Ag r c bhfuil ruda Saying where things

Ag rá cá bhfuil rudaí / Saying where things are Struchtúr: Réamhfhocail / Prepositions Cá bhfuil an cat?

It can be tricky to know what to do with prepositions. Here’s a handy guide, over 3 slides. Prepositions Consonants b, c, f, g, p You must put an urú ag an ar an as an leis an chuig an roimh an tríd an thar an faoin ón ag an bpáirc ar an mbord as an gcófra leis an bhfear chuig an gcóisir roimh an gcailín tríd an ngairdín thar an mbord faoin gcófra ón bpáiste d, t (these don’t change!) ag an doras ar an doirteal as an tarraiceán leis an duine chuig an tuismitheoir roimh an tús tríd an tine thar an teach faoin duine ón dochtúir Vowels don’t change – as an ospidéal, chuig an óstán, tríd an eaglais, ón ailtire etc.

The 3 prepositions ‘de’, ‘do’ and ‘sa(n)’ are treated differently. Prepositions Consonants b, c, f, g, p d, t You must put a séimhiú (these don’t change!) den ghairdín den duine don pháiste don tuismitheoir sa sa pháirc sa teach You use ‘san’ (before ‘f’ and before vowels) Vowels don’t change – den ospidéal, don óstán, san eaglais, den ailtire etc.

And one last piece of information! The letter ‘s’ is treated differently again! In order to decide what to do with it, you need to know if the word is masculine or feminine. Don’t worry if you don’t know that now. . . If the word is feminine, there’s a ‘t’ before the ‘s’ but if it’s masculine, there’s no change. Masculine ag an seomra faoin samhradh sa sorcas Feminine ag an tsaotharlann ón tsráid sa t. Sualainn

Try to compose sentences based on these pictures. Answers are in the audio.

Now see if you can fix these sentences below: Tar anuas den (bord), a Sheáin! Tá Aoife i bhfolach faoin (cathaoir). An bhfuil tú ag bualadh leis an (cigire)? Caithfidh mé é sin a dhéanamh roimh an (Aoine). Ní hea, ach roimh an (Céadaoin)! Tá an bheach faoin (fuinneog) – seachain! Tá an phéint faoin (doirteal). Tá duine éigin ag an (doras). Ba cheart di dul chuig an (dochtúir). Thit Caoimhe den (cathaoir). Caithfimid ullmhú don (dráma).

Here’s a song from the Amhráin do Pháistí CD to hear the structure in context: ‘. . . Ceithre rón thuas ar an gcloch. . . ’