"Cat na bhfear"

Translation: The men's cat

[NohTaebin]

Wow. Genitive is gonna be tough. These noun declensions are INTENSE.

[Celtanarchy]

The cat men. Close enough.

[Bockenheim]

How would one pronounce "bhfear"? I am still getting used to the letters!

[tucta]

Var (Like Jar) I believe??

[Bockenheim]

Ah, thanks!

[sevmar]

why isn't it na bhfir? isn't fir the plural of fear

[imirt]

Genitive plural of fear is fear

[trentnert]

I thought it was backwards where na bhfear is plural while an bhfir was singular in the genitive?

[scilling]

Masculine definite nouns get lenited in the genitive singular and eclipsed in the genitive plural:

• an fear (“the man”)
• an fhir (“of the man”)
• na fir (“the men”)
• na bhfear (“of the men”)

When the lenition and eclipsis are removed, the nominative singular form matches the genitive plural form, and the nominative plural form matches the genitive singular form.

[trentnert]

That was my understanding. Thanks! When you set it all out like that, it makes them easier to understand distinguish from one another

[thomasol_EIRE]

Genetive too hard...

[DaveTwohig1]

cat of the men isn't good enough?

[imirt]

The cat of the men. The article isn't expressed for the nominative in this case, but that's the sense. (Though I'm not sure if that answer is accepted as I just put "the men's cat")

[mydwynter]

I really wish this course had a way to tell whether you'd even learned genitive forms yet. Because if not, questions like these can really…throw one off their game. (Or ruin a full-hearts streak on the very last question. cough)

[Lancet]

Sorry for the confusion - this sentence looks like it has been deleted from our side, but it is still showing up in the live course. We call these "ghost sentences". It has been reported to the Duolingo staff who will hopefully be able to remove it completely. Genitive sentences should not be appearing earlier than the genitive skill.