Lesson: Identify a person
Is mise Pól.
Is tusa Seán.
Is mise an gadaí.
In these types of sentence the predicate and the subject are
stated as identical: mise = Pól; tusa = Seán.
This seems obvious but it can get tricky, for English speakers.
In Irish the logic is much tighter than in English.
In the above sentences, there is no reference to having a particular
name: Pól, or Seán. Instead, two things are stated to be identical.
The important work of such sentences is the stating of the predicate.
In the sentences above, the emphatic pronoun is used, for the predicate:
mise, tusa - the term Pól needs to be matched to an existing peson.
In English the subject predicate distinction is just done by
voice inflexion. YOU are Seán. HE is Seán. In Irish the predicate,
as in category sentences, is brought to the front of the sentence.
It helps to identify a pool of possible predicates. In the sentences
above the pool contains: mise, tusa, eisean, iadsan, muidinne/sinne.
It should be noted that once again, the word order is the reverse of
the English equivalent.
English: I am [Paul]. - predicate in square brackets.
Irish: Is [mise] Pól. - predicate in square brackets.
Structure:
1. copula 2. predicate 3. subject
Is mise Seán.
Examples:
Is mise Síle.
Is mise an saoiste.
Is eisean an gadaí.
Note:
At first, these identity sentences are best internalized by drill:
Is mise Pól.
Is mise Seán.
Is mise an gadaí.
Is tusa an póilín.