12. Is and Tá: The Verb "To Be".
12-01 Introduction.
Is and tá with adjectives and adverbs; with indefinite nouns.
Grammar
In Irish we have two words for "to be".
If we are connecting two nouns we use is, (pronounced "iss") which is a kind of equals sign.
If we are connecting a noun with an adjective or an adverb, we use tá.
An indefinite noun does not take the definite article, in Irish an, and is not a proper noun (a name with a capital letter). Sentences containing definite nouns have special forms in Irish: see Section 12-3.
'A snake is a legless lizard' -
Snake: nathair ; lizard: laghairt; legless: éagosach.
(from cos: leg; éag: ‘the opposite of’).
Hence 'A snake = a legless lizard'. 'Is laghairt éagosach nathair'.
Notice that in the Irish sentence, the order of the nouns is the opposite of that in English.
Tá in Ancient Irish was stá and it meant ‘stands’.
When we say ‘That is good’, ‘Tá sé sin go maith’ , what we are saying is
‘That stands well,’ – which can also be said in English.
When we say ‘Is maith é sin’ we are really using maith as a noun. We are saying ‘That is a good thing.’
In Middle Irish, it was atá. This is still used in the middle of a sentence, when it usually means ‘which is’ or ‘that is’: an cailín atá béasach the girl who is polite.
If we are saying a thing is hot, cold, etc – something that is true now but maybe not always - we use Tá.
Tá an seomra seo fuar This room is cold.
If we are saying what something is in itself, we use ‘is’.
Is trom an luaidhe í – Lead is heavy (‘The lead is a heavy thing’.)
In Middle Irish, tá was always followed by an adverb, not an adjective.
[Revision: most English adverbs end in -ly and Irish adverbs begin with go:
cróga = brave; go cróga = bravely.]
In Modern Irish, only eight words, all very common, are still used with tá in the form of adverbs. Learn this list of phrases:
Vocabulary
Tá sé go haoibhinn It is charming, delightful (it stands delightfully)
Tá sé go hálainn It is beautiful (It stands beautifully)
Tá sé go breá It is fine (etc)
Tá sé go deas It is nice, pretty
Tá sé go dona It is bad, miserable, unfortunate
Tá sé go hiontach It is wonderful
Tá sé go maith It is good
Tá sé go holc It is bad, evil.
But:
Tá sé fuar It is cold
Tá sé te It is warm
(etc)
Summary:
When we connect two nouns, we use is.
When we connect a noun with an adjective or adverb, we use Tá.
Exercise
A. 1. Tá an bainne úr. 2. Tá an aimsir tirim. 3. Tá an dinnéar go hiontach. 4. Tá an lá geal. 5. Tá an gúna go deas. 6. Tá an oíche dorcha. 7. Tá an tráthnóna fliuch. 8. Tá an fear sin go holc. 9. Tá an piscín beag. 10. Tá an seanduine lag. 11. Tá an radharc go hálainn. 12. Tá an piscín lag. 13. Tá an lá go breá. 14. Tá an capall marbh. 15. Tá an fear beo.
Grammar
Adjectives as nouns
Unlike English words, an Irish adjective can have the meaning of a noun:
maith = ‘good’ or ‘a good thing’; díreach = ‘straight’ or ‘a straight thing’. This is true for all adjectives.
Now notice the difference between saying ‘The room is warm’ and ‘The room is small’. In the second sentence, we are saying, ‘the room is a small thing.’ In Irish, we would use ‘is’ – Is beag an seomra é.
If we are saying a thing is big, small, long, short, heavy, light, straight, crooked etc, or a colour - something that is a permanent part of what the thing is, we use Is.
Tá an teach fuar 'The house is cold'; but
Is mór an teach é ‘The house is large.’
We have a choice of three patterns for an ‘is’ sentence:
Is teach mór é it is a big house.
is mór an teach é, teach mór is ea é it is a big house.
The first sentence emphasizes 'house', & the second and third emphasize 'big'.
‘is ea é’ is pronounced with emphasis on the word ea – almost like ‘a shy’.
'The house is a big thing, it is a big house'.
Exercise
B (i). Sentences with tá
1. Tá an bosca lán. 2. Tá an bóthar fliuch. 3. Tá an scéal go maith. 4. Tá an buachaill óg. . 5. Tá an saighdiúir daibhir. 6. Tá an ceacht go maith. 7. Tá an leaba glan. 8. Tá an mála folamh. 9. Tá an rothar go deas.
B (ii). Sentences beginning with Is + noun
1. Is bosca mór é. 2. Is bóthar díreach é. 3. Is scéal gearr é. 4. Is buachaill gránna é. 5. Is saighdiúir tanaí é. 6. Is ceacht deacair é. 7. Is leaba crua é. 8. Is mála trom é. 9. Is rothar daor é.
B (iii). Sentences beginning with Is + adjective-as-noun
1. Is mór an bosca é. 2. Is díreach an bóthar é. 3. Is gearr an scéal é. 4. Is gránna an buachaill é. 5. Is tanaí an saighdiúir é. 6. Is deacair an ceacht é. 7. Is crua an leaba é. 8. Is trom an mála é. 9. Is daor an rothar é.
B (iv). Sentences with is ea
1. Bosca mór is ea é. 2. Bóthar díreach is ea é. 3. Scéal gearr is ea é. 4. Buachaill gránna is ea é. 5. Saighdiúir tanaí is ea é. 6. Ceacht deacair is ea é. 7. Leaba crua is ea é. 8. Mála trom is ea é. 9. Rothar daor is ea é.
Grammar
We use tá with all adjectives ending in -ach, and all past participles, which all end in
-ta or -te.
Bhí an buachaill brónach The boy was sad.
Tá an doras dúnta The door is shut, the door has been shut.
If we are saying a thing is good, bad, nice/pretty, fine, wonderful, beautiful, delightful, we have the choice of either is or tá.
If we are thinking it is 'always this way', we use is.
For extra emphasis, we can add rud ‘a thing’.
if we mean ‘just now, maybe not always’, we use tá:-
Is maith é, is maith an rud é: (tá sé go maith – it is good [just now])
It is good, it is a good thing.
Is olc é, is olc an rud é: (tá sé go holc – It is bad [just now])
It is bad, it is a bad thing.
Is deas é, is deas an rud é: (tá sé go deas – it is nice, pretty, [just now])
It is nice, it is a nice thing.
Is breá é, is breá an rud é: (tá sé go breá It is fine [just now])
It is fine, it is a fine thing.
Is iontach é, is iontach an rud é: (tá sé go hiontach It is wonderful [just now])
It is wonderful, it is a wonderful thing.
Is álainn é, is álainn an rud é: (tá sé go hálainn it is beautiful [just now])
It is beautiful, it is a beautiful thing.
Is aoibhinn é, is aoibhinn an rud é: (tá sé go haoibhinn it is delightful [just now])
It is delightful, it is a delightful thing.
Notice that we use é, not sé, in sentences with is.
Notice the difference in meaning:–
Tá an buachaill tanaí: the boy is thin (at present).
Is tanaí an buachaill é: the boy is a thin one.
Tá sé bacach: he is lame.
Is bacach é, bacach is ea é: he is a cripple.
Exercise
C. 1. Is maith an leabhar é. 2. Is olc an saighdiúir é. 3. Is deas an scéal é. 4. Is breá an lá é. 5. Is iontach an seomra bia é. 6. Is álainn an capall é. 7. Is aoibhinn an dath é.
Grammar
There is another way to express this basic idea. As well as Buachaill maith is ea é we can say (Is) buachaill maith atá ann. ‘Being a good lad’ is a quality that is ‘in him’. The Is at the beginning of this sentence is usually understood: Buachaill maith atá ann.
How to say ‘It’s only…’, ‘It’s just’
It’s only a puddle, it’s just a puddle. Níl ann ach slodán. (There is not in it but a puddle.)
It can also be phrased as a rhetorical question: Cad atá ann ach slodán? (What is in it but a puddle?) Isn’t it just a puddle?
Exercise
1. Fear cróga atá ann. 2. Cailiín álainn atá inti. 3. Paistín óg atá ann. 3. Bean shlachtmhar atá inti. 4. ‘Is fuath liom an báisteach!’ ‘Muise cad atá ann ach an t-uisce?’ 5. ‘Ná bí i do bhuachaill dána!’ ‘Airiú ná bí ró-chrosta; cad atá ann ach leanbh óg!’ 6. ‘Dia ár sábháil! Beimid go léir báite!’ ‘Ambaiste cad atá ann ach slodán?’
Vocabulary:
Some words connected with time:
ar maidin inniu this morning
inniu today
an mhí seo this month
anocht tonight
anois now
faoi láthair at present
i mbliana this year
um thráthnóna in the/this afternoon, in the/this evening
Exercise
D. 1. Tá an lá go breá faoi láthair. 2. Tá an seomra leapa go holc ar maidin inniu. 3. Tá an cailín go deas i mbliana. 4. Tá an císte go hiontach inniu. 5. Tá an leabhar go maith um thráthnóna. 6. Tá an sruth go haoibhinn anocht. 7. Tá an dochtúir go hiontach anois. 8. Tá an capall go hiontach an mhí seo. 9. Tá an bád go breá faoi láthair.
Grammar
ADJECTIVES FROM NOUNS
Many adjectives are formed from nouns by adding -ach.
Fearg anger, feargach angry;
tuirse tiredness, tuirseach tired;
glór noise, glórach noisy;
cloch stone, clochach stony;
bréag a lie, bréagach false, phony;
scamall cloud, scamallach cloudy.
In Irish we can add -ach to any noun, to form an adjective.
It implies 'full of' whatever the noun states.
We use tá with these words.
Tá an gort clochach: the tillage field is stony, full of stones.
Tá an pháirc lochach: the grassy field is full of lakes.
Tá na paistíní glórach: the children are noisy.
Tá an spéir scamallach: the sky is cloudy, full of clouds.
ADJECTIVES FROM VERBS
We can also make an adjective out of a verb:
briste broken,
imithe gone,
caillte lost,
díolta sold,
dúnta closed etc.
In English these 'verbal adjectives' mostly end in -ed or -en;
in Irish they all end in -ta or -te.
We use tá with these words also.
Tá sé briste, it is broken;
Tá sé imithe, he is gone;
Tá sé tagtha, he is come (he has come).
This kind of ‘verbal adjective’ is also known as a ‘past participle’.
Exercise
E. 1. Tá an rothar briste. 2. Tá an piscín imithe. 3. Tá an madra caillte. 4. Tá an capall díolta. 5. Tá an bláth dúnta. 6. Tá an dochtúir tagtha anois.
Vocabulary
Revise ‘colours’. Here are some of the less usual words:
corcairghorm: violet
bánghorm, bánuaine etc: pastel blue, pastel green etc
dúdhearg, dúghorm, dúglas etc: maroon, dark blue, dark green etc
liathghorm: grey-blue, steel grey
flanndonn: russet, red-brown
Grammar
If we think of the colour as an inherent part of the object, we use is:
is dubh é: it is black, it is a black thing.
is dearg an t-úll é: it is a red apple, the apple is a red thing.
Is bán an bainne é: milk is white, milk is a white thing.
If we think of the colour as "laid on" to the object, we say
Tá dath gorm ar an mála: there is a white colour on the bag, the bag is coloured white.
Tá dath buí ar an liomóid: there is a yellow colour on the lemon, the lemon is coloured yellow.
If we think of the colour as something that will soon change, we can use tá, although in careful Irish this is uncommon:
Tá an t-úll glas: the apple is green (but soon it will be red).
Tá an páipéar bán: the paper is white (but is will soon be written on).
Notice that there are two words for green. "Glas" is the colour of living things, and "uaine" is used for artificial objects:
Is glas an t-úll é: the apple is green.
Is uaine an bosca é: the box is green.
We can use dath oráiste 'the colour of an orange', but the word for 'the orange colour' is flannbhuí 'red-yellow'.
'Blood-red' is dearg but 'red-haired', on humans and animals, is rua.
Vocabulary
deatach: smoke
deoch: drink
droichead: bridge
duilleog: leaf
hata: hat
iasc: fish
leanbh: child
naomhóg: coracle
spéir: sky
Exercise
F. 1. Tá dath dearg ar an deoch. 2. Tá dath flannbhuí ar an oráiste. 3. Tá dath buí ar an liomóid. 4. Tá dath glas ar an duilleog. 5. Tá dath uaine ar an mála. 6. Tá dath gorm ar an deatach. 7. Tá dath corcairghorm ar an rothar. 8. Tá dath corcra ar an iasc. 9. Tá dath donn ar an duilleog. 10. Tá dath dubh ar an naomhóg.
11. Tá dath liath ar an spéir. 12. Tá dath bán ar an deatach. 13. Tá dath rua ar an madra. 14. Tá dath fionn ar an leanbh. 15. Tá dath bánearg ar an hata. 16.
Tá dath bánghorm ar an spéir. 17. Tá dath dúghorm ar an droichead. 18. Tá dath dúdhearg ar an mála. 19. Tá dath liathghorm ar an spéir. 20. Tá dath flanndonn ar an duilleog.
G. 1. Is dearg an bláth é. 2. Is flannbhuí an súsa é.
3. Is buí an balla é. 4. Is glas an cnoc é. 5. Is uaine an rothar é. 6. Is gorm an bláth é. 7. Is corcairghorm an súsa é. 8. Is corcra an cnoc é. 9. Is donn an sruth é. 10. Is dubh an capall é. 11. Is liath an cat é.
12. Is bán an leaba é. 13. Is rua an fear é. 14. Is fionn an páistín é. 15. Is bándearg an bláth é. 16. Is bánghorm an stoca é. 17. Is dúdhearg an hata é. 18. Is dúghorm an susa é. 19. Is liathghorm an bosca é. 20. Is fla
nndonn an deasc é.
Grammar
Personal Pronouns.
"A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun".
Pronouns as subjects
of sentences are:
I: mé
you (sg:) tú
he, it: sé
she: sí
we: sinn
ye, you (pl): sibh
they: siad.
Forms of tá, present tense:
táim, tá mé: I am
táir, tá tú: you (sg) are
tá sé: he, it is
tá sí: she is
táimid: we are
tá sibh: you(pl) are
táid, tá siad: they are
táthar: one is, somebody is
We also hear Conas taoi? Conas tánn tú? How are you (sg)?
…. and pronouns as objects of verbs:
me: mé
you: thú (but sometimes tú)
him, it: é
her: í
us: sinn
you (pl.) sibh
them: iad
nílim: I am not
nílir, níl tú: you are not
níl sé: he, it is not
níl sí: she is not
nílimid: we are not
níl sibh: you(pl) are not
nílid, níl siad: they are not
níltear: one, somebody is not
Forms of is, present tense:
N.B. ea is a very old word, meaning ‘it’, from the days when Irish grammar had three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter, In Modern Irish, ea is used only in sentences using ‘is’.
is mé: it's me
is tú: it's you (sg)
When tú is used in a sentence with a noun:
Is tú an fear: you are the man.
is fear thú: you are a man.
is é: it's him, it
is í: it's her
is ea, ’sea: it's the case.
is sinn: it's us
is sibh: it's you (pl)
is iad: it's them [in Literary English, ‘it is they’]
ní mé: it's not me
ní tú: it's not you (sg)
When used in a sentence with a noun:
ní fear thú: you are not a man.
ní hé: it's not him, it
ní hí: it's not her
ní hea: it's not the case
ní sinn: it's not us
ní sibh: it's not you (pl)
ní hiad: it's not them
Exercise
H. 1. Táim beo. 2. Tá tú glan. 3. Tá sé lag. 4. Tá sí mear. 5. Táimid mall. 6. Tá sibh saibhir. 7. Táid daibhir, tá siad daibhir. 8. Táthar brónach. 9. Tá an ceol binn. 10. Nílim tirim. 11. Níl tú fliuch, a Úna. 12. Níl sé óg. 13. Níl sí aosta. 14. Níl an madra salach. 15. Nílimid láidir. 16. Níl sibh ramhar. 17. Nílid tanaí, níl siad tanaí. 18. Níltear marbh.
Key to Exercises
A. 1. The milk is fresh. 2. The weather is dry. 3. The dinner is lovely. 4. The day is bright. 5. The dress is pretty. 6. The night is dark. 7. The evening is wet. 8. That man is bad. 9. The kitten is small. 10. The old man is weak. 11. The view is beautiful 7. The kitten is weak. 8. The horse is dead. 9. The man is alive.
B. 1. the box ix full. The box is large. 2. The road is wet. The road is straight. 3. The story is good. It is a short story. 4. The boy is young. The boy is an ugly one. 5. The soldier is poor. He is a thin soldier. 6. the lesson is good. It is a hard lesson. 7. The bed is clean. It is a hard bed. 8. The bag is empty. It is a heavy bag. 9. The bicycle is nice. It is an expensive bicycle.
C. 1. It is a good book. 2. He is a bad soldier. 3. It is a good story. 4. The day is fine, it is a fine day. 5. It is a wonderful dining room. 6. It is a beautiful horse. 7. The colour is delightful, it is a delightful colour.
D. 1. The day is fine at present. 2. The bedroom is bad this morning. 3. The girl is pretty this year. 4. The cake is wonderful today. 5. The book is good this evening. 6. The stream is delightful tonight. 7. The doctor is wonderful now. 8. the horse is wonderful this month. 9. The boat is fine at present.
E. 1. The bicycle is broken. 2. The kitten is gone. 3. The dog is lost. 4. The horse is sold. 5. The flower is closed. 6. The doctor has (is) come now.
F. 1. The drink is coloured red. 2. The orange is coloured orange.
3. The lemon is coloured yellow. 4. The leaf is coloured green.
5. The bag is coloured green. 6. The smoke is coloured blue.
7. The bicycle is coloured violet. 8. The fish is coloured purple.
9. The leaf is coloured brown. 10. The coracle is coloured black.
11. The sky is coloured grey. 12. The smoke is coloured white.
13. The dog is coloured red/ginger. 14. The child is coloured bonde.
15. The hat is coloured pink. 16. The sky is coloured pastel blue.
17. The bridge is coloured dark blue. 18. The bag is coloured maroon.
19. The sky is coloured steel grey. 20. The leaf is coloured russet.
G. 1. The flower is (a) red (thing). 2. The rug is orange. 3. The wall is yellow. 4. the hill is green. 5. The bicycle is green. 6. The flower is blue. 7. The rug is violet. 8. The hill is purple. 9. The stream is brown. 10. The horse is black. ù11. The cat is grey. 12. The bed is white. 13. The man is red-haired. 14. The little child is fair-haired. 15. The flower is pink. 16. The sock is light blue. 17. The hat is maroon. 18. The rug is dark blue. 19. The box is light blue. 20. The desk is reddish brown.
H. 1. I am alive. 2. You are clean. 3. He is weak. 4. She is quick. 5. We are slow. 6. Ye are rich. 7. They are poor. 8. Somebody is sad. 9. The music is sweet. 10. I am not dry. 11. You are not wet, Úna. 12. He is not young. 13. She is not old. 14. The dog is not dirty. 15. We are not strong. 16. Ye are not fat. 17. We are not thin. 18 Nobody is dead, there's nobody dead.
Comment!
This distinction between the two words is and tá gives a very great sharpness to our thinking, that is found in hardly any other language. Spanish has a similar distinction, although to a lesser extent: (Could it have come about through contact with the Irish language, as it is absent from its cousin language of Italian? There was in the past much contact between the two nations, and many were bilingual in spanish and Irish).
One of the books that is rated as a foundation of Western thought is Aristotle’s Analytics, written around 400BC. In it he spends a lengthy section explaining the distinction between ‘Always - being’ and ‘Coming-to-be.’ Not even Ancient Greek, that most expressive of all languages, had this distinction embedded in the language itself. A fluent speaker of Irish would know this intuitively. As these notes have pointed out before, literary (‘correct’ or ‘bookish’) Irish (and not forgetting the multitude of colourful colloquialisms) has been ranked by scholars as equal with Latin and Greek as the three great classical languages of Europe. It was fashionable for a time to claim that ‘all languages are equal’ – no doubt out of a desire to avoid elitism – yet different languages do have their own personalities. Irish is attractive to the ear, highly emotional and very precise. Like any worthwhile endeavour, it takes work and patience, but if you make this effort – even imperfectly – you will find that you have enriched your mind in many ways.
MT 12–01 Is and Tá