Dedicated to the Gaelic Language of the Isle of Man
Lessoonyn Meanagh

Intermediate Lessons

lesson 3: Kys t'ou? - How are you?

Most people will have heard some typical Manx greetings, such as:

moghrey mie, good morning, moghrey mie [moghrey mie] ---------- moghrey mie is how we greet people in the time before the midday meal.

fastyr mie, good afternoon or good evening, fastyr mie [fastyr mie] ---------- fastyr mie is what we say to greet people anytime from our midday meal on, and into the evening, right up to midnight.

And there's also Oie vie – good night – Oie vie is used when taking our leave of people in the late evening or last thing at night, so, oie vie, good night [oie vie] ---------- oie vie.

Oie vie ---------- oie vie.

When we greet someone with Moghrey mie or fastyr mie, we usually follow this with:
Kys t'ou? How are you? Kys t'ou? [kys t'ou?] ---------- kys t'ou?

Moghrey mie. Kys t'ou?

Fastyr mie. Kys t'ou? / There's a slightly more formal version: rather than Kys t'ou? you may have heard Kanys ta shiu? - How are you? Kanys ta shiu? [kanys ta shiu?] ---------- Kanys ta shiu?

Most people respond by saying: braew (fine), braew [braew] ---------- braew. And you may well have heard that doubled up as 'braew, braew', meaning 'fine, fine'.

What else might we want to say? Mie dy liooar, good enough or well enough, Mie dy liooar. [mie dy liooar] ---------- mie dy liooar.

Castreycair – Middlin – Castreycair [castreycair] ---------- castreycair.

Goll as gaccan - Goin' 'n' grumbling – Goll as gaccan [goll as gaccan] ---------- goll as gaccan.

And we can thank someone for their interest: Gura mie ayd – thank you – gura mie ayd. [gura mie ayd] ---------- gura mie ayd.

Gura mie ayd means literally, 'may there be good at you', and it's the idiom for saying thank you in Manx. Gura mie ayd. Fastyr mie. Kys t'ou?

Braew, gura mie ayd. Kys t'ou?

Mie dy liooar, gura mie ayd. Instead of just saying braew, we could say, Ta mee braew, I am fine, I'm fine, ta mee braew [Ta mee braew.] ---------- ta mee braew. 'Ta mee' means 'I am', ta mee [ta mee] ---------- ta mee, and we can say ta mee braew, ta mee mie dy liooar, ta mee castreycair, ta mee goll as gaccan.

Ta mee mie dy liooar, gura mie ayd. As oo hene? 'As oo hene?' means 'And yourself?' As oo hene? [As oo hene?] ---------- As oo hene? Ta mee goll as gaccan, gura mie ayd. As oo hene?

Let's include that with what we learned in the first lesson.

Moghrey mie. Kys t'ou?

Braew, braew, gura mie ayd. As oo hene?

Ta mee goll as gaccan, gura mie ayd. Cre'n ennym t'ort?

She Bob mish. Quoi uss?

Ta'n ennym orrym Chris.

We'd usually finish a short conversation such as this with either:

Slane lhiat - good bye – Slane lhiat [slane lhiat] ---------- slane lhiat;

or Hee'm oo - I'll see you – Hee'm oo [hee'm oo] ---------- hee'm oo.

Fastyr mie. Kys t'ou?

Ta mee goll as gaccan, gura mie ayd. As oo hene?

Ta mee braew, braew, gura mie ayd. Cre'n ennym t'ort?

Mish Bob. Quoi uss?

She Chris mish. Slane lhiat.

Slane lhiat. Hee'm oo.

As shen eh veih lessoon tree: slane lhiat.

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