"He drinks the cup of coffee."
Translation:Ólann sé an cupán caife.
3 years ago
13 Comments
mpbell
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Still struggling with genitive case; why is this wrong: "Ólann sé cupán an chaife"?
3 years ago
scilling
- 25
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No — the structure X an/na Y, where X is a noun and Y is a genitive noun, also makes X definite.
3 years ago
Nina462140
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So is there no way to say "an X of the Y" in Irish? "A bird in the hand"? "An ace in the hole"? "A man of the people"?
3 years ago
scilling
- 25
- 1541
The dative needs to be used rather than the genitive for that structure — éan sa láimh (although the Irish version of the proverb uses éan i do dhorn [“a bird in your fist”]), ás sa pholl, fear den choitiantacht.
3 years ago
scilling
- 25
- 1541
Yes, it is. Some nouns have identical forms for the nominative singular and the genitive singular.
3 years ago
