In Ireland, is maith leis na daoine to eat and drink, just like everywhere else. Tú cannot visit teach gan (“without”) being offered bia (“food”) nó deoch (“drink”). Tá tú probably accustomed to walking into do chistin agus choosing something to eat nó drink. Tá tú might freisin comfortable doing the same thing sa teach do charaid. Ach as someone’s aoi (“guest”) sa teach, tú have to sit politely, speak politely, agus eat agus drink politely anything you are served. Part of being polite is using appropriate words, like le do thoil (“please”) agus gabh mo leithscéal (“excuse me”). Tá bia in Éirinn an-bhlasta! Tá focail mar bia anseo.

In the following list of foods, follow the written food item with a polite request for it. Mar shampla, "Ba mhaith liom an práta, le do thoil." Write it out. Or, tú could say, "An sú mara dom, le do thoil." ("The seafood soup to me, if you please.") We will encounter dom ("to me") later.

práta (potato)

feoil (meat)

mairteoil (beef)

uaineoil (lamb)

muiceoil (pork)

circeoil (chicken)

iasc (fish)

bia mara (seafood)

glasra (vegetable)

oinniún (onion)

arán (bread)

im (butter)

cáis (cheese)

sú (soup)

stobhach (stew)

toradh (fruit)

milseog (dessert)

caife (coffee)

tae (tea)

bainne (milk)

uisce (water)

beoir (beer)

fíon (wine)

Bhí tú learned descriptive focail like milis (“sweet”), searbh (“bitter”), agus blasta (“tasty”). Scríobh tú a sé ("six") descriptive sentences using an focail nua seo, referring to various kinds of bia. Mar shampla, "Tá an tae seo searbh!"

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Tú can be even more expressive le comparatives agus superlatives, so an bia isn’t just blasta (“tasty”), it’s very blasta, as in an-bhlasta. Could it even be too blasta, as in róblasta? Tú will see that in a page or two. The prefix an- is attached to adjectives agus conveys the meaning of “very,” as in an-mhór, an-bheag, an-bhlasta, agus an-mhilis (very big, very little, very tasty, and very sweet). Here are some sample sentences:

Tá mo thae an-mhilis; an bhfuil bainne agat?
My tea is very sweet; do you have [any] milk?

Tá an teach seo an-chiúin; cá bhfuil d’iníon?
This house is very quiet; where is your daughter?

Mar tú can see, the prefix an- lenites the following consonant except for words starting with d, l, n, r, s, or t. On behalf of Irish teachers everywhere, tá brón orm for that annoying detail. Try out four sentences yourself, using a verb in past, present, or future, a singular noun, the prefix an-, and an adjective.

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In each case you could have a couple of adjectives; for example, níl an teach mór an-te inné, “the big house wasn’t very warm yesterday.” In this sentence, an teach mór is the subject, and an-te inné is the object.

What if something is too sweet, too bitter, too hot, too cold? You need to use the prefix ró, and it attaches directly to the following adjective, leniting it (other than l, n, or r). Mar shampla:

Tá mo thae rómhilis; an bhfuil bainne agat?
My tea is too sweet; do you have [any] milk?

Tá an teach seo róchiúin; cá bhfuil d’iníon?
This house is too quiet; where is your daughter?

Try out four sentences yourself, using a verb in past, present, or future, a singular noun, the prefix ró, and an adjective. No need for a hyphen (you only use a hyphen with an-).

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Tá a fhios agat na lae of every seachtain, so anois it is time to learn na míonna (“months”) of an bhliain (“year”). An bhfuil tú recognize na focail of Béarla? Scríobh na focail seo out several times in the space provided; tú don’t need the translations!

Eanáir

Feabhra

Márta

Aibreán

Bealtaine

Meitheamh

Iúil

Lúnasa

Meán Fómhair

Deireadh Fómhair

Samhain

Mí na Nollag

Take four very different months (one from each season) and talk about the weather in them: is it hot? Cold? Very hot? Too cold? Fine? Lousy? How about garbh (“windy”)? Or luaineach (“changeable”)? Start your sentences with tá or bhí or beidh, followed by an mí (the month) as the subject.

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Focail in aisce:

labhandar … lavender
lampa … lamp
leitis … lettuce
leoraí … lorry (truck)
lón … lunch