"Na cailíní agus na buachaillí."

Translation: The girls and the boys.

[khmanuel]

It is s when broad vowels (a, o, or u) are on either side of it, and sh when slender vowels (i or e) are on either side.

[Margie22]

Yes. when s is broad it sounds like s but when it is slender it sounds like sh.

[Betelgeuse11]

Why "na" rather than "an"?

[liamog]

You use an for singular nouns and na for plural.

• an cailín = the girl
• na cailíní = the girls
• an buachaill = the boy
• na buachaillí = the boys

[Tethtibis]

Thank you. This really confused me.

[danclark04]

Thanks!

[mad_max_is]

God bless you, good man. I was going bananas about this one!

[elgringoblanco]

When is "s" pronounced s and when it is sh?

[jonathanbost]

look at khmanuel's comment above

[Arditizza]

I appreciate all the work people have done to create this. But... I am kinda frustrated with the Irish tips and notes for these beginning lessons. They have a table with endings for conjugating verbs - but don't tell us what the verbs mean. Am I missing something? Also I can find no explanation of spelling versus pronunciation for English speakers. I don't see how we are to learn Irish here unless we actually already know it, or at least have the basics already. If I'm missing something, feel free to set me straight. Thanks

[RoyaltyGoth]

Leathan na leathan(o,u,a) caol na caol(i,e)

[ahlbe023]

Spelling question: So in the word "boys" there is an accent over the second "i" but not the first. Why then are there accents over both "i"'s framing the "n" in girls? Is there a grammar/pronunciation note I am missing?

[schwitalla]

the first i in buachaillí is just an i but the second i is an í fada which means it is pronounced differently. in the word cailíní the second and third i´s are fadas too.
there are five fadas in the irish language (ó,í,ú,é,á). they all have a tick on top.

[Chr.Perrotta]

It's really difficult to visually distinguish i (without fada) from í (with fada) in this new font.

[pinewoodbulwark]

Would it be more sensible to say "Na cailíní agus buachaillí" in actual conversational Irish?

[AntonSween]

It'd be perfectly acceptable. Sometimes Duolingo uses weird sentences or phrases to have you practicing certain words.

[chellewaves]

If u want to now how to do a fada on a tablet or a phone just hold the letter untill a lod of same letters but above it has a fada or some thing els