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Dia daoibh,
Tá ceist agam orthu. When does one use “Cé chomh” and how does it work? I can’t seem to find it in any of the grammar books I own, and the principles behind it are confusing me. I know it can be used to ask “How long” and “How often” etc, but how do you form these sentences? Specifically, I would like Connacht Irish, if that’s possible.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
Dia’s Muire dhuit, a Galaxyrocker,
The basic structure is “cé chomh” + adjective/adverb + verb (direct relative form) + subject. For example, “cé chomh mór atá sé?” (how big is he?) or “cé chomh minic a thagann sé anseo?” (how often does he come here?). Frequently, the word “is” (contracted form of “agus”) is inserted in front of the verb, e.g. “cé chomh mór is atá sé?”. I would say that this applies both to Connemara Irish and the Standard. I’m not sure about the other dialects.Frequently, the word “is” (contracted form of “agus”) is inserted in front of the verb, e.g. “cé chomh mór is atá sé?”. I would say that this applies both to Connemara Irish and the Standard. I’m not sure about the other dialects.
Not only frequently. “Is” (agus) is necessary.
Either is/agus (with a relative clause) or le (with a noun or pronoun).Cé chomh mór agus atá sé? = How big is he/it?
Cé chomh mór leis? = How big is he/it?Go raibh míle míle maith agaibh. It was the “is” that was throwing me off. I forgot that it can be used as a shortened form of agus, and was trying to reason out why that sentence was using the copula. Which wasn’t working at all.
Not only frequently. “Is” (agus) is necessary.
Either is/agus (with a relative clause) or le (with a noun or pronoun).Cé chomh mór agus atá sé? = How big is he/it?
Cé chomh mór leis? = How big is he/it?Personally, I wouldn’t leave out the “is” either, but according to the sources I’ve seen (Focloir.ie, Potafocal, Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí) it is optional, at least in Standard Irish.
In some cases, you might want to use a different structure altogether. I have a feeling, for instance, that “cén airde atá iontu?” would sound more idiomatic than “cé chomh ard is atá siad?”. Perhaps others can say if that’s true.
Personally, I wouldn’t leave out the “is” either, but according to the sources I’ve seen (Focloir.ie, Potafocal, Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí) it is optional, at least in Standard Irish.In Graiméar Gaeilge na mB. Críostaí there is only one example of “cé chomh” – really without “agus”.
There are two further examples of “cad é chomh” – with agus.
In foclóir.ie there are lots of examples (more than 50). But only two without “agus” or “le”.
In potafocal.com there are perhaps hundreds of examples – an overwhelming majority with “agus”.
(On the first 10 Google search result pages I found only two results without “agus”: https://www.google.com/search?q=”cé+chomh”+site:potafocal.com&safe=off&client=opera&channel=suggest&ei=zTDXUczYBcbYPZyggfgJ&start=90&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=604)
I would think these are just mistakes.On the other hand you can say “cá mhinice atá …” and “cá mhinice agus atá …”, too.
This “agus” is really optional (at least there are dialects with “agus” and others without it, afaik).
“Agus” here is obviously an intrusion in analogy to the alternative version “cé chomh minic agus atá …”.
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