a whale out of a midge”.
There aren’t any moles in Ireland, but you will no doubt recognise its similarity to the English expression “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill”. As the Americans would say. don’t sweat the small stuff!
The post How To Say Whale & Dolphin In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Learners of the Irish language are often surprised to find that in Irish we use the same word, cos /kuss/ to refer to both the foot and the leg.
There is, in fact, there is another word for foot, troigh /trrig/ , but it is seldom used other than to speak of the imperial unit of measurement (i.e. twelve inches). So, while it may seem less than ideal to use the same word for both foot and leg, you will find that Irish does have plenty of nice words to name specific parts of the foot and leg. Let’s take a bitesized look at some of these anatomical terms!
We will start at the top of the leg and gradually work our way down to the tips of our toes.
Firstly, the thigh. One word for thigh in Irish is ceathrú /ka-her-oo/
Another common term for thigh is leis /lesh/
Confusingly for learners, this word is spelled in exactly as the little word that means ‘also’ (not to mention the prepositional pronoun meaning ‘with him/belonging to him’). As is often the case with the irish language, context is everything!
The term for thigh bone is cnámh na leise /kuh-vawv nuh lesh-eh/
Here cnámh means ‘bone’, and an leis (‘the thigh’) is it’s genitive singular form na leise.
Halfway down the leg we reach the knee. The Irish for knee is glúin /guh-loo-in/
This word can also mean ‘generation’ (as in, a cohort of people). When we speak in Irish of songs and folklore being passed from one generation to the next we use the expression ó ghlúin go glúin /oh ghuh-loo-in guh guh-loo-in/
Next stop on our journey down the lower leg is the calf. The Irish word for calf is colpa /kul-pah/
The shin is on the front of the lower leg. The word you need for this in Irish is lorga /lurr-og-ah/
The Irish for ankle is rúitín /roo-it-een/
The term for heel is sáil /saw-il/
And the word for sole is bonn /bown/
So, the sole of the foot is bonn na coise /bown nuh kush-eh/
A term in Irish for toe in Irish is ladhar /ly-er/
We have big toes and little toes (and the ones in-between, if we are lucky!)
The Irish for big toe is ladhar mhór /ly-er voor/
And little toe is, as one would expect, ladhar bheag /ly-er vyug/
Which brings us to my own least favourite part of my anatomy, the toe nail!
The Irish for toenail is ionga laidhre /ung-uh ly-reh/
The post How To Say Leg And Foot In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
This is not the blog that I had planned for today, but when I woke up this morning with an unexpected swollen eye I decided to embrace the opportunity to take a bitesized look at how say “my eye is swollen” in Irish, as well as some associated phrases and vocabulary.
So, this is how we say “my eye is swollen” in Irish:
Tá mo shúil ata /Thaw muh hoo-il a-tha/
We can use this sentence structure to talk about other parts of the body that might be swollen. For instance, if you should have a swollen ankle you could say:
Tá mo rúitín ata /Thaw muh roo-it-een a-tha/
Perhaps you are curious as to why my eye is swollen today, in which case you could ask “what happened to you?” . In Irish, this is:
Cad a tharla duit? /Kodh a horr-lah duh-it?/
I might answer that I was boxing:
Bhí mé ag dornálaíocht. /Vee may eg dur-nawl-ee-ukth/
This Irish word for boxing, dornálaíocht, derives from the Irish word for fist:
dorn /dur-un/
As it happens, I did didn’t get my swollen eye boxing. If i told you that had I would be telling a lie, or bréag /brr-ay-ug/.
This is how to say “to tell a lie”:
Bréag a insint /Brr-ay-uga een-shint/
The truth is that my swollen eye was caused by a mosquito bite that I received while asleep.
The way to say “a mosquito bit me ” in Irish is:
Bhain muiscít greim asam /Vwin mish-keet grym oss-um/
Literally translated this is “a mosquito took a bite out of me”.
That little word asam means“out of me”. It is the prepositional pronoun, first-person singular, relating to the preposition as /oss/, meaning “out of” or “from”.
Here is a very handy printable table of all of the prepositions in Irish and the propositional pronouns associated with them.
How would you describe a person who has a “swollen head” in Irish? Someone, say, who has a very high opinion of themselves?
There a are a few ways, but one of the most common is to say, in Irish, that that a person is “full of themselves”. Here’s how to say this about a woman:
Tá sí lán di féin /Thaw shee lawn dih fayn/
She is full of herself (i.e. bigheaded)
..and in reference to a man:
Tá sé lán de féin /Thaw shay lawn deh fayn/
He is full of himself (i.e. bigheaded)
Now, I don’t wish to sound bigheaded, but I think that this has been rather a good blog..
The post How To Say My Eye Is Swollen In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized (gulp-sized?!) look at how to say ‘cup of coffee’ in Irish, plus some associated terms and vocabulary!
The Irish term for coffee is simply caife /kaf-ay/
The word for the place where we go to buy or drink a coffee, a café, is very similar: caifé /kaf-AY/
You may notice that this word has séimhiú on the ‘e’ at the end of the word, so we are going to place emphasis on this second syllable.
This is how you say cup of coffee: cupán caife /kup-awn kaf-ay/
If you were to order one you could say: Cupán caife le do thoil /Kup-awn kaf-ay leh duh huh-il/
Alternatively, if a friend were to ask you what you’d like to drink you might answer ‘I’d love a cup of coffee’: Ba bhreá liom cupán caife /Buh vraw lyum kup-awn kaf-ay/
This statement is in the conditional mood, or an modh coinníolach /un moe kun-eel-ukh/. Don’t believe the hype – the conditional is not as difficult as people sometimes make it out to be. Check out comedian Des Bishop’s playful sketch about the topic!
I don’t know about you but I drink my coffee black. The Irish for black coffee is caife dubh /kaf-ay duv/
Flavour is important but, honestly, part of the reason that I start my day with a nice strong coffee is that vital caffeine hit! Here’s how to say ‘that coffee gave me a lift’: Chuir an caife sin brí ionam /Kwirj un kaf-ay shin brree un-um/
The word brí /bree/ here means ‘strength’ or ‘vigour’.
More power to you!
The post How To Say Cup Of Coffee In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say puppy and some dog-related terms in Irish!
The Irish word for puppy is coileán /kwil-awn/
The word for dog is madra /modd-er-ah/. This is the Munster pronunciation, and as you can hear it features an epinthetic vowel – that is to say that it sounds as though there is an additional ‘e’ between the letters ‘d’ and ‘r‘.
In the Connacht dialect it is pronounced /modd-uh/
The Ulster dialect pronunciation is /modd-oo/
If we want to say ‘the dog had puppies’ we say bhí coileáin ag an madra /vee kwil-aw-in eg un modd-er-ah/
Another word for dog is gadhar /gye-ur/
The word for hound is cú /koo/
You may recognise this word from the name of the mythical Irish hero Cú Chulainn. According to legend, his birth-name was Setanta, however he gained the name Cú Chulainn having slayed the fierce guard dog belonging to a smith named Culann in self defence. He offered to take the hound’s place until a replacement was reared, and so became known as the “Hound of Culann”.
So, you ask, what is the Irish for guard dog? Well, that’s cú cosanta /koo kuss-in-thah/
And while we’re at it, the Irish for watch dog is madra faire /modd-er-ah fah-yrr-eh/
They both bark a lot. The Irish for bark is tafann /thof-un/
‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ is an English language expression, and a good one, but lets finish with some words of advice in Irish:
Ná bíodh do lámh i mbéal an mhadra agat /Naw bee-ukh duh law-iv ih mee-ul un vodd-er-ah a-guth/
Literally translated this means “Don’t have your hand in the dog’s mouth”. The message, a chara, is ‘don’t invite trouble’!
The post How To Say Puppy In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘kitten’ and some other cat-related terms in Irish!
There are two common terms for kitten in Irish.
The first is piscín /pish-keen/
A second and similar term is puisín /pwish-een/
The Irish word for cat is simply cat /koth/
The term for tomcat is cat fireann /koth fyr-un/. This simply means male cat.
Talking of stray cats we have, again, a choice of two term: cat strae /koth ss-trray/ or cat fiáin /koth fee-aw-in/.
The word ‘fiáin’ is an adjective that means ‘wild’, but when we say ‘cat fiáin’ we are not referring to, say, the wild-cat of Scotland, but a feral or stray cat.
The term feline (adjective: ‘relating to cats’) in irish is féilíneach /fay-leen-ukh/
The Irish for meow is meamhlach /myow-lukh/.
So, if we wanted to say “the cat was meowing” we would say bhí an cat ag meamhlach /vee un khot eg meow-lukh/
The Irish for a cat’s claws is ingne cait /ing-en-ah kwit/.
The words ingne here is the plural of the Irish word ionga /ung-uh/ which can mean variously claw, nail, talon and even clove (garlic) or quid (tobacco) depending on how you use it.
One of mankind’s greatest inventions must surely be the catflap! The Irish term is comhla chait /koh-la khwit/.
Lets wrap things up with a cat-related ‘seanfhocal’ or proverb:
Cad a dhéanfadh mac an chait ach luch a mharú? /Kod a yen-ukh mok un khwit okh lukh a vor-oo?/
Simply put, this means ‘what would the cat’s son do but kill a mouse?’
As is said in English, like father like son..
The post How To Say Kitten in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Saddle up and let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘horse’ in Irish!
The Irish word for horse is capall /koh-pul/.
If you speak French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese you will recognise that this word capall is similar to the words for horse in those languages. This is because they, and the Irish word, are all ultimately derived from a Latin word for horse, caballus.
Now let’s look at a few more horse related terms.
The Irish for pony is capaillín /koh-pil-een/.
The term for a mare is láir /law-irrj/. Notice the pronunciation of the slender r sound here!
The Irish word for filly is láireog /law-ir-owe-g/.
A foal, on the other hand, is searrach /sharr-okh/.
In the Connacht and Ulster dialects stress is placed on the first syllable of this word, while in Munster the second syllable is emphasised.
In Irish we call a stallion stail /stah-il/**.
The term for colt is bromach /brum-ukh/.
Should you wish to speak of donkeys (and I often do!), the terms that we have been used so far can also be used to refer to donkeys of different genders and stages of maturity. The Irish word for donkey is asal /oss-ul/.
To use the terms above we simply add the genitive form of donkey, asail /oss-il/.
So, for instance, donkey foal is searrach asail /sharr-okh oss-il/.
Donkey mare is láir asail /law-irrj oss-il/.
Donkey stallion is stail asail /stah-il oss-il/.
Speaking figuratively we also use the term stail asail to refer to someone who is behaving in an idiotic or stubborn way (being a ‘jackass’).
Let’s finish up a horse-related seanfhocal (proverb):
Is capall gabhar más gá /Iss koh-pul gow-ur maw-ss gaw/.
A lesson in economy of expression, this seanfhocal translates as ‘A goat is a horse if necessary’. The advice is that in times of need we make do with what is available!
The post How To Say Horse In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
It’s time for a bitesized look at how to say the months of the year in Irish.
First we will look at how the name of a given month is pronounced, e.g. ‘January’, and then we will see how the name of that month is pronounced when want to say ‘month of’, e.g. ‘month of January.’
As you will see, in some cases the form of the name of a month can change. This is because the form of the name of the month is in the genitive case (an tuiseal ginideach).
Here we go..
JanuaryJanuary: Eanáir /An-irr/
month of January: mí Eanáir /mee An-irr/
FebruaryFebruary: Feabhra /Fyow-ra/
month of February: mí Feabhra /mee fyow-ra/
MarchMarch: Márta /Mawr-tha/
month of March: mí an Mhárta /mee un Vawr-tha/
AprilApril: Aibreán /Ah-brrawn/
month of April: mí Aibreáin /mee Ah-brraw-in/
MayMay: Bealtaine /Byowl-thin-eh/
month of May: mí na Bealtaine /me nuh Byowl-thin-eh/
JuneJune: Meitheamh /Meh-hev/
month of June: mí an Mheithimh /mee un Veh-hiv/
JulyJuly: Iúil /Oo-il/
month of July: mí Iúil /mee Oo-il/
AugustAugust: Lúnasa /Loo-na-suh/
month of August: mí Lúnasa /mee Loo-na-suh/
SeptemberSeptember: Meán Fómhair /Myawn Fo-ir/
month of september: mí Mheán Fómhair /mee Vyawn Fo-ir/
OctoberOctober: Deireadh Fómhair /Derr-eh Fo-ir/
month of October: mí Dheireadh Fómhair /mee Yerr-eh Fo-ir/
NovemberNovember: Samhain /Sow-inn/
month of November: mí na Samhna /mee nuh Sow-nah/
DecemberDecember: Nollaig /Null-ig/
month of December: mí na Nollag /mee nuh Null-ug/
The post How To Say The Months of the Year in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
It’s time for a bitesized look at how to say bicycle in Irish!
First of all, the Irish for bicycle is rothar /ruh-her/.
This word is derived from the Irish word for wheel: roth /ruh/.
The term for a person who cycles, or cyclist, is rothaí /ruh-hee/.
The act of cycling is rothaíocht /ruh-hee-ukth/.
If, like me, you love to cycle you might say Is breá liom a bheith ag rothaíocht /Iss braw lyum a veh egg ruh-hee-ukth/. This translates, true to the idiom of Hiberno-English, as “I love to be cycling.“
Your bike chain delivers your pedal power to the sprocket and thence to the wheels. The Irish for bicycle chain is slabhra rothair /slaw-ra ruh-hirj/.
Here slabhra means chain, and rothair is our word for bike, rothar, in its genitive singular form. To learn more about the genitive case (an tuiseal ginideach) take a look at our Bitesize Irish memberships!
The Irish for brakes is coscáin /kuss-kaw-in/.
But, you might ask, how do you say “On your bike!”?
Well, we have several expressions in Irish that we use to say “begone!”, “off with you!”, or, indeed, “leave me alone!”(though none of them feature the word bicycle!).
You could say bailigh leat! /byl-ig lyath/.
.. or gread leat! /grrad lyath/.
Okay, I’m off on my bike. Slán go fóill /slawn guh foe-ill/ (bye for now).
The post How To Say Bicycle In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘the sea’ in Irish.
The Irish for ‘sea’ is farraige /farr-ig-eh/.
As this is a singular feminine noun in the nominative, when we add the definite article an /un/ we add séimhiú (aspiration). So, in order to say ‘the sea’ in Irish we say an fharraige /un arr-ig-eh/.
Let’s look at how to talk about different qualities of the sea.
Colour of the sea is dath na farraige /dah nuh farr-ig-eh/.
Temperature of the sea is teocht na farraige /tyowkth nuh farr-ig-eh/.
..and seabed is grinneall na farraige /grrin-ul nuh farr-ig-eh/.
In these last three examples ‘an fharraige’ is in its genitive singular form ‘na farraige‘.
When we want to use the word ‘sea’ to name a particular sea, such as the Caspian Sea or the Baltic Sea, we use a different word in Irish: muir /mwirj/.
So, the Irish Sea is Muir Éireann /Mwirj Ayr-unn/.
A different word again is used when referring to a particular ocean. That word is aigéan /a-gay-un/.
And so if we want to say the Atlantic Ocean we say an tAigéan Atlantach /un tah-ay-un At-lon-tukh/.
Let’s finish up with a seanfhocal, or proverb, relating to the sea. These wise words of warning are ná déan dánaíocht ar an bhfarraige /naw din daw-nee-ukth air un varr-ig-eh/. This means don’t make bold with the sea.
Check out Niall and Eoin’s favourite seanfhocail (proverbs) in this fine video.
The post How To Say The Sea in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘I’m angry’ in Irish.
In Irish we often say that emotional states are ‘on’ us. Joy is ‘on’ us and, likewise, anger is ‘on’ us.
We express this by saying tá fearg orm /thaw farr-ug urr-um/.
Translated literally this is ‘there is anger on me’.
Orm /urr-um/ means ‘on me’. It is the prepositional pronoun first-person singular derived from the preposition ar /err/, meaning ‘on’.
If we wanted to say ‘he is angry’ we would say tá fearg air /thaw farr-ug erj/.
Air /erj/ means ‘on him’. It is the prepositional pronoun third-person singular masculine derived from the preposition ar /err/, meaning ‘on’.
To say ‘she is angry’ we simply replace the masculine prepositional pronoun with the feminine one, giving us tá fearg uirthi /thaw farr-ug irj-hih/.
If your feelings of anger happen to be a tad more extreme you may exclaim táim ar buile! /thaw-im err bwill-eh!/. This means ‘I am furious!’
..which brings me to the term for ‘air rage’ in Irish: buile aeir /bwill-eh ayrj/.
I think we probably all know someone who is a bit grumpy in the morning.
It is more often a man than a woman, so lets try ‘he is grumpy in the morning’:
bíonn sé crosta ar maidin /bee-un shay kruss-thuh air mahd-inn/.
This expression uses the present habitual form of the verb bí /bee/ (‘to be’) in Irish. We use this form of the verb to talk about things that occur as a matter of routine, or on an on-going basis. A direct translation of bíonn sé crosta ar maidin is ‘he does be grumpy in the morning’ – reminding us that the tendency in Hiberno English to use this ‘do be’ verb construction originates in this present habitual form of the verb ‘bí’ in Irish.
If we wish to speak of someone who has an irritable nature we may choose to use the copula is /iss/. This is a special form of the verb ‘to be’ (bí /bee/) that is used to describe what a person is rather than his or her state or condition. Here we are talking about personality traits, but this copula may be used to describe other enduring things such as a person’s profession or nationality.
To say ‘he is an irritable person’ in Irish we say is duine cantalach é /Iss dinn-eh kon-thal-ukh ay/.
We love a nice seanfhocal (proverb), here at Bitesize Irish, so let’s wrap things up with an anger-related piece of advice:
Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighne /Kwiv-ay-ad far-rug arr nuh fye-neh/
This means ‘beware the anger of the patient man’.
You have been warned!
Check out Niall and Eoin’s favourite seanfhocail (proverbs) in this fine video.
The post How To Say I’m Angry in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘I’m drunk’ in Irish!
As is the case in other languages, there are a variety of ways in which to describe different states of drunkenness in Irish. To get you started, let’s learn the basics.
To simply state that you are drunk you would say táim ar meisce /thaw-im err mesh-kih/ (I am drunk).
An another way to say the same thing is táim ólta /thaw-im ole-thuh/. Here the adjective ólta is derived from the verb ól /ole/ (‘to drink’).
If you want to say that you are tipsy you should say táim ar bogmheisce /thaw-im err bug-vesh-kih/.
The adjective bog /bug/ , used as a prefix here, means soft or gentle – so we are saying that we are ‘gently drunk’. A nice way to describe the mellow state of tipsiness, I think you’ll agree!
Another way to say ‘I’m tipsy’ is táim súgach /thaw-im soo-gukh/.
If, on the other hand, you are in an advanced statement you will require a different term. I am going to teach you this one in the past tense – as a learner of Irish I do not expect you to be able to remember how to say ‘I am very drunk’ when you are actually in that state. More likely you will say it the next case, when you have come to your senses!
So, to say ‘I was very drunk’ you would say bhí mé ar deargmheisce /vee may err darg-vesh-kih/.
If you know your colours in Irish you will recognise the word for the colour red here, dearg /darg/. Dearg can also be used as a prefix to mean ‘real’, very’ or ‘utter‘, as it does in this expression.
Stronger still, if you wish to say ‘I was blind-drunk’ the expression that you require is bhí mé caochta /vee may kway-ukh-thuh/.
If you were ‘caochta’ yesterday you will surely be hungover today. The way to say ‘I have a hangover’ in Irish is tá póit orm /thaw po-it urr-um/.
All of which brings us neatly to one of my favourite seanfhocail or proverbs relating to drunkenness (there are many!).
Nuair a bhíonn an deoch istigh bíonn an chiall amuigh! /noo-ir a vee-un un djukh ish-tig bee-un un khee-ul ah-muh/
Simply put, ‘when drink is in, sense is out’.
Never a truer word was said.
Do you know any regional or alternative terms relating to drunkenness in Irish? Let us know, and the next round could be on us!
The post How to say I’m Drunk in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say river in Irish!
So, the Irish word for river is abhainn /ow-winn/.
If you wanted to say riverbank you would say bruach abhann /broo-ukh aw-unn/.
The Irish for stream is sruthán /shruh-hawn/.
A mountain stream is sruthán sléibhe /sruh-hawn shlay-veh/.
Mountain streams make a nice pitter-patter – we might say “babbling brook” in English. This reminds me of a rather astute Irish seanfhocal or proverb:
Is é an sruthan éadomhain a labhraíonn go dána /Shay un shruh-hawn ay-uh-dyne ah low-ree-un go daw-nuh/.
Translated literally this is ‘it is the shallow stream that speaks boldly’ – a similar sentiment to a proverb in English that you may be familiar with: ’empty vessels make most noise’ (or the converse of ‘still waters run deep’).
Either way, deep or shallow, all rivers and streams are bodies of water. And what is the Irish for water, you ask? Simply uisce/Ish-keh/.
The post How To Say River In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘I’m sick‘ in Irish!
One common way is táim tinn /thaw-im tyne/.
The pronunciation of the word tinn, meaning ill in this context, varies depending on dialect.
Munster dialect: /tyne/
Connacht dialect: /teen/
Ulster dialect: /chin/
The word tinn also means sore or painful.
In Munster the preferred way to say ‘I’m sick’ is táim breoite /thaw-im broh-it-eh/.
In Irish, when we talk about having a particular ailment or affliction we say that the malady concerned is “on” us. In the first-person singular this means that we use the prepositional pronoun orm /urr-um/ (“on me”).
So, if you had a cold you would say tá slaghdán orm /thaw sly-dawn urr-um/ – literally “there is a cold on me”.
Should you have a headache you would say tá tinneas cinn orm /thaw tin-iss keen urr-um/.
Should you simply have a pain in some part of your body but are not referring to a specific type of malady you would use a different structure.
If you have a pain in your stomach, say, you could say tá pian i mo bholg agam /thaw pee-un ih muh vol-ug ah-gum/ (“I have a pain in my stomach”).
Likewise, should you have a pain in your hand you would say tá pian i mo lámh agam /thaw pee-un ih muh lawv ah-gum/.
Speaking figuratively, if you need to say that something is a pain in the arse (‘arse’ is the Hiberno-English term for posterior/bottom/butt, my friends) the expression that you require is is pian sa tóin é! /iss pee-un suh thoe-in ay/ (“its a pain in the arse!”).
The post How To Say I’m Sick In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn how to say baby in Irish!
One common word for baby in Irish is leanbh /lyan-uv/.
This is pronounced /lyan-oo/ in the Ulster dialect.
Another common term for baby is babaí /bob-wee/.
This is not to be confused with the Irish word for doll, babóg /bob-owg/.
If you want to say baby boy the term you need is leanbh mic /lyan-uv mik/.
Baby girl is leanbh iníne /lyan-uv in-een-eh/.
If you wanted to say that a boy is the youngest child in his family you would say sé an babaí é /shay un bob-wee aye//
To say the same about a girl the expression that you need is sí an babaí í /shee un bob-wee ee/.
Another way to say this is to call a child as ‘the last of the litter’. In the case of a boy we say sé deireadh an áil é /shay dehr-ih-ruh un aw-ill aye/ (‘he is the last of the litter’). To say the same of a girl: sí deireadh an áil í /shee dehr-ih-ruh un aw-ill ee/.
In this expression, ail is the genitive singular form of the word ál /awl/. We can use to refer to things like ál páistí /awl paw-ish-tee/ – a swarm of children – or ál banbh /awl bon-uv/ – a litter of piglets (farrow). Banbh (piglet) is in the genitive plural here.
The word pregnant in Irish is torrach /thurr-ukh/
To ‘get pregnant by somebody’ is éirí torrach le duine /eye-ree thurr-ukh le dhin-eh/. This translates directly as to get pregnant ‘with’ somebody, which is nice as it is the same preposition, le (‘with’), that is used when we talk about being in love with somebody – i ngrá le duine /i ngraw leh dhin-eh/ . I like to think that this use of le implies a spirit of union and care in relation to pregnancy.
Another phrase used in relation to pregnancy is to say that a woman is ag iompar clainne /egg umm-pur klin-eh/. This translates as ‘carrying offspring’.
And should one be ag iompar clainne, amongst the things required are..
..a cliabhán /klee-uv-awn/ (cot)..
..lots of bainne /boh-in-eh/** (milk)..
..and plenty of clúidíní /klood-een-ee/ (nappies)!
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The west Kerry Gaeltacht that I call home, Corca Dhuibhne, is famous for its beautiful mountains (among numerous other things!). I thought that it would be nice to learn how to say mountain in Irish.
The Irish for mountain is sliabh/sh-lee-uv/.
In the Ulster dialect this is pronounced /sh-lee-ow/.
The plural form (mountains) is sléibhte /sh-lay-teh/.
But what, you might say, is the Irish word for hill?
That is cnoc /kuh-nuk/.
In the Connaught and Ulster dialects this is pronounced /kruk/.
The plural form (hills) is cnoic /kuh-nik/.
And, again, in the Connaught and Ulster dialects this is pronounced /krik/.
This word cnoicbrings us nicely to a seanfhocal, or proverb, in Irish that is particularly poignant due to Ireland’s history of emigration.
This is Is glas iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn /Iss gloss ee-ud nuh kuh-nik ih vod woo-in/.
This translates as “green are the hills far away from us”. In a sense, it shares the sentiment of the English language proverb ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’.
Now we know the Irish for hill and mountain, but if we consider the names of actual hills and mountains in west Kerry we may notice the use of either ‘sliabh’ or ‘cnoc’ in naming an actual mountain or hill can be somewhat arbitrary.
Cnoc Bhréanainn, for instance, is the 8th highest peak in Ireland, reaching 952 metres, and yet its Irish name calls it a mere hill (‘cnoc’).
A few miles south-west of Cnoc Bhreánainn we encounter Sliabh an Iolair (‘Mount Eagle’). Sliabh an Iolair is only the 419th tallest peak in Ireland, yet we see that its Irish name bestows the status of mountain (‘sliabh’) on it.
Just a hop-skip-and-jump from Slaibh an Iolair you’ll see Cruach Mhárthain standing proud. Cruach /kroo-ukh/ means ‘stack’, and refers to a mountain with a pronounced conical peak.
The most famous cruach in Ireland is Cruach Phádraig (‘Croagh Patrick’), a Christian pilgrimage site in Co. Mayo. It is associated, or course, with Naomh Pádraig (St. Patrick), the man reputed to have driven the snakes from Ireland (here’s Christy Moore’s fine tribute to the man).
It is doubtful that there were ever snakes in Ireland, of course. If there were, it was before the onset of the last ice-age – which ended over 10,000 years ago. Let’s not let the truth get in the way of a good story!
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Lets learn the names in Irish of five different species of mammal native to Ireland!
-
FoxThere are two terms for fox in Irish. Lets start with my favourite:
sionnach /shun-okh/.
The other term for fox is madra rua /mod-ra roo-ah/.
This translates literally as ‘red dog’.
In Connaught the word madra is pronounced /mod-ah/, with emphasis on the first syllable. If you venture northward to Ulster you will hear it pronounced /mod-oo/. -
BadgerThe Irish for badger is broc /bruk/.
In Ulster this is pronounced /brok/.
From the word broc is derived the adjective brocach /bruk-ukh/ .
This adjective brocach means grey/speckled in terms of colour, or smutty in terms of talk!
The word brocach may also be a noun, in which case it means the badger’s (or fox’s, indeed) set or burrow.
-
RabbitThe Irish for rabbit is coinín /kwin-een/.
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HedgehogThe Irish term for hedgehog is gráinneog /graw-nyowg/.
This actually translates as ‘ugly little thing’, though I’ve always found them pretty cute!
- Pine MartenA lesser-known mammal, but one whose numbers in Ireland have bounced back in recent times, thankfully.
The Irish for pine marten is cat crainn /koth kreen/.
This means ‘tree cat’ though the pine marten, of course, is not feline.
In the epic from Irish mythology Táin Bó Cúailnge the character Queen Medb has a pet pine marten that she carries around her shoulders. It is slain by the warrior Cúchulainn with a slingshot. Remember friends, never wear your pet as an accessory when going into battle!
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We all need to take things easy from time to time, though we may not realise it ourselves. If you think a friend or family member needs to slow down or have a rest, here’s how to tell them to do so in Irish!
Tóg go bog é /Tohg guh bug ay/ Take it easy .
Here we have the verb tóg /tohg/ (‘to take’) in the imperative mood, second-person singular. So this sentence this is an order, like ‘have a cup of tea’ or ‘take a load off’.
go bog /guh bug/ means ‘softly’ or ‘gently’.
é /ay/ is simply the singular masculine pronoun meaning, in this case, ‘it’ (though it means ‘him’ when used in reference to a male person).
We could also say Tóg go réidh é /Tohg guh rayg ay/ (‘take it easy’).
In the Connaught and Ulster dialects this adjective réidh is pronounced /ray/.
Apart form being used when generally encouraging someone to ‘take it easy’, these two little expressions can be used in various other contexts.
If someone were heading out to the pub and you wanted to tell them not to drink too much porter (a type of beer that is well-hopped and dark in appearance) you might say *“tóg go bog é ar an bpórtar anocht*“ /tohg guh bug ay air un bor-thur anukht/(‘take it easy on the porter tonight’).
Alternatively, if you were the passenger in a car and the driver was unfamiliar with the road and happened to be approaching a dangerous corner you might exclaim “tóg go réidh é ar an gcúinne” /tohg guh rayg ay air un goo-in-nyeh/ (‘take it easy on the corner’).
Should you simply want to tell someone to have a rest you would say “lig do scíth” /lig duh shkee/ (‘rest yourself “).
This can also be said tóg do scíth /tohg duh shkee/.
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The term for proverb in Irish is seanfhocal /shan-uk-ull/. I’m sure that you are familiar with the English language proverb ‘Love makes the world go round’. So true! Now lets learn a saying with a similar message in Irish!
Here we go (or as we say in Irish, seo linn)..
Capall na beatha an grá /koh-pul nuh ba-ha un graw/
Translated to English, this means ‘Love is the horse of life’.
If this proverb sounds strange to our modern ears we must remember that it dates back to a time prior to the invention of motorised transport and machinery. In those days the horse was an integral part of life, whether as a means of personal transportation, pulling the plough in the fields or getting produce to the market.
The horse lightened the burden of everyday life and made the impossible possible. This seanfhocal reflects that love, like the horse, makes the world go round.
Let’s take a little look at the grammar of this seanfhocal..
Capall na beatha /koh-pul nuh baa-ha/ means the horse of life (i.e. life’s horse).
The word capall (masculine singular noun) /koh-pul/ means ‘horse’.
The words na beatha /nuh baa-ha/ are the genitive singular form of the feminine singular nominative noun beatha ( ‘life’) + the definite article an (‘the’). The genitive case here indicates possession of the horse (‘the horse of life’)
Using a poetic structure, this proverb is completed by the words an grá (masculine singular noun) + definite article /un graw/ meaning simply ‘love’.
Can you think of anything that we might substitute for the word capall (‘horse’) in a modern-day version of this seanfhocal? I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section!
The post how to say love makes the world go round in irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
German linguist Franz Bopp (1791-1867) is credited with having finally proven the Celtic languages to be a branch of the Indo-European language family. We thought it time to pay tribute to Herr Bopp by learning how to say ‘I am a German’ in Irish!
Here we go..
Is Gearmánach mé /Iss Gyar-maw-nukh may/ (I am a German)
Lets take a look at the grammar of this simple statement.
We begin with the copula Is /Iss/ . This is a special form of the verb ‘to be’ (bí /bee/) that is used to describe what a person is rather than his or her state or condition. Here we are talking about nationality and cultural heritage, but this copula may be used to describe other enduring things such as a person’s profession e.g. Is múinteoir mé /Iss moo-in-tyoe-ir may/ I am a teacher.
Next we have the noun Gearmánach (masc.) / Gyar-maw-nukh / [(a) German]
The last word in the statement, mé /may/, is a pronoun and simply means ‘me’ or ‘I’.
Next lets see how you ask if someone else is a GermanAn Gearmánach thú? /Un Gyar-maw-nukh hoo?/ (Are you a German?)
The first word in this question, An /Un/, is the interrogative (question) form of the copula Is /Iss/.
The noun Gearmánach we know already.
The last word in the question, thú /hoo/, is the pronoun second-person singular ‘you’. This form thú is used rather than the form basic form tú when the person being referred to is the direct object of the sentence (except in the Ulster dialect).
This is how you say that you are not a GermanNí Gearmánach mé. /Nee Gyar-maw-nukh may/ (I am not a German)
Here the word Ní /Nee/ is the negative form of the copula Is /Iss/.
All things GermanConveniently, the word Gearmánachcan be either a noun or an adjective, so we can use it in its adjective form to describe nouns.
We can use it to talk about
Ceol Gearmánach /Kyohl Gyar-maw-nukh/ (German music)
Bia Gearmánach /Bee-a Gyar-maw-nukh/ (German food)
or even
Litríocht Ghearmánach. /Lih-tree-ukht Gyear-maw-nukh/ (German literature)
The post How To Say I Am A German In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
A great many of our members here at Bitesize Irish are Americans of Irish descent. We thought it was high time that we posted a blog to tell y’all just how we say ‘I’m an Irish-American’ in Irish!
Here goes..
Is Gael-Mheiriceánach mé /Iss Gwayl-Ver-ik-yawn-ukh may/ (I’m an Irish-American)
Lets take a look at the grammar of this simple statement.
We begin with the copula Is /Iss/ . This is a special form of the verb ‘to be’ (bí /bee/) that is used to describe what a person is rather than his or her state or condition. Here we are talking about nationality and cultural heritage, but this copula may be used to describe other enduring things such as a person’s profession e.g. Is múinteoir mé /Iss moo-in-tyoe-ir may/ I am a teacher.
Next we have the noun Gael-Mheiriceánach /Gwayl-Ver-ik-yawn-ukh/ (Irish-American). This word is comprised of two individual nouns. Word order in Irish is often the reverse of that in English so lets look at the second noun first.
Meiriceánach /Mer-ik-yawn-ukh/ in its noun form simply means (an) American. It takes lenition (séimhiú) when it forms the second part the compound word Gael-Mheiriceánach.
Gael /Gwayl/ is a word historically used in the Irish language to refer an Irish person, though in the strictest sense a Gael was originally a person who was a member of the Gaelic ethnolinguistic group that has been in Ireland since pre-Christian times. Nowadays, Éireannach is a more precise term for a person of Irish nationality. The term Gael is reserved, for the most part, for when referring to people who practice elements of Gaelic culture such as the language, music, dance and sports. It is especially a term used by us Irish-speakers to refer to one another.
The last word in the statement, mé /may/, is a pronoun and simply means ‘me’.
Of course, this simple sentence structure Is + [your nationality/heritage] + pronoun can be used to say that other people are Irish-Americans:
Is Gael-Mheiriceánach é /Iss Gwayl-Ver-ik-yawn-ukh aye/ (He is an Irish-American)
Is Gael-Mheiriceánach í /Iss Gwayl-Ver-ik-yawn-ukh ee/ (She is an Irish-American)
..or even Is Gael-Mheiriceánaigh sinn /Iss Gwayl-Ver-ik-yawn-ig shin/ (We are Irish-Americans). Here the ending of the word Gael-Mheiriceánach becomes Gael-Mheiriceánaigh because the noun is in its plural form.
Conveniently, Gael-Mheiriceánach can be either a noun or an adjective, so we can use it in its adjective form to describe nouns.
So, you could use it to refer to the Irish-American Community: An pobal an Gael-Mheiriceánach /Un pub-ul Gwayl Ver-ik-yawn-ukh/.
The post How To Say I’m An Irish-American In Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn how to say the expression no pain, no gain in Irish. The term for proverb in Irish is seanfhocal /shan-uk-ull/, and we have two of these that roughly correspond to the meaning of the saying no pain, no gain in English. Each of them contains just four words, and each of them rhymes! The first of …
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Lets learn how to say grandson and granddaughter in Irish. The Irish for grandson is garmhac. In Munster it is pronounced /gorr-vok/, while in Connaught and Ulster it is pronounced /gorr-wok/ . The Irish for granddaughter is gariníon /gorr-in-ee-un/. Let’s say ‘this is my grandaughter’: Seo í mo ghariníon /shuh hee muh ghorr-in-ee-un/. And ‘this is …
HOW TO SAY GRANDSON & GRANDDAUGHTER IN IRISH Read More »
The post HOW TO SAY GRANDSON & GRANDDAUGHTER IN IRISH first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Lets learn the Irish names of five of the native trees that were so dear to the inhabitants of Ireland in times past.: ash, hazel, oak, rowan and willow. First up is ash. The Irish for ash tree is crann fuinseoige /krau-wun fwin-show-ig-eh/ Next comes hazel. The irish for hazel tree is crann coill /krau-wun kwil/ Tree number …
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Lets learn how to say sunrise and sunset in Irish!
As you may know, the Irish for sun is grian. When we place the article an (the) before this word we get an ghrian.
Now, when we use an ghrian in the Irish term for sunrise, it changes to its genitive form. This is na gréine.
The Irish term for rise or rising is éirí. Placing this word in front of na gealaí gives us the Irish term for sunrise: éirí na gealaí.
Similarly, when saying sunset in Irish we use the genitive form of the Irish for the sun, na gréine.By placing the word luí (setting) before these words we construct the term for sunset: luí na gréine.
The same structure and approach is used to say the terms formoonrise and moonset.
The Irish for moon is gealach. Placing the article before the noungives us an ghealach. The genitive form is na gealaí. So, moonrise is éirí na gealaí, and, of course, moonset is luí na gealaí.
To hear how these words sound, and for phonetic spelling guides check out the video at the top of the page!
I hope that you enjoyed this lesson – to find out more about how to improve your Irish click on the following link to download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
The post how to say Sunrise and sunset in irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn the chorus and first two verses of the famous Irish song Mo Ghile Mear. The modern form of the song was composed in the early 1970s by Dónal Ó Liatháin using a traditional air collected in Cúil Aodha, County Cork, and lyrics selected from Irish language poems of the 18th century Cork poet Seán “Clárach” Mac Domhnaill. The pronunciation I use in this video is based on Iarla Ó Lionáird’s rendition. Iarla Ó Lionáird is a Cúil Aodha native.
This song has a fascinating history. The tune was collected by the influential Irish composer Seán Ó Riada from an elderly Cúil Aodha man. The song was written by Dónal Ó Liatháin a year or so after Ó Riada’s death using this tune upon the suggestion of his son Peadar Ó Riada, now a well-known composer, musician and broadcaster.
Some of the lyrics are partially based on Bímse Buan ar Buairt Gach Ló (c. 1746), a lament of the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1745. In the original poem, the voice is a personification of Ireland lamenting the exile of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Mo ghile mear was a term used to refer to him in numerous Jacobite songs of the time.
Another part of the lyrics is based on an earlier Jacobite poem by Mac Domhnaill called Seal do bhíos im mhaighdin shéimh. This was written during the Jacobite rising of 1715, so here the exiled hero is Bonnie Prince Charlie’s father, James Francis Edward Stuart.
Lyrics, phonetics and a translationSeal dá rabhas i m’ mhaighdean shéimh,/Shal daw row-uss im vy-jen hayv/Once I was a gentle maiden,
‘S anois i m’ bhaintreach chaite thréith,/sa-nish im vyn-trukh khotcha hray/but now I’m a spent, worn-out widow,
Mo chéile ag treabhadh na dtonn go tréan/Muh khay-la egg trow-a na down guh train/my spouse strongly ploughing the waves,
De bharr na gcnoc san imigéin/Deh vawr nah gnuk san im-ee-gain/over the hills and far away.
Curfá | Chorus’Sé mo laoch mo ghile mear,/Shay muh laykh muh ghil-eh mar/My gallant darling is my hero,
’Sé mo Chaesar, ghile mear,/Shay muh Khay-sur, ghil-eh mar/He’s my Caesar, gallant darling,
Suan ná séan ní bhfuaireas féin,/Soo-un naw shayn nee voo-russ hayn/I found neither sleep nor happiness
Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo ghile mear./Oh hoo-ig e gain muh ghil-eh mar/since my gallant darling went far away
Bímse buan ar buairt gach ló,/Beem-sha boo-un ar boort gokh low/Every day I’m constantly enduring grief,
Ag caoi go crua is ag tuar na ndeor/Eh kuee guh kroo-a iss eh toor na no-or/weeping bitterly and shedding tears,
Ó scaoileadh uaim an buachaill beo/Oh squee-lug wem on boo-khel byo/because my lively lad has gone away from me
Is ná ríomhtar tuairisc uaidh, mo bhrón./Iss naw reev-tur too-rishk weg, muh vrohn/and no news is heard from him, alas.
I hope that you found this video helpful – to find out more on how to improve your Irish click on the link below and download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
The post How to say Mo Ghile Mear in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn how to pronounce a famous Irish historical motto. This phrase is often used by promoters of the Irish language to this very day.
The phrase is Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam /cheer gon chon-ga, cheer gon on-um/, which means “A country without a language is a country without a soul.”
Tír /cheer/ means country.
Gan /gon/ means without.
Teanga/chon-ga/ means language, tongue (including the body part).
Anam /on-um/ means soul.
This phrase is usually attributed to Pádraig Mac Piarais, the gaelicised version of his name, also known as Patrick Pearse. He was an educator, barrister, poet, writer, and Irish nationalist revolutionary who was executed following the 1916 Easter Rising. This motto, however, may be older than that.
I hope that you found this video helpful – to find out more on how to improve your Irish click on the link below and download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
The post How to say an Irish historical motto in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn how to say nativity scene in Irish and also the names for figurines commonly found in a nativity scene.
The Irish for nativity scene, or a crib as it’s also known as, is mainséar /mawn-shayr/. Another term for it is beithilín /beh-hel-een/ which comes from Beithil /Beh-hel/, the Irish for Bethlehem.
A figurine is called deilbhín/djel-veen/ and figurines are deilbhíní /djel-vee-nee/.
We have one word in Irish to refered to the Baby Jesus: Íosagán/Ee-sa-gawn/.
Mary is called Muire /Mwer-ah/. This is a form of Mary only reserved for the Virgin Mary.
Joseph is Seosamh /Show-suf/ or Naomh Seosamh /Nayv Show-suf/, St Joseph. Another version is Iósaf /Yo-suf/.
The shepherds are called na haoirí /na her-ee/. A shepherd is aoire /er-eh/.
The three wise men are called na trí saoithe /nah tree see-ha/. The word for one wise man in Irish is saoi /see/. They’re also known as na trí ríthe /nah tree ree-ha/, which literally means the three kings.
The Irish word for angel is aingeal /an-gel/.
There are often animals, ainmhithe /an-ve-ha/, in a crib such as a sheep – caora /kwee-ra/, a donkey – asal /oss-ul/ and an ox – damh/dov/.
See all our posts on Christmas in the Irish language.
I hope that you found this video helpful – to find out more on how to improve your Irish click on the link below and download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
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Let’s learn how to say winter and some winter-related vocabulary.
Winter in Irish is geimhreadh (Connacht: /geev-ra/ Munster: /gee-ra/ Ulster: /gev-roo/). It’s often referred to as an geimhreadh /on gev-ra/, literally “the winter”.
It’s winter in Irish is tá an geimhreadh ann /taw an gev-ra awn/.
Winter weather is aimsir gheimhridh /am-shir ghiv-ree/ .
Aimsir /am-shir/ means weather (Connacht & Ulster: /am-shir/ Munster: /iym-shir/ ).
Geimhridh (Connacht: /geev-ra/ Munster: /gee-rig/ Ulster: /gev-ree/ ) is the genitive singular form of geimhreadh (Connacht: /geev-ra/ Munster: /gee-ra/ Ulster: /gev-roo/).
Let’s put the genitive singular form, geimhridh, into a sentence. Let’s say cold, dark winter nights, which is oícheanta fuara dorcha an gheimhridh /ee-han-ta foo-ra dur-ukha on ghiv-ree/.
Now, let’s put that phrase in a sentence! Caithim oícheanta fuara dorcha an gheimhridh cois tine /Koh-him ee-han-ta foo-ra dur-ukha on ghiv-ree kwish chin-eh/, which means, I spend the cold dark nights of winter by the fire.
I hope that you found this video helpful – to find out more on how to improve your Irish click on the link below and download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
The post How to say Winter in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn some fitness vocabulary. Here are some words you may use when speaking of your home fitness exercises or when going to the gym.
Here are two ways to say workout in Irish: babhta traenála /bow-ta tray-naw-la/ and dreas traenála /drass tray-naw-la/.
Push-up/press-up – brú aníos /broo ah-nee-us/
He did twenty push-ups. – Rinné sé fiche brú aníos. /rin-eh shay fe-ha broo ah-nee-us/
Pull-up – tarraingt suas /tar-ingtch soo-os/
He did twenty pull-ups. – Rinne sé fiche tarraingt suas. /rin-eh shay fe-ha tar-ingtch soo-os/
Stretch – síneadh /she-na/
To do Stretches – tú féin a shíneadh (to stretch yourself) /too hayn ah hee-na/
Crunch/sit up – suí aniar /see ah-nee-or/
How many crunches/sit ups can you do? – Cé mhéad suí aniar gur féidir leat a dhéanamh? /Kay vayd see ah-nee-or gur fay-jer lyat ah yayn-na/
Squat – gróigeadh /grow-ig-a/
They did thirty squats. – Rinne siad tríocha gróigeadh. /rin-eh she-ed tree-ukh-a grow-ig-a/
I hope that you found this video helpful – to find out more on how to improve your Irish click on the link below and download our Ten Secrets For Practising Irish Every Day.
The post How to say Fitness Vocabulary in Irish first appeared on Bitesize Irish.
Let’s learn some Irish words for facial features and learn how to pronounce them. First of all, the most commonly used words for the head are: ceann /kyow-in/ and cloigeann /klih-gunn/ On the front of our head we have the face, and the two most commonly used Irish words for face are: aghaidh /eye-igg/ and …
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Let’s learn some common words associated with fitness as Gaeilge. Watch the video above to hear the words listed below. Exercise/fitness aclaíocht /ok-lee-ukht/ I exercise. Déanaim aclaíocht. /jay-num ok-lee-ukht/ I exercise every day. Déanaim aclaíocht gach lá. /jay-num ok-lee-ukht gokh law/ I am fit. Tá mé aclaí. /Taw may ok-lee/ I am unfit. Tá mé …
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Let’s learn some common words associated with Christmas. I hope you find these words useful this festive season. You might even impress some people by knowing these terms! Watch the video above to hear the words listed below. Christmas decorations maisiúcháin Nollag /mash-oo-khaw-in Null-ug/ Nativity scene, crib mainséar /mawn-shayr/ beithilín /beh-hel-een/ Christmas tree crann Nollag …
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Let’s learn a traditional Irish song called Casadh an tSúgáin which means “the twisting of the straw rope”. You may have heard of a súgán chair, its seat is made from straw rope. Straw rope has been used to do many things, such as tie things up around the farm and also to secure roofs. …
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Learn how to count from a hundred to a thousand! This topic was requested by one of our Grow members over on Pobal. 100 céad /kay-od/ If you know how to count things from one to ten, you’ll find the rest quite familiar: 200 dhá chéad /ghaw khay-od/ The same way you would say dhá chat, two cats, …
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Learn how to speak to your dog, or any other pet you may have in Irish. You may also find some of these phrases useful in everyday conversations with humans. Watch the above video to hear the phrases listed below. The phrases in the above video and in the list below are available as a …
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Learn how to count to a hundred! This topic was requested by one of our Grow members over on Pobal. 20 fiche /fih-ha/ 30 tríocha /tree-khu/ or /trukh-a/ Munster 40 daichead /da-hed/ ceathracha /ka-hru-kha/ 50 caoga /kway-ga/ 60 seasca /shas-ku/ 70 seachtó /shokh-toh/ 80 ochtó /ukh-toh/ 90 nócha /no-kha/ Munster or /nee-kha/ 100 céad /kayd/ 21 fiche a haon /fih-ha …
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In this new addition to our How to Say series, you’ll learn a famous Irish blessing. Go n-éirí an bóthar leat /Guh ny-ree on boh-har lyat/ May the road rise to meet you Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl /Guh ruh on ghwee guh brawkh eeg duh khool/ May the wind be …
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Here is a much awaited new addition to our How to Say series. In this video, you’ll learn how to tell someone that you’re glad to hear something. Tá áthas orm é sin a chloisteáil. /Taw aw-hus ur-um ay shin ah khluish-taw-il/ I’m glad to hear that. Now, let’s break that sentence down: Tá áthas …
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Here are some tips on how to learn Irish at home. Éist leis an raidió | Listen to the radio (links below) Léigh leabhar agus éist leis an gclosleabhar | Read a book and listen to its audiobook (links below) Scríobh scripteanna comhrá | Write scripts of conversations Coimeád dialann | Keep a diary Foghlaim …
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