Shawn
Community Tutor
How do you say "doing X is Y"? In English, verb phrase (I guess that is what you call it) can be the subject or object of a sentence. For instance, 1. Taking that bus is more convenient. = It is more convenient to take that bus. 2. Reading that book is difficult. = It is difficult to read that book. 3. Preparing for this exam is so time consuming. = It is so time consuming to prepare for this exam What is the grammar pattern to say sentences like this in Irish? Is "Reading that book is diffucult." expressed simply as "Tá an leabhar sin a léamh deacair." or is that totally off course grammarwise? I can't find these constructions in any Irish grammar books at all. Thanke for your help in advance. :)
Sep 17, 2014 6:10 AM
Answers · 2
1
You can't use a verb phrase as the subject directly, as you can in English, instead you need to substitute it with a pronoun (sé) in the basic sentence and then put the verb phrase in at the end, "it is Y X to do": Tá sé deacair an leabhar sin a léamh (lit. "It is difficult that book to read"). Alternatively, if you want to put more emphasis on the difficulty, you could say: Is deacair an rud é an leabhar sin a léamh (lit. "It is a difficult thing that book to read"). I'll let you have a go at your other examples yourself to see if you've got the hang of it.
September 17, 2014
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