The Irish Language - Grammar, Pronunciation, Games, Myths, Poetry and more

Re: In need of translation

evnmrphy — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 22:40:52 GMT

This is a difficult translation as in Irish you can't just say I will or I won't

James wants to know if you will go to the party!

A. Tell him that I won't go. - Inis dó nach rachfaidh mé

Tell her that I won't eat - Inis di nach íosfaidh mé

Tell him that I will meet him - Inis dó go bhualfaidh mé leis

Will you take it?I won't (take it)

An tógfadh tú? Ní thógfadh mé.

Re: In need of translation

seano — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 14:57:07 GMT

I've had a go at translating the sentences above.

Dale, good try but remember that there's a special 'that' form in Irish which needs to be used in case like this. He says that he's well is 'Deir sé go bhfuil sé go maith' not 'Deir sé tá sé go maith.' I've put in a few rhymes and half-rhymes which I think make it sound better.

You're not alone in making that mistake. Tell me that I can't do it. Tell me that I shouldn't even try. Tell me it's impossible. Tell me the risk is too high, the challenge too much, or the feat too tough. Tell me that I won't do it...and I will

Abair liom nach féidir liom.

Abair liom nach fiú an t-iarracht.

Abair liom go bhfuil sé dodhéanta.

Abair go bhfuil sé róchontúirteach,

go bhfuil an dúshlán sin rómhór,

abair nach bhfuil mé crua go leor.

Abair liom nach ndéanfaidh mé é ...

is é sin an rud a dhéanfaidh mé.

Don't tell me all that's for a tattoo! Ow! :-)

Re: In need of translation

Dale D — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 15:43:35 GMT

Seáno wrote earlier: Abair nach ndéanfaidh mé agus déanfaidh!

Now that you have provided the entire text in context, we can start over.

Abair ní feidir liom a dhéanamh é. Abair ní dhéanfadh mé iarracht é go fiú. Abair atá sé dodhéanta é. Abair atá an baol ro-ard é, an dúshlán chomh mór é, nó an éacht ro-crua é. Abair nach ndéanfaidh mé agus déanfaidh!

Literal translation: Say I am not able to do it. Say I would not even attempt it. Say that it is impossible (not doable). Say that the risk is too high, the challenge so big, or the feat too difficult. Tell me that I won't do it and I will do it!

Of course, there's probably some grammatical mistakes in my version. But a couple of notes:

If you are concerned about "dodhéanta" not looking right because it does not pair broad and slender vowels, remember it is a compound word, and compound words in Irish do not necessarily follow the broad/slender vowel rules.

I have included the "é" in my construct, because, as seáno has explained to me many times, it makes the reference to something specific, even though we might see it (and I used to see it) as redundant. It is in English, but in Irish it just means we are referring to a specific thing or action.

The Irish version repeats the verb phrase "do it" at the end because "will not" or "will" are components of the verb construct in Irish and do not exist independently the way we have them in English. You can think of the last "do it" as being parenthetical, and a good translator would possibly leave it out of the English translation from Irish.

If there are errors in my construct, I hope seáno will come to my rescue!

Dale D

Re: In need of translation

Little_Foot — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 02:37:48 GMT

Pic did not show here is the entire phrase please help

Sayiwon't

Tell me that I can't do it. Tell me that I shouldn't even try. Tell me it's impossible. Tell me the risk is too high, the challenge too much, or the feat too tough. Tell me that I won't do it...and I will

Re: In need of translation

Little_Foot — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 18:15:20 GMT

If the pic I posted did not show up

it is my profile pic

Re: In need of translation

Little_Foot — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 18:09:52 GMT

This is what I need translated

i hope it clears up y'all's questions

thanks for all the help

Re: In need of translation

seano — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 18:09:24 GMT

Haigh Dale, Cad é mar atá tú? I have been so busy recently I haven't had much of a chance to look at the Forum, but hopefully that will change coming into autumn.

Anyway, with regard to this, it's not an expression I know (it must be an Americanism) and I think I did misunderstand it. I took it to mean that I will surprise you by doing things you say I won't, or can't. But according to you, it's usually defiant, so the meaning is 'If you say I can't do something that's exactly the thing I'll do!' I can't think of anything offhand which corresponds to this in Irish. If you translate it literally it sounds wooden and strange: I suppose you could say something like Abair nach bhfuil cead agam é a dhéanamh agus déanfaidh mé i d'ainneoin é. (Say I'm not allowed to it and I'll do it in spite of you.) It's maybe a cultural difference. America values independence and individualism, but mostly more traditional societies value humility and respect for parents and elders, so this comes across as a bit brattish! I'll give it some more thought but I'm not sure if there is anything similar.

As abair is imperative, you wouldn't put tú with it. Anyway, as I say, I hope to spend more time on the forum over the next few months. Slán go fóill!

Re: In need of translation

Dale D — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 20:46:03 GMT

Haigh, seano!

Just curious about this translation....

As I read the English version, "Say I won't and I will", I would put an explanitory parenthetical pronoun in it to make it grammatically correct and understandable: "(You) Say I won't and I will." The translation you gave seems to say (to me), "I say I won't and I will" which doesn't seem to make sense other than as a contradiction for no good reason. The expression "Say I won't and I will" is always used in English to threaten defiance or contrariness.

So I am wondering if, in Irish, you would need to included the omitted pronoun in English to make sure the message is correct:

"Abair tú nach ndéanfaidh mé agus déanfaidh (mé)." Does that make sense? Would the "tú" in your version be assumed? Looking it up in the online dictionary, it does appear that the imperative mood for "abair" does apply to "tú" and takes a different form for the other parts of speech, so maybe it's okay after all?

Dale D

Re: In need of translation

seano — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 19:47:56 GMT

Hi! I would say:

Abair nach ndéanfaidh mé agus déanfaidh!

Abair nach ndéanfaidh mé agus déanfaidh mé.

To me the first one sounds better. The second I is understood, not stated. Hope this helps! :-)

Re: In need of translation

Little_Foot — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 17:50:56 GMT

I need to bug yall once again

can I get a translation of the phrase

Say I won't and I will

Re: In need of translation

seano — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:46:53 GMT

It's often very difficult to translate something word for word, so sometimes you just have to settle for the sense. So maybe in this case, Say I can't is the best way to put it. Abair nach dtig liom! would be a good translation for this. If you tried to take the 'do it' out of the sentence it wouldn't make sense, though 'Abair nach ndéanfaidh' would probably work!

Ná habair é! (in this case, it means 'don't say thank you', you're welcome!)

Re: In need of translation

Little_Foot — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 01:20:21 GMT

Say I won't is a phrase that someone can go by. your translation is close I just don't need the " do it " part. You pretty much translated the meaning. The whole meaning of the saying is if someone tells you you can't do something you you prove them wrong by doing it. Thank you for your help.

Re: In need of translation

seano — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:22:30 GMT

Hi there, I'm afraid I don't really understand the phrase. Is it from a song? At a guess, I would say Abair nach ndéanfaidh mé é (Say I won't do it) is fairly close but I would really need to understand what kind of context people would say this in and what it means.

In need of translation

Little_Foot — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:51:57 GMT

Can anyone translate " say I won't " into Gaelic ?