"My brother is big but my father is small."

Translation: Tá mo dheartháir mór ach tá m'athair beag.

[CobaltOakTree]

If I omit the second tá, would the sentence still be correct?

[galaxyrocker]

It'd read "My brother is big but my small father"

[CobaltOakTree]

I see. I was hoping it'd simply turn into "My brother is big but my father small".
Thanks!

[gksmithlcw]

Why does "... is beag é m'athair" not work? I'm still hazy on what drives the use of tá mé versus is mé. I thought I had it but clearly I don't.

[SatharnPHL]

In the simplest sentences you use is with "noun=noun" sentences, and you use tá with "noun=adjective" sentences. (that's a gross oversimplification, but it's the starting point).

"big" and "small" are adjectives in this sentence.

(It is possible to use beag as a noun, but that's not really relevant in this case).

[GeoffMcHarg]

Why the use of mo with dhearthair and m' with athair? I cannot seem to keep this straight.

[SatharnPHL]

mo and do always become m' and d' before a vowel sound.

Note "vowel sound", so m'fhéileacán for "my butterfly", because fh is silent, exposing the vowel é.

[GeoffMcHarg]

Got it, thanks!

[miax101]

So I can't keep track: do adjectives ever lenite after a lenited possessed noun? So if 'dheartháir' is lenited because of 'mo,' is there ever a case where the adjective would also be lenited? Does it depend on gender?