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- "I am going to achieve that."
"I am going to achieve that."
Translation:Táim chun é sin a bhaint amach.
23 Comments
Why, why, why, couldn't they do one lesson per weird construction rather than throwing them all at us together? I am blowed if I am going to be beaten by this section but I just can't remember so many different things at once. I know this isn't the place for rants but where else?
Stay positive. Keep telling yourself: Táim chun é sin a bhaint amach!
This feeling of unease, being outside of your comfort zone.. it is called learning. If you're just doing easy stuff all the time, you aren't progressing
Why is future tense wrong here? "Bainfidh mé amach é sin" was marked incorrect.
Because it is a different tense. "I am going to achieve that" is the present continuous tense. "I will achieve that" is the future tense.
Thanks for weighing in, though I would say that my question still stands.
I accept that "I am going to achieve that" could be construed as a present progressive (or continuous, if you like). In that case, though, it would be the present progressive of the verb to "go" with an infinitive "to achieve" expressing intention, as if someone had asked "Why are you going?" "I am going (in order) to achieve that." I suppose then that "Táim ag dul chun é sin a bhaint amach" might also need to be accepted, though I wouldn't argue for it, because it feels somewhat contrived to me.
The going-to construction is one (not the only) standard way to express future in English, and I think that a future reading of "I am going to achieve that" is both likely and natural.
compare to "I will be going to"
it just so happens that "going to" implies it is yet to happen, so in meaning it might sound futuristic, but from a grammatical pov it is present tense: "i am"
take another phrase as an exmple, "eating" for example
i am eating - present continuous
i will be eating - future continous
but you are correct, in english, "going to" has that side effect, but alas this is the irish course
a4, prep. ( de1, do3). (Lenites) 1. (Used to connect a preceding noun or pron. with vn.) (a) Síol a chur, to sow seed. Uisce a ól, to drink water. Ba mhaith liom iad a bheith ann, I would like them to be there. (b) (In relative clause) An rud atá sé a scríobh, what he is writing. An fear atáthar a dhaoradh, the man who is being condemned. (c) (Denoting purpose) D’éirigh sé a chaint, he rose to speak. Téigh a chodladh, go to sleep. Tháinig sé a iarraidh iasachta orm, he came to ask me for a loan.
from here
Would 'gnóthaigh' be acceptable for achieve here?
"Tá mé chun é sin a ghnóthú"
The NEID entry for "achieve" differentiates between "achieve" meaning "accomplish" or "realize (baint amach or cuir i gcrích) and "succeed" or "gain" (gnóthaigh or tuill).
The examples of gnóthaigh in both the NEID and the FGB use it as a synonym for "earn" (tuill), whereas the implication here is that of reaching a goal, where bhaint amach is more appropriate than ghnóthú.
GRMA, I had read those entries but not picked up on the subtleties.
That question makes absolutely no sense to me. What makes you think that Táim a bheith é sin a bhaint amach could work?
Could someone very kindly explain to me why it's é sin rather than just sin? Be patient with me - I am a Gàidhlig speaker and some things in Gaeilge are extremely confusing and counterintuitive!
It's é sin because that's how it works in Irish. It would be béarlachas to leave the pronoun out.
What do you think bain means?
(Hint - bain is s not the Irish for "achieve"](https://www.focloir.ie/en/dictionary/ei/achieve)).
