cad atá á dhéanamh agat?
The phrase "what are you doing?" in Irish is translated as cad atá á dhéanamh agat?
This phrase is used as a question to ask someone about their current activity.
Did you know?
- While cad atá á dhéanamh agat? is a literal question, in some casual settings it can function as a greeting similar to 'what's up?' rather than a genuine inquiry into a task.
- The structure of this phrase uses a 'prepositional pronoun' agat, a feature of Irish that allows a preposition and a pronoun to merge into a single word.
- The word agat comes from the Old Irish ocut, meaning 'at you', which highlights how Irish treats the person as the location of the action.
Example conversation
Niamh calls Cathal on the phone.
- NiamhDia duit, Cathal! Cad atá á dhéanamh agat?Hello, Cathal! What are you doing?
- CathalTá mé ag léigh an t-leabhar.I am reading the book.
- NiamhAn bhfuil sé go maith?Is it good?
- CathalTá, tá sé an- ionsaí!Yes, it is very exciting!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries agat, atá, cad, á, CC BY-SA 4.0.
