Irish Translation Forum

Hi, can someone tell me what this means and aslo specifically what "cuid" means....thanks
Ta a gcuid leabhar a leamh acu............i think basically it means they are reading their books?

Anyone tell me also the best Irish-English dictionary online?

Tá a gcuid leabhar á léamh acu.
"Their (share of) books are being read by them."

cuid means "(one's) share" and is used between possessive pronouns and plural nouns, and between possessive pronouns and uncountables such as "hair", "money".

mhwombat might have a better explanation? (She gets lots of "cuid" awards.)

I don't really have that many, but I did get the very first cuid award ever issued! (And the fact that I designed the cuid award logo for Doire Trasna in no way influenced his decision, I'm sure.) But in truth, I can't think of a good way to explain when you need it, because I just kind of picked it up without analysing it (which is very unusual for me -- I analyse everything!). Every "rule" I can think of, I immediately think of a counter-example. I seem to recall that Benjamin or someone else found a good rule, but I searched and didn't see it.

mhwombat wrote:I don't really have that many, but I did get the very first cuid award ever issued! (And the fact that I designed the cuid award logo for Doire Trasna in no way influenced his decision, I'm sure.) But in truth, I can't think of a good way to explain when you need it, because I just kind of picked it up without analysing it (which is very unusual for me -- I analyse everything!). Every "rule" I can think of, I immediately think of a counter-example. I seem to recall that Benjamin or someone else found a good rule, but I searched and didn't see it.

I think you once explained it to me that "cuid" tends to get used when you're talking about something that many people can have "some" of. So I would say "mo chuid leabhair" because, out of all the books in the world, I'm talking about the share of books that happen to be on my bookshelf (and on my desk and on my bed and on my floor...).

Redwolf

Oh, that makes sense. Sometimes when I learn new things, my brain gets over full and old knowledge evaporates out of my ears. I think that particular bit of knowledge had to go to make room for Haskell, a programming language I'm learning.

is it neccessary to use cuid? could I just say "Ta a leabhair a leamh acu"?

wannalearnirish wrote:is it neccessary to use cuid? could I just say "Ta a leabhair a leamh acu"?

I think that may be regional, but wait for more input on that.

Redwolf

I used to think it was optional but it appears (from listening to others on this site) that it is not, and that it is just unnatural to Irish to leave it out. Wait for other comments.

thanks guys......still not sure, anyway what about the word árasán.......is it apartment?

yep, árasán = apartment

You probably know áras=abode/building. And -án is generally a diminutive suffix. So árasán is like a mini-abode. That will help you remember it.