Idiomatic Prepositions – learning resources

[Crotach]

Hello everybody,

Are there any resources ye have found that lay out how prepositions are used in non-literal constructions? For example:

where in English one would say Cré na Cille was written by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, in Irish it’s Cré na Cille le Máirtín Ó Cadhain, which would literally (as opposed to idiomatically) translate as with.

Another example: d’íoc me as an leabhair. Not one I use much- I’d say fá choinne- but it was an example I was given. Again, it’d literally translate (to me) as “I paid (out of/ from) the book”.

Leabhar Gramadaí Gaeilge (le Nollaig Mac Congáil 😉 ) gives some examples but doesn’t go into comprehensive detail.

I sometimes lapse into calques simply cause I haven’t heard a particular construction before. Of course, there’s no substitute for picking them up from speech, whether live or on tv/radio but I’m looking specifically for discussions/lessons on non-literal/idiomatic usages.

If ye know of anything of the kind, or have any advice on how ye pick up these sorts of constructions, I’d really appreciate the help.

Nollaig shona agus GRMA!

[Seáinín]

Níl sé seo cuimsitheach, ach tá sé úsáideach: http://www.daltai.com/grammar/prepositional-pronouns-examples/.

[Héilics Órbhuí]

You simply have to know and use them. Use them, use them, use them. There is no shortcut to learning prepositions in any language. Some will conform to your source language while others will seem counterintuitive. There is no way around this. Read a lot, listen a lot. That’s the solution.

[Cúnla]

The dictionary, like Ó Dónaill’s. For example:

http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/ag
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/ar
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/as
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/chuig
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/chun
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/de
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/do
&c.…

Or de Bhaldraithe’s in the other direction:

http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/about
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/above
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/across
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/around
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/at
&c.…

And you can look under verbs, too, to see how different prepositions are used to give different meanings, as:

http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/beir
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/bí
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/faigh
&c.…

…Or especially verbs like the following, which have subsections for the different prepositions:

http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/caith
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/cuir
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/fgb/gabh
&c.…

Or the other way, though they’re under separate entries in de Bhaldraithe’s:

http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/do
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/do_again
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/do_away
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/do_in
http://breis.focloir.ie/ga/eid/do_out
&c..…

[Crotach]

Thanks guys! These are great.

The dictionary, like Ó Dónaill’s.

I feel pretty dumb for not having thought of that… Thank you 🙂

[Author]

Posts