Hello,

Right now, I'm wondering in what past tense that should be used for a story that begins with "Once upon a time". Would it be the Aimsir Chaite? The Aimsir Ghnáthchaite? Or something else?

In my own particular case, I'm trying to translate this from English to Irish:

"Once upon a time, there was a town called Wood Grove. Every little village has a café, and this one was called "The Cosy Inn". Everyone would go there to sample Kate Millicent's famous apple tart."

What I have so far is:

"Bhí baile ann fadó darb ainm Wood Grove. Tá café i ngach baile beag agus thugtaí "The Cosy Inn" ar an gceann seo. Théadh gach duine ann chun..."

[Please note that I'm only interested in the tense choice here, not the other words].

Should I pick one and stick with it? As you can see in my example, I start with Aimsir Chaite, and then move on to Aimsir Ghnáthchaite. Is it ok to mix and match like this if it feels right?

Thank you,

Karen.

Just locking this duplicate topic to prevent confusion. The other one is being answered:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3560

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).