Fáilte isteach. Here is one free lesson by Bitesize Irish. Get our Gaeilge Gateway course to keep going.
There you go, I have just wished you a merry Christmas in the Irish language.
The “dhuit” literally translates to “to you”. It’s like we’re wishing a happy Christmas ‘towards you’.
That’s for speaking with one person, but to address two or more people in the Irish language:
Nollaig
This little word Nollaig means Christmas.
The Month of Christmas
You’ll often see “Month of December” written in Irish:
Nollaig or Nollag?
If you noticed the missing “i” from “Nollaig”, that’s not a mistake. It’s due to grammar. The basic form of this word, the version you find in the dictionary, say, is Nollaig. This is known as the nominative case.
When we say Christmas Day, Christmas Eve or “Month of December”, the word Nollaig is changed to the genitive case, which is spelt Nollag. The genitive case accounts for why the spelling of many Irish words changes from time to time.
The day after Christmas Day
December 26th is traditionally known as St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland.
Happy New Year
Here’s how to say Happy New Year:
That’s when you’re speaking with one person. To wish two or more people a happy new year in Irish, you can say:
Find out more about New Year in the Irish language.
Wrap up (or unwrap?)
This was a free lesson by Bitesize Irish. Get our Gaeilge Gateway course to keep going.