Let’s take a bitesized look at how to say ‘I’m sick‘ in Irish!
One common way is táim tinn /thaw-im tyne/.
The pronunciation of the word tinn, meaning ill in this context, varies depending on dialect.
Munster dialect: /tyne/
Connacht dialect: /teen/
Ulster dialect: /chin/
The word tinn also means sore or painful.
In Munster the preferred way to say ‘I’m sick’ is táim breoite /thaw-im broh-it-eh/.
In Irish, when we talk about having a particular ailment or affliction we say that the malady concerned is “on” us. In the first-person singular this means that we use the prepositional pronoun orm /urr-um/ (“on me”).
So, if you had a cold you would say tá slaghdán orm /thaw sly-dawn urr-um/ – literally “there is a cold on me”.
Should you have a headache you would say tá tinneas cinn orm /thaw tin-iss keen urr-um/.
Should you simply have a pain in some part of your body but are not referring to a specific type of malady you would use a different structure.
If you have a pain in your stomach, say, you could say tá pian i mo bholg agam /thaw pee-un ih muh vol-ug ah-gum/ (“I have a pain in my stomach”).
Likewise, should you have a pain in your hand you would say tá pian i mo lámh agam /thaw pee-un ih muh lawv ah-gum/.
Speaking figuratively, if you need to say that something is a pain in the arse (‘arse’ is the Hiberno-English term for posterior/bottom/butt, my friends) the expression that you require is is pian sa tóin é! /iss pee-un suh thoe-in ay/ (“its a pain in the arse!”).
For the last example, is it necessary to say both “i mo” and “orm”? Isn’t ‘orm’ redundant hereas you’ve already said “in my”? Thanks, donal
Good question, Donal. I presume that you mean is it necessary to say both “i mo” and “agam”? You could certainly get away with simply stating “tá pian i mo bholg”. However, where I come from (Corca Dhuibhne) we say tá pian i mo bholg agam, and for me the sentence is somewhat unresolved (and certainly less idiomatic) by not including ‘agam.’ It is subtle enough but I consider that ‘tá pian i mo bholg’ = ‘there is a pain in my stomach’ while ‘Tá pian i mo bholg agam’ = ‘I have a pain in my stomach’.
go raibh maith agaibh!
+Bhi se sinn go deas go raibh maith agat send me the cost of beginners book in irish and i will send you a cheque for same i do not use credit card
Hi Patrick – please check out our memberships if you’d like to dive into your Irish language journey with Bitesize Irish:
https://www.bitesize.irish/memberships/
Tá fáilte romhat, a Mike!
Ar fheabhas.
Go raibh maith agat.
Go ndéana a mhaith duit, a George.