PART III.—SYNTAX.
CHAPTER I.
The Article.
470. In Irish the article always precedes its noun, and agrees with it in gender, number and case as, an fear, the man; na fir, the men; an ḟir, of the man; na mná, of the woman.
471. When one noun governs another in the genitive case the article cannot be used with the first noun: as, mac an ḟir, the son of the man; fear an tiġe, the man of the house, &c.
Notice the difference between the son of the man, mac an ḟir, and a son of the man, mac do’n ḟear.
Exceptions. (1) When a demonstrative adjective is used with the first noun (the governing one), the article must also be used; as, tá an teaċ sain mo ċarad le díol, that house of my friend’s is for sale.
(2) If the two nouns form a compound word, the article is used before the first, if used in English: a newspaper, páipeur nuaiḋeaċta; but, the newspaper, an páipeur nuaiḋeaċta.
