We began learning uses of
verbal nouns, albeit indirectly, as early as lesson one, and at
various points thereafter; lessons 41 & 49 focused exclusively on
them, but only upon a few aspects thereof. In lesson 67 we
examine their use to express such concepts as purpose, intention,
duty, necessity, possibility, guarantee and fate by using them in
connexion with the preposition "le". We may also
express purpose using the preposition "chun" with a verbal
noun, as we'll see below.
Let's examine some of the
examples provided on page 115 of "Progress in
Irish":
rud éigin le n-ithe
(something "to eat")
rud éigin le n-ól
(something "to drink")
The construction "le"
+ verbal noun describes a purpose for the "something" that
has yet to occur. It may make things clearer if we translate the
above examples as though the verbal noun is a "passive
infinitive" instead of the infinitive used in the book, i.e.
"something to be eaten" and "something to be drunk"
instead of "to eat" and "to drink".
For similar reasons, the next examples in that
section of page 115 will also benefit from a rewriting of the English
translation:
An bhfuil aon rud le rá agat? -- Have you
anything (that has yet) to be said?
Nach bhfuil aon rud le déanamh agat? --
Haven't you anything (that has yet) to be done?
Tá ceacht le foghlaim agam -- I have a
lesson (that has yet) to be learnt
Tá an iomad le rá aici -- She has too much
(that has yet) to be said.
Tá an teach le díol - The house is to be
sold.
In the rewording of the translation, we better
see how the action described by the verbal noun has yet to be done.
The words in parentheses serve to clarify for an English speaker the
meaning of the Irish, but have no equivalent in the Irish sentences,
as they are unnecessary there.
- - - - - - - - - -
Sometimes in sentences indicating intended
purpose, the verbal noun has an object, such as in the two examples
shown in the centre of page 115:
Tháinig sé chun capall a
cheannach/Tháinig sé le capall a cheannach --
He came toward/with (the purpose of) a horse
to buy.
These sentences use an idiom unlike what is
used in English; the words in parentheses are included to make the
meaning somewhat clearer for English speakers, but we should take care
not to translate idiomatic sentences too literally, lest we
misunderstand the meaning.
- - - - - - - - - -
Page 115 also tells us that "chun" &
"le" can used with the verbal noun to express "going
to" -- an English idiom that indicates purpose/intent. It
is important that the learner understand that the phrase "going
to" in this instance is an idiom which we will not translate
literally into Irish, but rather use Irish idiom, so:
Tá sé le teacht amárach --
He is with (the intention) to come
tomorrow.
The structure of the usage shown above is
"le" + verbal noun, much like our earlier
examples.
Tá m'athair chun rothar a cheannach dom um
Nollaig --
My father is (intending) toward a bicycle to
buy for me around Christmas
The structure of the usage shown above is
"chun" + object + verbal noun; we could have also used
"le" + object + verbal noun, which would have yielded the
same meaning.
As was done previously, words have been added
parenthetically to assist the English speaker to understand the Irish
idiom without resorting to an English idiom.
The structure of the usage shown above is
"chun" + object + verbal noun.
- - - - - - - - - -
As this lesson is the last one in
"Progress in Irish" which will examine the uses of "le"
with the verbal noun, let's have a quick look at some other
applications which will not be covered elsewhere in the
book.
We mentioned earlier that using "le"
with the verbal noun can express several concepts, including purpose, intention, duty, necessity, possibility,
guarantee and fate. Here are some examples of
each:
Purpose:
An bhfuil rud éigin le
n-ithe agat?
Do you have something "to
eat" (to be eaten)?
Intention:
Cad a bheidh agat le
n-ól?
What will you have to
drink?
Intention:
Tá sé lena
theacht
He is to come. (i.e. he
intends to come)
Duty:
Tá obair le déanamh
agat
You have work to
do
Necessity:
Tá an teach seo le
péinteáil
This house is to be
painted.
Possibility:
Níl le feiceáil ach na
sléibhte
Nothing is to be seen but the
mountains
Guarantee:
Is dócha atá siad le
theacht
Surely they are
coming
Fate:
Is dócha nach raibh Éamonn
le ba an lá sin
It's likely that Éamonn was
not (destined) to drown that day.
- - - - - - - - - -
Like many lessons in "Progress in
Irish", lesson 67 offers but a small overview of its subject.
For further study/examples, the learner should consult
grammar/reference works.
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