"This story is not true."

Translation: Ní fíor an scéal seo.

[SeanMeaneyPL]

Is there a difference in emphasis between Ní fíor an scéal seo and Níl an scéal seo fíor?

[Pallethands]

NÍl an scéal seo fíor was my instinct. I am unsure of the difference as well.

[Anaphasiy]

There oughtn't be a difference. About as different as saying "this story isn't true" or "this story isn't the truth" in English, I'd say.

[khmanuel]

Unbelievable that there is not a unit in this course called The Copula.

[SatharnPHL]

They called it Basics 1 instead :-)

[arrikis1]

How does the copula construct work for this sentence? I thought it was bi or is. ..... Not both

[galaxyrocker]

ní is the negative of is. Though I think there needs to be an é there.

[scilling]

Also, I believe that it would need to be an exclamation with a subjective judgement to use a predicative adjective with the copula — Ní fíor é an scéal seo!. Otherwise, Níl an scéal seo fíor. would be used for a statement, whether subjective or objective, and Níl an scéal seo fíor! would be used for an objective exclamation.

[arrikis1]

ok thanks. i just didn't understand how both Ní fíor é an scéal seo and Níl an scéal seo fíor could be correct.

[Tarjava]

I think I've asked this somewhere else but I can't find it back. I see on teanglann that fíor is both a noun and an adjective.

Can I assume that when using the copula, it is a noun (i.e. "This story is not (a) truth") while when used with bí, it is an adjective (i.e. "This story is not true")?

Thanks for clarifying the missing é with the copula too.

[scilling]

Most of the time, a copula’s predicate is a noun phrase, but there are a couple of situations in which it can be an adjective — an exclamation with a subjective judgement is one of the situations in which fíor can be “true” rather than “truth”.

[Tarjava]

I see. Does this apply to any adjectives used in this fashion (i.e. a subjective judgement), or only a specific subset of adjectives? Could I say: Is tuirsiúil é an caint seo! Is gránna é an madra seo!

[scilling]

To my knowledge, any adjective could be used in an exclamatory subjective judgement. (Since caint is feminine, Is tuirsiúil í an chaint seo! would be better.)

[Tarjava]

Thank you for the clarification (and the correction!)

[Knocksedan]

You will encounter Is fíor é and tá sé fíor for "it's true", as well as is fíor sin, is fíor é sin and tá sé sin fíor for "that's true".

Because of it's dual nature as both an adjective and a noun, it's not a good model to use for constructing other sentences (and it's worth noting that, even in English, "that's true!" and "that's the truth!" are largely equivalent).

For your other examples, the form that I'm familiar with would allow you to say Is gránna an madra é ("it's an ugly dog"), or is tuirsiúil an caint í ("it's tiresome talk").

I would see Is gránna é an madra seo! as an example of elision (Is madra gránna é an madra seo!)

[JohnJoeJack]

Why would you use "seo" instead of "sin"?

[amy_jay_bee]

I think "seo" is "this", "sin" is "that".

[vera_jimull]

That's right. =)

[Stephen911046]

I wrote :

(Ni an sceal seo fior) and it was accepted, it did say i had a typo but was accepted.

Is this a duolingo mistake or can it be frazed in this way.

GRMA

[Knocksedan]

Using fíor as an adjective, you don't use the copula, and then you get níl an scéal seo fíor, using the negative form of tá an scéal seo fíor.

Using fíor as a noun, you use the copula - ní fíor an scéal sin.

I think it was a mistake for Duolingo to accept it as a typo - if you meant to use the copula, then you can't have an scéal next to it. If you meant to use the verb bí instead of the copula, then it has to be níl, not ní.

[minJp]

I thought it should be "Níl an scéal seo fíor." but it was a question where you are given the options for words and "Níl" was not one of the options but "Ní" was, so I chose the words "Ní an scéal seo fíor." and was told it was incorrect and it should have been "Níl an scéal seo fíor." BUT "Níl" wasn't an option to choose!!

[SatharnPHL]

This has already been explained in considerable detail in the earlier comments. "This story is not true" can be translated with the copula statement Ní fíor an scéal seo or the non-copula Níl an scéal seo fíor. If "Níl" was not one of the options but "Ní" was, then you have to give the answer that uses the copula.