Self Tuition - Getting it Right

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Irish:	D'ith Seán ispín.
English:	Seán ate a sausage.
Notes:	D'ith (verb) Seán (subject) ispín (object). Syntax is the order of a sentence and is the most important thing to get right from the start. In a simple sentence, that is not making any emphasis, Irish puts the verb first, the one doing the action second and the one on whom the action is performed third. Irish is a VSO (verb-subject-object) language.
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Irish:	Níor ith Seán ispín.
English:	Seán did not eat a sausage.
Notes:	Níor (negative particle in past tense) ith (verb) Seán (subject) ispín (object). This the example is in the negative but in the Past Tense. The structure of this sentence is: Negative particle- verb-subject-object. Remember Irish syntax is fairly strict.
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Irish:	Ceannaíonn siad milseáin.
English:	They buy sweets.
Notes:	Ceannaíonn (verb) siad (subject) milseáin (object). This is another simple sentence. It is in the present continuous tense. It illustrates the all important basic sentence structure. Our aim in these examples is to make you aware of the most fundamental aspects of the language which are often taken for granted and needs to be correct from the start.
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Irish:	Feiceann tú an madra.
English:	You see the dog.
Notes:	Feiceann (verb) tú (subject) an madra (object). Another simple sentence in the present continuous tense. Although the structure of Irish may appear anarchic or personally eclectic, this is not really so. VSO (verb-subject-object) is the fundamental structure structure of the language. Variations in sentence structure are built on a firm understanding of this.
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Irish:	Ní cheannaíonn siad milseáin.
English:	They do not buy sweets.
Notes:	Ní (Negative particle) cheannaíonn (verb) siad (subject) milseáin (object). To turn a verb into the negative one puts the negative particle”ní” before the verb. Even if the grammar was wrong one would be more likely to be understood than if the syntax was wrong. The structure of this sentence is: Negative particle- verb-subject-object
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