"An itheann tú oráiste anois?"

Translation: Do you eat an orange now?

[ginagillen]

I thought the idea was to translate into normal usage English, so I put " are you eating an orange now". Who would ever say "do you eat orange now"? Do we have to be quite so literal?

[galaxyrocker]

Yes. Irish, like English, has a progressive structure. Honestly, this sentence doesn't make sense. The 'simple present' is really a habitual tense when used by native speakers... i don't get how you can habitually eat an orange now.

[ueueueueue]

What about when discussing some stage directions in a play? "Do you eat an orange now?" "No, I have some lines to say first"

[scilling]

The only way to habitually eat an orange now would be to eat an orange unceasingly!

[Desiree29977]

Could it be routine, like it's 6 pm and you want to know if that's their usual orange-eating time?

I hear things like "I eat dinner about now" used in this way

[galaxyrocker]

I'm not sure if anois can be used with that meaning in Irish, at least by itself.

[demazema]

How would one say this in a way that makes more sense?

[galaxyrocker]

An bhfuil tú ag ithe oráiste anois?

"Are you eating an orange now?"

[ginagillen]

thank you once again; I really appreciate your replies.

[Teresa624701]

This does not sound natural, I would say oranges

[chewbacca4213]

That's an interesting (but perfectly valid) choice for how to fix it.
I approve!

[Cinzia47]

Would any English speaker use this sentence? If so, in what context? It sounds very strange.
" Are you eating an orange now?", (....it would be better to eat it later), or "Will you eat an orange now", (....otherwise you'll be hungry later) make more sense.

[ElizabethM152098]

This construction is not how ordinary Irish people would say it. They would say 'Are you eating an orange now' or even 'Are you going to eat an orange now?'

[faifai1337]

You mean how ordinary any people anywhere would say it? :D

[clairelanc3]

If it is "now" how can it be "do you eat"?

[AnaLydiate]

It could work, if as ElizabethM pointed out above we changed orange to oranges. It could be particularly applicable to young children with changeable tastes in food - oh, do you eat oranges NOW? (yesterday you hated them). It could also apply to someone with a childhood allergy that they've grown out of. Just a few scenarios where it could work.

[JahkOC]

Níl mise sásta le seo, as Béarla i dtaobh an aimsir láithreach The Present Simple is used for routine and the present continuous is used for now.

[SecretGroover]

"Do you eat an orange now?".. seriously?! Who speaks like that?..

[19O492554]

People who are only starting out with a new language and who only know the present habitual form of the verb.

[Rostellan]

Quite!