A

ny sentence can be divided into two parts, the noun phrase and the verb phrase. A phrase is just a group of words. The noun phrase is the subject. It tells who or what is the main actor and performer of action in the sentence. It is the person, place or thing which the sentence is about. The noun phrase can be just a noun or it can sometimes include a few adjectives, articles, or other words that help describe that noun more clearly. In the regular VSO word order, this noun (the s) comes after the verb.

The verb phrase is the predicate and talks about the noun in the subject. It says what that noun did or was. It can be just the verb and the verb will go at the very beginning of the sentence. Usually though the verb phrase will include other groups of words--adjective, noun, adverb or preposition groups that are in the object place (the o in vso) and complete the meaning of the verb.

Sometimes the word in this last part of the sentence in a noun and it will say something descriptive about the noun that is the subject. The verb creates a kind of bridge between the two nouns.

A small group of verbal nouns have a special form of sentence: tá...ina... Tá sé ina chodladh (sheasamh, luí, etc.)

The tá...ina... form is also used by this noun object when the verb it uses is tá.

Tá sé ina fhear shaibhir (he is a rich man)
Tá sí ina bó mhaith. (she is a good cow)

In both cases the second (predicate) noun says something descriptive about the subjects sé and sí.

It is a rich man that he is.
It is a good cow that she is.

Because of this descriptive aspect of the sentence, a descriptive sentence using is can also be used to say the same thing.

is fear saibhir é
fear saibhir is ea é
is bó mhaith í.
bó mhaith is ea í.

However, if the object defines rather than describes, tá...ina... can not be used. These sentences must use is in a sentence of defintion only.

is fíon é fíon is ea é it is wine. (not water)
ní sionnach é sin, ach gadhar. that is not a fox, but a dog.

But the descriptive sentences are fairly interchangeable.
is or "tá...ina.."

When the descriptive is sentence is put into the future, (beidh)
then ...ina... is always used in that case.

Beidh sé ina shagart fé Cháisc.
He will be a priest by Easter.

Ina is also used in the present and the past tense, if the meaning depends on the timing.

Tá sé ina dhochtúir. (anois) he is a doctor. (now)
Bhí sé ina innealtoir he was an engineer.

So either of these two are possible:

Bhí sé ina dhochtúir agus ba dhochtúir maith é. or,

...dhochtúir maith dob ea é.

He was a doctor, and a good doctor.
The second part describes.

Also, both of these are possible as well:

Tigh mór dob ea é. or,
Bhí sé ina thigh mhór.

it was a big house.

In spite of any other conditions that might exist, the word féidir, for "possible" or "may", always takes the verb is.

Is féidir duit dul ann amáireach.
you can (shall be able to) go there tomorrow.

B'fhéidir means "perhaps" ("maybe") and the word go comes after it.

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Both is and tá mean "to be" but they are each used in different ways and for different reasons. Either is or tá may have an adjective in the last part of the sentence, but there are differences between the two.

Tá implies that the sentence and its describing word tell about an accident, or a situation which is temporary or transient.

There are several types of descriptive words which must use tá:
1. Adjectives who by their very meaning suggest that though the word is true at the present moment, that it is mostly a question of timing. As time moves forward into the future, things may well change. Or in a few cases, something which is true now came to be because a change took place.

   examples:

   te (hot) fuar (cold)
   lán (full) follamh (empty)
   cruaidh (hard) bog (soft)
   úr (ready) briste (broken)
   dúnta (closed) tuirseach (tired)
   breoite (sick) tinn (sore)
   brónach (sad) beo (alive) marbh (dead) etc.

   Something which is hot will cool.
   Someone who is sick will become well. (Or, they will die.)
   Something which is now broken was once whole. (And might be mended)

2. Participles are adjectives which are made from verbs. They are action words and they imply something is moving or changing.

   deisithe (mended) buartha (troubled) caite (worn out) briste (broken)
   dúnta (closed) díolta (sold) breoite (sick) cailte (lost)

   participles end in -ta/ te or -tha/-the

3. Adjectives that end with -ach.

   bacach (lame) salach (dirty) tuirseach (tired)
   díreach (straight) brónach (sad)

4. Words that have the prefixes an(a)- and ro- use tá.

   Something which is "very hot" or "too hot", may not necessarily be "always hot".

5. Prepositions describe a movement through space. They are relative in location and that seems to suggest motion or at least change.

   ar oscailt

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On the other hand, the is sentence is the opposite of tá. The tá sentence describes something permanent, or something that describes the basic unchangeable nature of a thing. (or person, or place, etc.)

There are two groups here:
1. Adjectives which describe a permanent quality or characteristic.

   deas (nice, pretty) breá (fine)

   These words are actually pretty flexible. As adjectives they will use is, but they can be placed in a tá sentence as well if they are made into adverbs with the particle go.

   tá an lá go breá or is breá an lá é.

   tá a cailín go deas or is deas an cailín í.

   The difference is one of emphasis. And the meaning underlines the difference between the permanent v. the changeable.

   It is a fine day (now) or
   The day is always fine, the standard by which fine days are judged.

   She is a pretty girl (now) or
   She is always and forever pretty. She defines by her nature what pretty is. She is the embodiment of pretty.

   The girl in the tá sentence might have a change in fortune, but in the is sentence she never would.

2. Adjectives that describe a measure (of size, weight, etc.) or ones that tell the colour.

   mór (big) beag (small)
   fada (long) gearr (short) trom (heavy) etc.

   bán (white) dubh (black) dearg (red) donn (brown)
   glas (green) buí (yellow) gorm (blue) liath (grey) etc.

   is mór an tigh é is tigh mór é tigh mór is ea é
   is trom an chloch í is cloch throm í cloch throm is ea í

   Some idioms or special expressions will use tá even though "is" is more usual. These may have special meanings and uses.

   tá an cloch trom. tá an tigh mór.

   tá an páipéar bán is a page that is blank
   (is) páipéar bán é seo. is a page that is white.

   Anytime an adverb is used (go...) or a prefix like an(a)- or ro- then all categories of meaning disappear. Tá is always used with them.

   Tá sé sin ana-mhaith
   Tá an claí ro-ard
   Níl sé fada a dhóthain

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When using numbers with no noun after it, they are said with an a before them. The a sticks an h before the two numbers which begin with vowels.

like this:

1 a haon
2 a dó
3 a trí
4 a ceathair
5 a cúig
6 a sé
7 a seacht
8 a hocht
9 a naoi
10 a deich

When the number is used with a noun after it (like when you are saying the number of a group of things), then there is no a. Also two numbers are slighly different.

The noun after a number will usually be singular rather than plural. Dhá has its own number between singular and plural, that is called the dual form.

2. dó → dá
4. ceathair → cheithre

after the article ("the two things") dá is dhá.

Numbers 1-6 lenite the next word.

aon can mean two things before the noun, one or any. To count one thing use the word amháin (only) after the noun. Without amháin, it means any.

aon fhear amháin (one man)
aon fhear (any man)
an bhuil aon airgead agat? (have you any money?)
ní fhaca aon ní iontach. ( i saw nothing strange)

But if the noun is plural after 3-6, then the first letter is left alone.

Numbers 7-10 eclipse the next word.

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Ach mar atá léirithe, taifeadtaí fuaime ag Gael-Linn agus tá an téacs bunaithe ar Myles Dillon, agus eile.