is maith le

Irish

Etymology

Literally ‘X is good with Y’ for ‘Y likes X’. The idiom goes back to Old Irish is maith la.

Verb

is maith le (past and conditional ba mhaith le, negative ní maith le)

1. to like

Usage notes

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

• is ait le
• is breá le (“like, love”)
• taitin le

Antonyms

• is fuath le (“hate”)

Related terms

• ba mhaith le (“would like”)
• is fearr le (“prefer”)

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “maith”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN