is maith le
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Irish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Literally ‘X is good with Y’ for ‘Y likes X’. The idiom goes back to Old Irish is maith la.
Verb[edit]
is maith le (past and conditional ba mhaith le, negative ní maith le)
- to like
Usage notes[edit]
The person doing the liking is expressed as the object of le, while the person, object, or activity liked is expressed as the subject of the sentence (coming at the end by the normal rules of Irish syntax).
- Is maith liom bainne.
- I like milk
- Is maith le Dónall snámh.
- Dónall likes swimming
The word is can omitted from this idiom:
- Maith liom bainne.
- I like milk
- Maith le Dónall snámh.
- Dónall likes swimming
Synonyms[edit]
- is ait le
- is breá le (“like, love”)
- taitin le
Antonyms[edit]
- is fuath le (“hate”)
Related terms[edit]
- ba mhaith le (“would like”)
- is fearr le (“prefer”)
References[edit]
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “maith”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN