In Gaeilge, there are ways to express how one feels. This goes beyond expressing likes and dislikes, as in Step Five. It gets at the heart of how the Irish envision their world and enact their cosmology through language. Perhaps the main thing to understand is that the Irish express emotions as being “on” a person, rather than defining who an duine sin is, as in Béarla. Notice the difference in the following statements:

Tá brón orm. (“sorrow is on me”) VS. I am sorry.
Tá fearg ort. (“anger is on you”) VS. You are angry.

We have, built right into our language, the sense that the emotion defines a person’s identity. In Gaeilge, emotion is a temporary state. Tá sé freisin an subject of the sentence, whereas in Béarla tá an duine an subject.

Because we use the preposition ar (“on”) in sentences dealing with emotion, we need to conjugate ar just as we conjugated le (“with”) previously when expressing likes agus dislikes.

AR (ON)

orm -- on me

ort -- on you

air/uirthi -- on him/on her

orainn -- on us

oraibh -- on y’all

orthu -- on them

So when tú express emotion (fearg or “anger,” mar shampla), it is always expressed as being “on” tú or ort. Translate the following sentences to the best of your ability into Béarla, noticing that this gives tú the chance to review the past/present/future/questions and negation of “to be”:

Tá fearg orm

Bhí fearg ort

Beidh fearg air

Níl fearg uirthi

Ní raibh fearg orainn

Ní bheidh fearg oraibh

An bhfuil fearg orthu?

An raibh fearg ort?

An mbeidh fearg air?

Here are some typical emotions that might come up in sentences:

áthas (“joy”), díocas (“eagerness”), fearg (“anger”), tuirseach (“tiredness”), sonas (“happiness”), sástacht (“contentment”), díomá (“disappointment”), fiúntas (“worthiness”), eagla (“fear”), brón (“sorrow”), airdeall (“wariness”), dóchas (“hope”)

ach states of being can also be “on you,” as in hunger and thirst:

ocras (“hunger”) tart (“thirst”)
tinneas (“illness”) sláintiúil (“healthiness”)

Anois take each of these emotions or states of being and place them "on" someone; tú may use a conjugated preposition (orm, ort, etc.) or a person or animal (Cáit, Liam, mo mháthair, a madra, etc.). Don’t use the same verb form each time (but do use some variant of tá), okay? Ask questions, too. Ceart go leor! ("Okay!")

Sample sentence: Tá ocras ar Liam ("Liam is hungry"/"there is hunger on Liam")

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In Gaeilge, all things have “agency,” which means they have the capacity to act and be acted upon. Tá a fhios ort (“its knowledge is on you”) that tú can never actually own a cat. Instead, tú can be in a relationship with the cat, if the cat chooses to allow that relationship. The concept of relationship is as far as Gaeilge can express in terms of ownership; other than that, cats and keys and umbrellas and pens (to name a few notorious examples) choose on their own and independent of any choices made by others whether they will be in relationship with you. This concept is expressed in Gaeilge by using the preposition ag, “at.”

Notice the difference in the following statements:

Tá cat agam. (“a cat is at me”) VS. I have a cat.
Tá peann agat. (“a pen is at you”) VS. You have a pen.

We have, built right into our language (see ar, above), the sense that we can own things. In Gaeilge, “ownership” equals “relationship.” We can’t own something any more than we can own a person; we can be only in a relationship with that person, animal, or thing.

Because we use the preposition ag (“at”) in sentences dealing with relationship, we need to conjugate ag just as we conjugated ar (“on”) above.

AG (AT)

agam -- at me

agat -- at you

aige/aici -- at him/at her

againn -- at us

agaibh -- at y’all

acu -- at them

So when tú express relationship it is always expressed as being “at” tú, or agat. Translate the following sentences to the best of your ability into Béarla, and please notice that this gives you the chance to review the various permutations of “to be”:

Tá cat agam

Bhí cat agat

Beidh cat aige

Níl cat aici

Ní raibh cat againn

Ní bheidh cat agaibh

An bhfuil cat acu?

An raibh cat agat?

An mbeidh cat aige?

Anois take something that tú would like to “own,” and abair é ("say it") without using either the word or the concept of “have” or “having.” Use any object from an earlier Step (lamp, curtain, dog, man, child, pen, pencil). If tú like, use an adjective with it (“a small blue pen is at me”). Test out your own ability to create ten sentences. Tú can do it!

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Focail in aisce:

idé … idea
inneacs … index
inse … inch
iógart … yogurt
ioncam … income