Is breá liom Éire
To say "I love Ireland" in Irish, you use Is breá liom Éire.
This phrase is used to express a strong liking or affection for the country of Ireland. If you want to emphasize your feelings and say "I love Ireland very much", you can use the variations Is breá liom Éire go leor or Is breá liom Éire ar fad.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, the phrase translates to "Ireland is lovely to me" or "Ireland is a favorite with me".
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Munster dialect, you may also say Tá cion agam ar Éirinn to mean "I have affection for Ireland".
How does it change in a sentence?
The expression Is breá liom does not use a direct object like English. Instead, it uses the prepositional pronoun liom (with me) to express the feeling.
Did you know?
- If you want to say you love Ireland 'very much', you can append ar fad to the end of the phrase, even though it literally means 'entirely' or 'as a whole'.
- In the phrase Is breá liom Éire, the word is is a special form of the verb 'to be' called a copula, which is used specifically to identify or categorize things rather than describe their state.
- The word is in this phrase shares a deep ancient root with the English word 'is', both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁ésti.
Examples in context
- Is breá liom Éire sa samhradh.I love Ireland in the summer.
Example conversation
Saoirse and Cian are talking about their favorite places.
- SaoirseIs breá liom Éire.I love Ireland.
- CianIs breá liom an tír cuideach.I love the shared land too.
- SaoirseTá an táirge go hálainn.The scenery is beautiful.
- CianTá tú ceart, a Saoirse.You are right, Saoirse.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries breá, is, liom, Éire, CC BY-SA 4.0.
