Dia dhaoibh,

Ar dtús, I'd like to thank you for accepting me into this group and for giving me the opportunity to improve my Irish.

My particular inquiry to kick-start this sure to be very fruitful journey is as follows:

How do you translate "The lower the (e.g. age), the better the (e.g. technological capability)"?

I've been doing a lot of research but to no avail. Could anyone please help?

Grmma in advance

Sé is óige is meabhraigh duine

The younger the more intelligent one is

I'm sure there are better ways to say it, wait for more suggestions.

The Standard form for

The youger the age the better the technological capability.

is:

Dá óige an aois is ea is fearr an cumas teicneolaíoch
or
Dá óige an aois is amhlaidh is fearr an cumas teicneolaíoch

(the lower ... would be literally dá ísle ..., but "younger" is more appropriate for age, I'd think)


It's an abstract noun following dá : óige, ísle,= youngness, lowness, lit. "of its youngness, of its lowness".
It is a noun though it is often similar to the comparative: óige = also "younger", ísle = also "lower"
But sometiimes the suffix -acht is used: dá dheacracht ... the more difficult ... ("of its difficulty")
Or special irregular noun forms are needed: dá mhéad ... = the more ..., dá laghad ... = the less ..., dá fheabhas ... = the better ...


But the second part is really a comparative: ... is ea is fearr, lit. "is it which is better"

The whole sentence translates literally:
"Of its (amount of) youngness the age, is it which is better the technol. capibility"


There's an easier Ulster form, using only comparatives:

Mar is (mas) óige an aois mar is (mas) fearr an cumas teicneolaíoch.