"Bhí sé ag cur prátaí."
Translation:He was planting potatoes.
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In the traditional language objects directly following the verbal noun were lenited. Today this is uncommon outside of fixed phrases like ag fáil bháis, however it happens that, at least in Munster, ag cur phrátaí is one of those fixed phrases.
"He was setting spuds" or "He was guggering" -he was placing the potatoes in the planting holes. Terms heard here in Ireland.
To say, "He was planting the potatoes," would it be, "Bhí sé ag cur na bprátaí"?
ag cur is used in lots of phrases - ag cur allais - "sweating", ag cur fola - "bleeding", ag cur isteach ar/ag cur as do/ag cur ar - "annoying/bothering", ag cur imní ar - "worrying", ag cur brú ar - "pressuring/pressing", ag cur i gcéill - "bluff/pretend/have someone on"
It's also used in the fairly literal sense of "putting":
dá mbeinn ag cur airgid air - "if I was putting money on it"
tá an imní ag cur blianta air - "the worry is putting years on him"
In the standard both ag cur báistí and ag cur sneachta exist ('raining' and 'snowing'). you could also use it for planting anything
Seems like sometimes the object of a progressive verb is in the genitive, sometimes not .... does this follow a rule that I missed, or is it a situation where you just have to know which verbs take the genitive?
What makes you think that the object of this progressive verb isn't in the genitive?
Because I'd seen na bprátaí earlier, and didn't notice that there was no definite article this time ....
25
In County Sligo, ever since I were a kid living on a farm, I have always heard ‘setting’ potatoes, & never heard ‘planting’ potatoes. I think both expressions are acceptable. Go raibh maith agaibh!