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- "Tá uisce ag an iasc."
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It's a mudskipper. It's fish that spends a lot of time outside of water.
This is in the eclipsis lesson. Is it here just to teach us that "iasc" has no eclipse?
My guess, is that if the subject begins with a vowel, such as "iasc," it doesn't require an eclipse.
If an (the) were not there then fish would undergo a change "ag n-iasc". so you will want to read about that also here, scroll down: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/ga/Eclipsis
I put 'Tá uisce ag an n-iasc' and it was marked as correct - is that a mistake in the app or is it a valid option in some dialects?
It's not a mistake in the app.
An n- prefix isn't eclipsis, though it is used for vowel initial words in certain places where eclipsis is used (such as after plural possessive adjectives). But even where it would otherwise occur, it isn't used after an.
I'm confused by this sentence. I though sentences were Verb->Subject->Object, but this one seems to be Verb->Object->Subject. And the help got ag says it means at, so how does this mean The fish has water?
Because Irish doesn't have a verb for 'have'. So instead something is 'at you", and this sentence still conforms to it.
So "uisce" is the subject and "an iasc" is the object of the preposition "ag." Right?
So now if we were going to say "The dog has water" (which would make so much more sense and be so much more useful!). We would say, "Ta uisce ag an madra." ?
Ok, so let me try two more. The dogs have water--Ta uisce ag an madrai. and what if I want to say. Does the dog have water?- An bhfuil an madra uisce? Do the dogs have water- An bhfuil na madrai uisce? I am trying to find sentences to use in my every day life. Thanks!
You were close with the first one! You have to remember that when you use 'the' with plural things it becomes na - Tá uisce ag na madraí.
And I believe you overthought the other two! All you have to do to get from "'the dog has water' to 'does the dog have water' is chafe tá to an bhfuil
So an bhfuil uisce ag an madra. Try again with 'do the dogs have water'
I knew I was doing something wrong with the question ones. I get so confused on the order of things in an Irish sentence. An bhfuil uisce ag na madrai?
429
I really think this should be accepted. I'm trying to focus on the grammatical formation in Irish, which means emphasizing the prepositional phrase. I still know what it means.
Tips and notes ;-)
Words that start with a vowel do not technically undergo eclipsis, but they do get the letter n- added to them wherever other words would be eclipsed —
unless they come after a word that finishes with the letter n.
Not after a conjunction. For example. ithim an t-iasc (I eat the fish), but tá salann ar an iasc (salt is on the fish), tá prátaí faoin iasc (potatoes are under the fish), etc.
Do you mean "Not after a preposition"? I don't see a conjunction there.
the fish has water ? very confusing.. is that make any sense ? a more common scenario would have been a bit more helpful.
Hey I'm a bit confused here - what's with the 'tá ... ag'? I thought he/she/it has would be either 'tá aige' or 'tá aici', so is the 'ag' eclipsis? Sorry just can't get my head around this but I'm maybe being a bit thick haha
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From my understanding, the 'ag' on its own is just 'at', which is used in the sense of having in English. The modifiers (agam, agat, aige, aici, etc.) serve as 'at me' (in the sense of 'I have') or 'at you' (in the sense of 'you have'). When you are using a subject other than a pronoun, however, you'll use only the basic 'ag' plus the noun form, which will, in certain circumstances, have an eclipsis as the 'object' of the preposition (even though they become the subject in English). In this case, though, 'iasc' doesn't actually have an eclipsis.
My first thought was the water has fish. When I realized it ws the fish has water I thought, "Duh!"
I said "Ta uisce ar an iasc" and it was accepted. I came here to learn about pronunciation and realized it was "Tá uisce ag an iasc". I'm confused. Should I report a wrong answer? Or is it acceptable?
Why exists "tá" if i can use "ag"? Maybe this is "the water is in (on) the fish"? Hahahha if it is right, gosh that is crazy! In irish the phrasal structure is VSO right? That is definetly crazy, but I love Gaeilge S2!
