mamó agus daideo
The Irish phrase for "grandma and grandpa" is mamó agus daideo.
mamó agus daideo is used to refer to one's grandmother and grandfather in an informal way.
Which one should you use?
While mamó agus daideo is an affectionate way to refer to grandparents, seanmháthair agus seanathair provides the more formal or standard terms for grandmother and grandfather.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
mamó agus daideo is an informal phrase. For formal or standard situations, you should use seanmháthair agus seanathair.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word agus is the standard conjunction used for "and" to join these two nouns together.
Did you know?
- The standard words seanmháthair and seanathair both begin with sean, which means 'old'.
- The word agus for 'and' actually began its life in Old Irish as a preposition meaning 'near' or 'close to'.
- If you were to use the formal seanmháthair in a casual family setting, it might actually sound strangely cold or distant to a native speaker.
Example conversation
Conor and Niamh are talking about their weekend plans.
- ConorAn bhfuil mamó agus daideo ag teacht go dtí an tí?Are grandma and grandpa coming to the house?
- NiamhTá, beidh siad anseo ar an Sathu.Yes, they will be here on Saturday.
- ConorSin dea-nuachtáil!That is great news!
- NiamhBeidh siad an-sátha an t-am a chaitheamh linn.They will be very happy to spend time with us.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries agus, CC BY-SA 4.0.
