"He is the most famous man."
Translation:Is é an fear is cáiliúla.
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Superlative (and comparative) adjectives typically take the feminine genitive singular form.
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Okay can someone explain the grammer of this to me, I can't seem to wrap my head around it.
Why not: "Is an fear is cáiliúla é"?
The introduction to an chopail in 'Basics 1' explicitly states: "The word you are talking about goes in the middle."
I know I'm probably being too rigid, but I just can't seem to understand this.
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The notes in Basic 1 are a very brief introduction, and don't explain that "a definite noun is not allowed directly following the copula", so you can't say Is an fear é, and you handle that by inserting a subpredicate (é, í or iad), so you have Is é an fear é.
As freymuth's link shows, the reverse translation of this sentence uses Is é an fear is cáiliúla é. I don't know why the é at the end (which is actually the subject "he") was dropped in this exercise, but it is optional in Ulster Irish.
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In the Ulster Irish form, the remaining é in Is é an fear is cáiliúla is the subject rather than the subpredicate.
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I'm pretty sure that's a post-facto grammatical kludge to get around the fact that the é at the end has been dropped, rather than a fundamental grammatical difference between the dialects.
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I see it as Ulster Irish using the word order for identificational copular sentences with first- and second-person pronoun subjects for sentences with third-person pronoun subjects as well.
EDIT: john703681, Is é an fear níos cáiliúla (é) means “He is the more famous man”.
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I think you can still apply your rule of thumb (i.e., "The word you are talking about goes in the middle."), but you would need to think of the sentence as "The most famous man is he."
Or even better, read this link
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Just wonderin. Does the use of is é suggest a permanent state? He may be the most famous now but for how long?
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No — it’s a statement of identification, and is is what’s used to make statements of identification.
Does anyone have a good way of explaining why sometimes we use "Is" and sometimes "Nios" in a way were i wont need a phd in rocket science or a map to understand. Thanks very much
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níos is used for "more" or "-er" - níos fearr - "better", níos blasta - "more tasty" or "tastier".
is is used for "most" or "-est" - is fearr - "best", is blasta - "most tasty" or "tastiest".
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No, because tá is not the copular form. The copula (is) serves to link two nouns (or a noun and a pronoun, like here).
Tá an fear cáiliul - The man is famous. (No second noun/pronoun)
but
Is é an fear cáiliul - He is a famous man. (He is linked to man, so you need the copula)
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I presume adding the 'é' to it emphasises the 'he'? So 'he' is the most famous man, not another man...
In your comment, you say that the second é is required, but on the multiple choice version I had both with and without offered as options and both were needed for my multiple choice to be correct.
Correct solutions: Is é an fear is cáiliúla., Is é an fear is cáiliúla é.
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The second é isn’t required in Ulster Irish, but it is required in the other dialects (and in the written Caighdeán form).
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It's confusing that the course is meant to be caighdeán but you are required to know what is possible in all dialects to answer correctly.
Not necessarily bad to know these things, I like to hear chonnacht related tips since i live there. But is the story of the course consistent?
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Í should have said 'style'or'method'. Ie course teaches caighdeán but accepts dialectical answers when given by regs user, isn't that the case? But to answer here one must know both caighdeán and Ulster to select all correct answers.
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If (as I suspect) the “Select the missing word” format and the “Translate this text” format are mere presentation variants of the same exercise, then this is another drawback of this particular Duolingo feature. (Another one is particularly evident in the Conditional skill, where several one-word answers in the “Select the missing word” format can be grammatically correct, but only one of them is treated as being correct — presumably because only the “Translate this text” format mentions what the preferred translation is.)
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Anyone reading this needs to go to the link AnLonDubhBeag provided. The information in the link cleared up so much confusion I had had about my studies. Go raibh míle maith agat, a chara.
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clúiteach is another adjective for famous and should be accepted as a correct answer in this case
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Use the Report a Problem button to bring it to the attention of the course creators.
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Just leave out the adjective cailiula for a moment.
You can't say Ta sé an fear - you are linking a pronoun (sé) and a noun (fear), so you have to use the copula - Is é an fear.
The adjective is just a decoration on the noun, it doesn't change the grammar that makes this a copular sentence.
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Why if I included nios is it wrong, I thought nios meant most and most is in the question
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Níos is the comparative form (níos cáiliúla, 'more famous') while is is the superlative form (is cáiliúla, 'most famous').
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Tá sé fear is simply ungrammatical Irish - you must use the copula is to link a pronoun ("he") and a noun ("man").
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"famous" - cáiliúil
"more famous" - níos cáiliúla
"most famous" - is cáiliúla
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Thank you SatharnPHL. I should have waited until I got through the whole exercise.
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When I see a sentence like this one in an exercise supposedly designed for beginners I tend to think that Duolingo’s objective is to discourage learners from learning Irish. How could anyone possibly know the correct answer unless you’re already proficient in Irish? It is ridiculous
