WTF!? Common mistakes in Irish (Gaeilge)

Some common mistakes when learning Irish. Hoping to help some fellow learners by pointing them out :-)

I left a fada out over the u in 'dúshlán' and only noticed now... fadas are important, úps, mo leithscéal!

⭐️Welcome to 'What the Focal!?' where Ciara Ní É answers your questions about the Irish language. If YOU have a question about Irish, leave it in the comments! You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

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[craigsurf]

"Us trying to express ourselves in the language of the oppressors" you don't know how many times I've had to explain this while travelling abroad. Excellently put!

[taylorrwbrown]

Thank you so much! As a Canadian with Irish heritage on both sides of my family tree who is studying Gaeilge (via DuoLingo), this was immensely helpful with solidifying my pronunciation.

[hannahbevan]

I’ve seen “á dhéanamh” frequently enough, but I was never quite sure of what it meant or when to use it. Good to know!

[elduderoni]

This is not what I was looking to learn but, I'm glad I let it play and finish. Very enlightening.

Also, in literally every video I watch of Irish people teaching their language, I can hear rain in the background.

[sula]

Great video wish it was longer actually 😊

[casperkasparov]

I listen to you on 106.5 all the time!

[aguy]

"Us struggling to express ourselves in the language of the oppressors"!!! Is breá liom seo!!! haha

[RoseKB]

It finally makes sense why folks say "I be" or "they do be" in sentences! I had no idea that speech pattern had Irish roots! Amazing! The more I learn about Gaeilge the more I learn about my ancestry. Thank you so much for making videos about the Irish language! Seriously my mind is blown and it makes me love that sentence structure thing even more

[johnnalls]

I'm currently learning the possessive tenses with lenition/eclipsis in my courses, so good to know that I should be paying extra close attention to learning it properly the first time!

[lizzardnannerzz]

I loved this video. Happy to know I haven't yet made those pronunciation mistakes although I'm sure I make a few others. (: love your videos

[sayurikitamura]

Looking forward to you coming to Berlin 👍💋💗 (what a cute cóta chart, grma for showing)

[jasmadams]

I loved it in IT Crowd when Roy said “I’m always using the disabled.”

[debbieosullivan]

Brilliant info and told in a very engaging way. Well done 👏

[pauloneill]

Tá an físeán seo iontach! Tá sé an-úsáideach domsa. Tá mé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge faoi láthair agus cuirtear fáilte roimh cheartúcháin! Is aoibhinn liom do chuid físeáin a Ciara! Go raibh míle maith agat! 👍

[PeterPeadar]

Wonderful video! Well done! Please, keep them coming. You're a superstar!

[matthewj]

"Its not us speaking English wrong its just us struggling to speak in the language of the oppresor".Bhí an feoirfe sin 😂.

[diarmuidbreatnach]

Ba bhreá liom (I loved) the way you explained the difference between "is mé" and "tá mé" as to do with nouns and adjectives, which is the way I explain it too (sadily I often have to explain what nouns and adjectives are too). But what I have seen in instructional notes until now has been that it is about permanent or transitional states which I think does not describe it chomh maith/ as well.

I explain the use of the 'H' in irish by saying it is not a letter at all, but when following a consonant, changes the pronunciation of that letter. It is called "séimhiú" in Irish which I translate as "softening" of the consonant. The other use of the H is an eclipsis on vowels, as in Mná na hÉireann (Women of Ireland), something in the irish language to prevent a stuttering of vowel sounds following one another and to permit more flowing speech.

But actually the use of the H with a consonant in English is ALSO just telling you that the consonant will be pronounce differently than usual; ch, ph, sh, th.

Could I make a plea for trying to keep English language expressions out of Irish? I don't mind "Bhuel" ('Well') at the beginning of a sentence but is it necessary to put in 'actually' and 'so'? As for the shotgun pellets of 'like' scattered throughout the sentences influenced by recent US English, ní dhéanfadh sé aon dochar (it would do no harm) iad a ruaigeadh ar fad (to banish them completely) fiú ón Bhéarla (even from the English language!).

[Jamestele]

Awesome video, and the teacher looks like the lady of my dreams, aside from my beautiful redheaded Irish wife that is!

[unaminhkavanagh]

Déanaimse dearúid an t-am ar fad chun 'ooosawd' seachas 'yew-sawd' a rá XD

[boyleesquire]

So, "Táim" is in the present definite (has an implied shelf life like milk), and "Bím" is in the present indefinite (would be like a canned good or twinkies)?