"Is ainmhithe iad na béir."

Translation: The bears are animals.

[Evaluna93]

Could you translate this frase literally as: "The bears they are animals"?

[galaxyrocker]

Yes, you could.

[Evaluna93]

okay, thanks :) Also, is the 'iad' obligatory or could you also say: "Is ainmhite na béir", just like in for example "is bean mé" ?

[galaxyrocker]

I'm just going to leave you a copy-and-paste from an earlier comment I made. It should explain it.

So, I'm going to describe this in the way my class was taught. It'll be watered down, because y'know, we were first semester Irish students without much grammar knowledge. So, your word order is going to be VANTP.

V = verb

A = Indefinite nouns

N = Names

T = Definite nouns

P = Pronouns

So that's your general order. If you use a definite noun, a proper noun, or a name, you need to include the pronoun (é, í, iad, srl - note, after ní, these prefix an "h") before the first one.

So in your first sentence you have and indefinite noun (araicnid) and a definite noun (an damhán alla). So, putting these in order (A before T), you get Is araicnid an damhán alla. However, you need the pronoun before the definite noun. Since damhán alla is feminine, you use í. This giving you Is araicnid í an damhán alla.

Your second one you have a name (Pól) and a definite noun (uachtarán na hÉireann). So, putting those together, you get Is Pól uachtarán na hÉireann. Yet, you still need that pronoun. Is é Pól uachtarán na hÉireann.

Hope that helps explain it a little. And note, this is really basic, and barely scratches the surface of the copula.

[mikeinkerry]

(é, í, iad, srl ------ Is srl a typo?

[galaxyrocker]

Nope. It's like etc. In Irish. Short for agus ar uile

[Evaluna93]

Thanks :)

[MaryLea11]

Oh dear. I wrote 'The animals are bears.' I clearly need to get some rest and figure out why my noggin is scrambled. Can someone talk me through where I went wrong?

[misscuanmiztli]

Okay, why was the one about horses
"They're animals the horses" ... but that doesn't work for this one?

[mikeinkerry]

The Irish sentence order looks to me like VOS
(Verb-Object-Subject = Are - animals~them - the~bears),
in defiance of the general Celtic rule, VSO. Help!

[Crondogz]

Galaxy Rocker explains it pretty well above, as usual.

[michelleplus8]

How do you pronounce ainmhithe? Because in my head I've been saying it like "an-wi-huh," but on Forvo it sounds like they're saying "angela."

[Seanin15]

Does anyone know why "bears are animals" is not acceptable. I realise I left "na" out of my English sentence, but does this really make a difference. It looks like a literal translation is what Duo is looking for rather than what to me is common parlance. Yes?

[giveuptheghost]

Similar problem.