Irish Translation Forum

I'm looking for a translation, and hopefully pronunciation, of "it's true". In the context of, what I'm saying is true or it's an accurate description.

Would it be anything like tá sé cruinn?

cruinn can mean "accurate", but "it's true" would be is fíor é

kevin45sf wrote:cruinn can mean "accurate", but "it's true" would be is fíor é

Or "tá sé fíor"

But you're right...I'd avoid "cruinn"

Redwolf

Redwolf wrote:

kevin45sf wrote:cruinn can mean "accurate", but "it's true" would be is fíor é

Or "tá sé fíor"

But you're right...I'd avoid "cruinn"

Redwolf

I know your obviously right but why? because wouldnt it just be 'is' as its a statement of fact that wont change?
How interchangeable are tá sé and is?

I'd go for tá sé fíor

MacFear wrote:

Redwolf wrote:

kevin45sf wrote:cruinn can mean "accurate", but "it's true" would be is fíor é

Or "tá sé fíor"

But you're right...I'd avoid "cruinn"

Redwolf

I know your obviously right but why? because wouldnt it just be 'is' as its a statement of fact that wont change?
How interchangeable are tá sé and is?

The idea that "is" is used for permanent things and "tá" for impermanent things is a common misconception. A better way to think of it is that "tá" is used to describe things (their appearance, state or condition, location, what they're doing or planning to do, etc.), whereas "is" is used to identify or classify things. For example:

Tá sé ramhar: He is fat

Is fear ramhar é: He is a fat man.

Both deal with something that is, presumably, impermanent.

Likewise:

Tá sé ard: He is tall

Is fear ard é: He is a tall man

In this case, both deal with something that is, presumably, permanent.

The difference between both "tá" and "is" sentences above is that the "tá" sentences simply describe a person, whereas the "is" sentences tell you what that person is.

In the case of "it is true," all you're doing is describing whatever the pronoun "it" refers to, so the usual approach would be "tá sé fíor."

You can use "is" for this if you want to add emphasis, for example "is fíor é!" (it's TRUE!), but normally you'd use "tá."

Redwolf

Go raibh maith agat, Redwolf. It's one of those basic things I still have problems getting my head round. There's a similar situation in Breton, where again there are two ways of expressing the verb 'to be'.

franc 91 wrote:Go raibh maith agat, Redwolf. It's one of those basic things I still have problems getting my head round. There's a similar situation in Breton, where again there are two ways of expressing the verb 'to be'.

Aren't all Celtic languages the same?

The best person to ask about that is Pwyll (Loig), but there things such as mutations, not having the direct equivalent of the verb 'to have' and so on, that are typically found in Welsh, Breton, Cornish as well as in the three Gaelic languages. That doesn't mean to say that they all understand each other, they don't.

Go raibh maith agat, everyone. It's been very helpful. Especially the dialogue on when to use is or tá sé.