Role-play
An fáilteoir:
Dia dhuit, Óstán na Sceilge – suite ar an leithinis is faide siar san Eoraip agus ceann de na háiteanna is áille ar domhan!
Hello, Skellig Hotel – situated on the most westerly peninsula in Europe and one of the most beautiful places in the world!
Bairbre:
Tá a fhios agam é!
I know it!
Fanann mé féin agus m’fhear céile libh gach bliain.
My husband and I stay with you every year.
Bairbre DeBarra anseo – cé atá agam?
Bairbre DeBarra here – who do I have?
An fáilteoir:
Haigh, a Bhairbre!
Hi Bairbre!
Seo Seosamh.
This is Seosamh.
An mbeidh tú féin agus Diarmaid ag filleadh chugainn arís i mbliana?
Will yourself and Diarmaid be returning to us again this year?
Bairbre:
Tá súil againn fanacht libh ó Luan an cúigiú lá de Lúnasa go hAoine an naoú lá.
We hope to stay with you from Monday the fifth of August until Friday the ninth.
An fáilteoir:
Seomra dúbailte?
A double room?
Bairbre:
Dhá sheomra dúbailte, mura mhiste leat.
Two double rooms, if you don’t mind.
Beidh mo dheirfiúr agus a páirtí ag teacht in éindí linn.
My sister and her partner will be coming along with us.
An fáilteoir:
Fan go bhfeice mé.
Wait til I see.
Beidh dhá sheomra againn, a Bhairbre, ach níl siad in aice a chéile.
We will have two rooms, Bairbre, but they are not beside each other.
Tá ceann ar urlár na talún, agus tá an ceann eile ar an triú hurlár.
One is on the ground floor, and the other is on the third floor.
An mbeadh sé sin ceart go leor?
Would that be ok?
Bairbre:
Bheadh sé sin togha, a Sheosaimh.
That would be great, Seosamh.
An fáilteoir:
Go breá.
Fine.
Cé acu seomra ab fhearr leat féin agus Diarmaid, a Bhairbre?
Which room would yourself and Diarmaid prefer, Bairbre?
Bairbre:
Cuir in airde staighre sinn, le do thoil.
Put us upstairs, please.
An fáilteoir:
Tá go maith.
All right.
Bricfeasta gach lá?
Breakfast each day?
Bairbre:
Le do thoil, a Sheosaimh – ach amháin ar an maidin dheireanach.
If you please, Seosamh – except on the final morning.
Beimid ag tabhairt ár n-aghaidh ar an aerfort go moch.
We will be heading for the airport early.
An fáilteoir:
An-mhaith.
Very good.
Sin dhá mhíle ceithre chéad euro in iomlán, a Bhairbre.
That is two thousand four hundred euro in total, Bairbre.
An bhfuil an seoladh ríomhphoist céanna agat i gcónaí?
Do you still have the same e-mail address?
Bairbre:
Tá – bairbre@beobinn.com
Yes – bairbre@beobinn.com
An fáilteoir:
Iontach.
Fantastic.
Tá na sonraí ar fad seolta agam chugat anois.
I have sent all the details to you now.
Bairbre:
Maith an fear, a Sheosaimh.
Good man, Seosamh.
Slán go fóill, mar sin.
Bye for now, so.
An fáilteóir:
Míle buíochas, a Bhairbre.
Many thanks, Bairbre.
Cífimid i mí Lúnasa sibh.
We’ll see you in August.
Role-play with phonetics
An fáilteoir:
Dia dhuit, Óstán na Sceilge – suite ar an leithinis is faide siar san Eoraip agus ceann de na háiteanna is áille ar domhan!
/Dee-ah ghwitch, oh-stawn nuh shkel-ig-eh – sit-eh air un leh-hin-ish iss fwid-eh shee-ur sun orr-ipp a-guss kyown deh nuh haw-it-en-uh iss aw-il-eh air dow-inn!/
Hello, Skellig Hotel – situated on the most westerly peninsula in Europe and one of the most beautiful places in the world!
Bairbre:
Tá a fhios agam é!
/Thaw a iss a-gum ay!/
I know it!
Fanann mé féin agus m’fhear céile libh gach bliain.
/Fon-un may fayn a-guss marr kay-leh liv gokh blee-in/
My husband and I stay with you every year.
Bairbre DeBarra anseo – cé atá agam?
/Bar-bruh Deh Barra un-shuh – kay a-thaw a-gum?/
Bairbre DeBarra here – who do I have?
An fáilteoir:
Haigh, a Bhairbre!
/Hi a Var-bruh!/
Hi Bairbre!
Seo Seosamh.
/Shuh Shoh-suv/
This is Seosamh.
An mbeidh tú féin agus Diarmaid ag filleadh chugainn arís i mbliana?
/Un meg thoo fayn a-guss Dee-ur-mid egg fill-eh khoo-inn ah-reesh ih mlee-un-uh?/
Will yourself and Diarmaid be returning to us again this year?
Bairbre:
Tá súil againn fanacht libh ó Luan an cúigiú lá de Lúnasa go hAoine an naoú lá.
/Thaw soo-il a-gwin fon-akht liv oh Loo-un un koo-ig-oo law deh Loo-nass-uh guh hEen-eh un nay-oo law/
We hope to stay with you from Monday the fifth of August until Friday the ninth.
An fáilteoir:
Seomra dúbailte?
/Shoh-um-ruh doo-bil-teh?/
A double room?
Bairbre:
Dhá sheomra dúbailte, mura mhiste leat.
/Gaw hyoh-um-ruh doo-bil-teh, muh-ra vish-teh lyath/
Two double rooms, if you don’t mind.
Beidh mo dheirfiúr agus a páirtí ag teacht in éindí linn.
/Beg muh yer-foor a-guss a pawr-tee egg takht in ayn-dee linn/
My sister and her partner will be coming along with us.
An fáilteoir:
Fan go bhfeice mé.
/Fon guh vek-eh may/
Wait til I see.
Beidh dhá sheomra againn, a Bhairbre, ach níl siad in aice a chéile.
/Beg gaw hyoh-um-ruh ah-gwinn, okh neel shee-ud in ak-eh a khay-leh/
We will have two rooms, Bairbre, but they are not beside each other.
Tá ceann ar urlár na talún, agus tá an ceann eile ar an triú hurlár.
/Thaw kyown air oor-lawr nuh thol-oon a-guss thaw un kyown eh-il-eh air un tree-oo hoor-lawr/
One is on the ground floor, and the other is on the third floor.
An mbeadh sé sin ceart go leor?
/Un mekh shay shin kyarth guh lyore?/
Would that be ok?
Bairbre:
Bheadh sé sin togha, a Sheosaimh.
/Vekh shat shin thow-ah, a Hyoh-siv/
That would be great, Seosamh.
An fáilteoir:
Go breá.
/Guh brraw/
Fine.
Cé acu seomra ab fhearr leat féin agus Diarmaid, a Bhairbre?
/Kyuk-uh shoh-um-ruh ab aar lyath fayn a-guss Dee-ur-mid, a Var-bruh?/
Which room would yourself and Diarmaid prefer, Bairbre?
Bairbre:
Cuir in airde staighre sinn, le do thoil.
/Kwirr in aw-ir-deh ssty-reh shin, leh duh huh-il/
Put us upstairs, please.
An fáilteoir:
Tá go maith.
/Thaw guh mah/
All right.
Bricfeasta gach lá?
/Brrik-fass-thuh gokh law?/
Breakfast each day?
Bairbre:
Le do thoil, a Sheosaimh – ach amháin ar an maidin dheireanach.
/Leh duh huh-il, a a Hyoh-siv – okh ah-vaw-in air un maw-dinn yer-in-ukh/
If you please, Seosamh – except on the final morning.
Beimid ag tabhairt ár n-aghaidh ar an aerfort go moch.
/Bem-eed egg thoo-irrt awr ny-igg air un ayr-furth guh mukh/
We will be heading for the airport early.
An fáilteoir:
An-mhaith.
/On-voh/
Very good.
Sin dhá mhíle ceithre chéad euro in iomlán, a Bhairbre.
/Shin gaw veel-eh keh-reh khee-ud euro in um-lawn, a Var-bruh.
That is two thousand four hundred euro in total, Bairbre.
An bhfuil an seoladh ríomhphoist céanna agat i gcónaí?
/Un wil un shoe-luh ree-uv-fwisht key-an-uh a-guth i goe-nee?/
Do you still have the same e-mail address?
Bairbre:
Tá – bairbre@beobinn.com
/Thaw – bar-bruh egg byoh been stad com/
Yes – bairbre@beobinn.com
An fáilteoir:
Iontach.
/Oon-tukh/
Fantastic.
Tá na sonraí ar fad seolta agam chugat anois.
/Thaw nuh sun-ree air fodd shole-thuh a-gum khoot ah-nish/
I have sent all the details to you now.
Bairbre:
Maith an fear, a Sheosaimh.
/Moh un farr, a Hyoh-siv/
Good man, Seosamh.
Slán go fóill, mar sin.
/Slawn guh foe-il, marr shin/
Bye for now, so.
An fáilteóir:
Míle buíochas, a Bhairbre.
/Mee-lah bway-khuss, a Var-bruh/
Many thanks, Bairbre.
Cífimid i mí Lúnasa sibh.
/Kee-him-eed i mee Loo-nass-uh shiv/
We’ll see you in August.
Grammar notes
An fáilteoir:
Dia dhuit, Óstán na Sceilge – suite ar an leithinis is faide siar san Eoraip agus ceann de na háiteanna is áille ar domhan!
Hello, Skellig Hotel – situated on the most westerly peninsula in Europe and one of the most beautiful places in the world!
is faide – furthest . Superlative form of ‘fada’ (long). In Irish the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective are the same, what differs is whether we place níos (‘more’) or is (‘most’) before the adjective: níos faide – further (comparative) > is faide – furthest (superlative).
is áille – most beautiful. Superlative form of álainn (‘beautiful’).suite – situated. Verbal adjective of ‘suigh’ (seat; place; locate; settle)
ar domhan – ‘on the world (Earth)’
an domhan or an chruinne – the Earth
domhain – deep
Bairbre:
Tá a fhios agam é!
I know it!
Fanann mé féin agus m’fhear céile libh gach bliain.
My husband and I stay with you every year.
Bairbre DeBarra anseo – cé atá agam?
Bairbre DeBarra here – who do I have?
Tá a fhios agam – I know
An bhfuil a fhios agat? – Do you know?
Fios – knowledge
Eochair feasa foghlaim (seanfhocal) – learning is the key to knowledgem’fhear céile – my husband
Possessive adjective – mo + séimhiú
For nouns beginning with a vowel or f mo is shortened to m’.
An fáilteoir:
Haigh, a Bhairbre!
Hi Bairbre!
Seo Seosamh.
This is Seosamh.
An mbeidh tú féin agus Diarmaid ag filleadh chugainn arís i mbliana?
Will yourself and Diarmaid be returning to us again this year?
a Bhairbre – vocative case (an tuiseal gairmeach). Causes séímhiú on nouns beginning b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, t.
Some consonant clusters not affected, e.g. ‘st’ (stór > a stór) while others are e.g. ‘pl’ – pleidhce (‘simpleton’)> a phleidhce.
- NO slenderisation for FEMININE names
- NO séimhiú OR slenderisation for NON-GAELIC names
An mbeidh – interrogative form of the verb bí (‘to be’) in the future tense
An mbeidh mé? – Will I be?
An mbeidh tú? – Will you be?
An mbeidh sé/sí? – Will he/she be?
Combined with the preposition ag and the verbal noun to ask/talk about doing specific action:
e.g. an mbeidh tú ag teacht níos déanaí inniu? Will you be coming later today?
chugainn – to us. Prepositional pronoun first-person plural of chuig (‘to’)
Link: Table of prepositions and prepositional pronouns.
Bairbre:
Tá súil againn fanacht libh ó Luan an cúigiú lá de Lúnasa go hAoine an naoú lá.
We hope to stay with you from Monday the fifth of August until Friday the ninth.
go hAoine – ‘h’ added to the beginning of words beginning with a vowel after the preposition ‘go‘.
go hard sa spéir – high in the sky.
go hiontach – great, fabulously.
go hAontroim – To Antrim
An fáilteoir:
Seomra dúbailte?
A double room?
dúbailte – double, doubled
can also mean deceitful/duplicitous
duine dúbailte – a ‘two-faced’ person.
Bairbre:
Dhá sheomra dúbailte, mura mhiste leat.
Two double rooms, if you don’t mind.
Beidh mo dheirfiúr agus a páirtí ag teacht in éindí linn.
My sister and her partner will be coming along with us.
Dhá sheomra – the word dó changes to dhá before a noun, and causes séimhiú on the noun.
Lesson: Counting Things
in éindí (le) – together (with)
An fáilteoir:
Fan go bhfeice mé.
Wait til I see.
Beidh dhá sheomra againn, a Bhairbre, ach níl siad in aice a chéile.
We will have two rooms, Bairbre, but they are not beside each other.
Tá ceann ar urlár na talún, agus tá an ceann eile ar an triú hurlár.
One is on the ground floor, and the other is on the third floor.
An mbeadh sé sin ceart go leor?
Would that be ok?
go bhfeice mé – present subjunctive (an modh foshuiteach láithreach). This form is used to express a goal or purpose after particles such as go, sula and mura.
It is also used to express wishes or desires (and blessing and curses) e.g.
go dtaga biseach ort – may you recover (from ill health)
go raibh maith agat – may you have good (thank you)
You can use nár to express a negative wish, e.g.
Lesson: The Subjunctive Mood
urlár na talún – the ground floor. Here an talamh is in the genitive case > na talún.
Lesson: The Genitive Case – Part 1: What is it?
an triú hurlár – h added to urlár. This happens with nouns beginning with a vowel after dara, triú, ceathrú, cúigiú, seú, seachtú otchtú, naoú, deichiú.
Lesson: Ordinal Numbers
An mbeadh? – Interrogative form of the verb bí (‘to be’) in the conditional mood.
We answer this bheadh (‘yes’) or ní bheadh (‘no’).
Bairbre:
Bheadh sé sin togha, a Sheosaimh.
That would be great, Seosamh.
An fáilteoir:
Go breá.
Fine.
Cé acu seomra ab fhearr leat féin agus Diarmaid, a Bhairbre?
Which room would yourself and Diarmaid prefer, Bairbre?
ab fhearr – The direct relative form of the copula is in the past tense and the conditional tense is ba. This becomes ab before a noun or before ‘fh’ followed by a noun.
e.g. an nuachtán Gaeilge ab fhaide a mhair – the Irish language newspaper that existed the longest.
an duine ab airde sa rang ba ea Naoise – the tallest person in the class was Naoise.
Bairbre:
Cuir in airde staighre sinn, le do thoil.
Put us upstairs, please.
cuir – imperative case of verb cuir (‘to put’) second-person singular.
cuir ort do bhróga – put on your (singular) shoes.
cuirigí oraibh bhur mbróga – put on your (plural) shoes.
in airde staighre – upstairs
alternative: thuas staighre
An fáilteoir:
Tá go maith.
All right.
Bricfeasta gach lá?
Breakfast each day?
Bairbre:
Le do thoil, a Sheosaimh – ach amháin ar an maidin dheireanach.
If you please, Seosamh – except on the final morning.
Beimid ag tabhairt ár n-aghaidh ar an aerfort go moch.
We will be heading for the airport early.
maidin dheireanach – séimhiú on the adjective following singular feminine noun in the nominative. In Irish adjectives follow the gender, number and case of the noun.
An fáilteoir:
An-mhaith.
Very good.
Sin dhá mhíle ceithre chéad euro in iomlán, a Bhairbre.
That is two thousand four hundred euro in total, Bairbre.
An bhfuil an seoladh ríomhphoist céanna agat i gcónaí?
Do you still have the same e-mail address?
an-mhaith – séimhiú on adjectives following the prefix an (meaning ‘very’), but not on d,s,t.
Sin dhá mhíle ceithre chéad euro – no change to the words euro or cent after numbers.
€7.50 – seacht euro caoga cent
When we use ceathair (‘four’) before a noun it changes to ceithre.
seoladh ríomhphoist – e-mail address. Ríomhphost (‘e-mail’) is in the genitive.
i gcónaí – always, still. Which meaning it has in a sentence can depend on word order and verb tense.
An bhfuil tú anseo i gcónaí?- Are you still here? Present tense
An mbíonn tú anseo i gcónaí? Are you always here? Present habitual tense (‘do you always be here’)
Táimid inár gcónaí anseo i gcónaí, agus beidh i gcónaí – we are living here still, and always will be.
Bairbre:
Tá – bairbre@beobinn.com
Yes – bairbre@beobinn.com
An fáilteoir:
Iontach.
Fantastic.
Tá na sonraí ar fad seolta agam chugat anois.
I have sent all the details to you now.
Bairbre:
Maith an fear, a Sheosaimh.
Good man, Seosamh.
Slán go fóill, mar sin.
Bye for now, so.
An fáilteóir:
Míle buíochas, a Bhairbre.
Many thanks, Bairbre.
Cífimid i mí Lúnasa sibh.
We’ll see you in August.
Cífimid – we will see. The irregular verb feic (‘to see’), first-person plural, future tense. This is the West Kerry form. Standard form (and Connacht and Ulster dialects) is feicfimid.
Open questions to ask each other
An fearr leat fanacht in óstán nó i lóistín féinfhreastail?
Do you prefer to stay in a hotel or in self-catering accommodation?
An raibh saoire sa Daingean agat riamh?
Did you ever have a holiday in Dingle?
Cén t-óstán is fearr leat?
What is your favourite hotel?
Cé acu is fearr leat – sciúird chathrach nó saoire faoin tuath?
Do you prefer – a city break or a holiday in the countryside?
An raibh jab in óstán agat riamh?
Did you ever have a job in a hotel?
Printable PDF version of script
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