Relationships (AS theme)

Take the first bullet, different family structures, and build the one-page sheet that will serve both the conversation and any listening or reading passage on the subject.

1. 01Vocabulary, with genders attached

   an teaghlach, the family or household, masculine; an chlann, the family in the sense of the children, feminine, hence the lenition after the article; na tuismitheoirí, the parents; an mháthair and an t-athair, the mother and the father, showing the feminine lenition and the masculine t-prefix on a vowel; na seantuismitheoirí, the grandparents; an páiste, the child; an déagóir, the teenager.

2. 02The structures themselves

   teaghlach mór and teaghlach beag, a large and a small family; teaghlach aontuismitheora, a single-parent family; leasathair and leasmháthair, a stepfather and a stepmother; teaghlach altrama, a foster family; uchtáil, adoption; tuismitheoirí den ghnéas céanna, same-sex parents. Describe them; do not rank them.

3. 03Three frames you can put any of them into

   Tá athrú mór tagtha ar an teaghlach le blianta beaga anuas — the family has changed greatly in recent years. Is é mo bharúil féin go bhfuil gach cineál teaghlaigh chomh tábhachtach lena chéile — my own opinion is that every kind of family is as important as the next. Dar liom, is í an tacaíocht an rud is tábhachtaí, ní an struchtúr — in my opinion support is the most important thing, not the structure.

4. 04One nameable example

   Choose something you can actually describe: your own household, a family in one of the AS 3 set films, or a family described in an article you have read. Concrete beats general every time, and the examiner's follow-up question will be for a detail, not for another generalisation.

5. 05One question to ask back

   An bhfuil an teaghlach ag athrú in Éirinn, dar leat? Is the family changing in Ireland, do you think? A conversation is a conversation; a candidate who can turn a question round demonstrates AO1 far more convincingly than one who only answers.

Result: One page: seven nouns with genders, six structure terms, three reusable opinion frames, one concrete example and one question to ask back. Repeat for the other four bullets and the theme is prepared — five pages, and the frames are shared across all five.

The examiner asks: An bhfuil na rólanna sa teaghlach ag athrú? Are roles in the family changing? Build a three-move answer, then survive three follow-up questions.

1. 01Move one — state

   Ceapaim go bhfuil siad ag athrú go mór. I think they are changing greatly. Note the eclipsis after go, which the specification's grammar list requires, and the progressive ag athrú, which is the verbal noun after tá.

2. 02Move two — justify

   Sa lá atá inniu ann, bíonn beirt tuismitheoirí ag obair go minic, agus mar sin caithfidh gach duine sa teach cuidiú. Nowadays two parents often work, and so everyone in the house has to help. The habitual bíonn is correct because this is what usually happens, not what is happening now.

3. 03Move three — exemplify

   Sa teach s'againne, mar shampla, déanann mo dheartháir an níochán agus déanaim féin an chócaireacht. In our house, for example, my brother does the washing and I do the cooking. Concrete, first-person, and impossible to have memorised from a textbook.

4. 04Follow-up one — cén fáth?

   Why? Because the examiner will ask. Mar níl an t-am ag mo thuismitheoirí, agus is dóigh liom go bhfoghlaimíonn duine óg scileanna tábhachtacha ar an dóigh sin. Because my parents do not have the time, and I think a young person learns important skills that way.

5. 05Follow-up two — an raibh sé mar sin i gcónaí?

   Was it always like that? This one wants the past habitual, which is on the A-level list and impresses at AS. Ní raibh. Fadó, ba ghnách leis an máthair an obair uilig a dhéanamh. It was not. Long ago the mother used to do all the work. Ba ghnách le is the specification's own phrase.

6. 06Follow-up three — an rud maith é sin?

   Is that a good thing? Ar an drochuair, bíonn brú breise ar dhaoine óga anois, ach ar an iomlán is athrú maith é. Unfortunately there is extra pressure on young people now, but on the whole it is a good change. Two-sided, and it uses an adverbial middler from the grammar list.

Result: A three-move answer — state, justify, exemplify — that survives the three questions an examiner always asks: why, was it always so, and is it a good thing. The answer's grammar carries eclipsis after go, the habitual bíonn, the past habitual ba ghnách le, and one adverbial middler, all of which are AO3 evidence.

You want to argue in the AS conversation that housing is the greatest current challenge for young families. Build the argument so that it is strong, specific and entirely honest about evidence.

1. 01Start with the claim, not the evidence

   Dar liom, is í an tithíocht an dúshlán is mó atá roimh theaghlaigh óga faoi láthair. In my opinion housing is the greatest challenge facing young families at present. Note dar liom, which the specification lists under defective words, and roimh theaghlaigh, where roimh lenites.

2. 02Give the mechanism rather than the number

   Má tá cíos ard le híoc, níl airgead fágtha le haghaidh rudaí eile. If there is a high rent to pay, there is no money left for other things. This is an argument, not a statistic, and it cannot be wrong. Note the eclipsis-free má and the h-prefix in le haghaidh.

3. 03Attribute where you do reach for data

   De réir na bhfigiúirí a fhoilsíonn an Ghníomhaireacht Staidrimh, tá praghsanna tithe ag ardú. According to the figures published by the statistics agency, house prices are rising. You have named a kind of source and made a directional claim, and you have invented nothing.

4. 04Add a concrete, checkable example

   Tá aithne agam ar lánúin óg atá ina gcónaí le tuismitheoirí toisc nach bhfuil siad in ann teach a cheannach. I know a young couple living with parents because they cannot buy a house. Note tá aithne agam ar, the specification's own idiom, and the eclipsis after nach.

5. 05Concede the other side

   Áfach, deir daoine eile gurb í an dífhostaíocht an fhadhb is mó. However, other people say unemployment is the biggest problem. Áfach is on the A-level adverbial list, and attributing the counter-claim to daoine eile is exactly the move that keeps the answer honest.

6. 06Close

   Mar fhocal scoir, ceapaim go bhfuil siad ceangailte lena chéile — mura bhfuil obair agat, ní féidir leat cíos a íoc. As a final word, I think they are linked to one another: if you have no work, you cannot pay rent. Mar fhocal scoir is on the grammar list and mura bhfuil shows the eclipsis it requires.

Result: A six-move argument that names a source category, states a mechanism, gives a concrete example, concedes an attributed counter-claim and closes with a link — and that contains not one invented number. It also carries dar liom, tá aithne agam ar, áfach, mar fhocal scoir and two eclipses, all from the specification's own lists.

The examiner asks: An bhfuil bearna mhór idir na glúnta in Éirinn inniu? Is there a big gap between the generations in Ireland today? Build an answer that uses the comparison and the tense the bullet is designed for.

1. 01Open by refusing the easy answer

   I dtús báire, ceapaim go bhfuil bearna ann, ach nach í an bhearna chéanna a bhí ann fadó. To begin with, I think there is a gap, but that it is not the same gap that existed long ago. I dtús báire is on the grammar list and the nach clause shows eclipsis.

2. 02Say what used to be true

   Fadó, ba ghnách le daoine óga fanacht sa bhaile go dtí go bpósfaidís. Long ago young people used to stay at home until they married. Ba ghnách le is the specification's own past-habitual construction; bpósfaidís shows eclipsis after go.

3. 03Say what is true now

   Anois, bíonn níos mó saoirse ag daoine óga, ach bíonn níos mó brú orthu fosta. Now young people have more freedom, but there is more pressure on them too. Two habituals, two comparatives, and fosta, which is the Ulster word for 'also' where the standard would use freisin — a good moment to choose one and stay with it.

4. 04Name what has NOT changed

   Ach níor athraigh gach rud. Tá meas ag an gcuid is mó de dhaoine óga ar a dtuismitheoirí go fóill. But not everything has changed. Most young people still respect their parents. Níor plus lenition is the negative past; ar a dtuismitheoirí shows the eclipsis after the possessive a meaning their.

5. 05Reach for the cultural point

   Agus i roinnt teaghlach, cuirtear an Ghaeilge ar aghaidh ó ghlúin go glúin, rud a cheanglaíonn na glúnta le chéile. And in some families Irish is passed on from generation to generation, which ties the generations together. Cuirtear is the autonomous form the grammar list requires, and it is exactly right here because who does the passing on is not the point.

6. 06Close with a judgement, marked as one

   Mar fhocal scoir, is é mo bharúil féin gur bearna í a athraíonn seachas a fhásann. As a final word, my own opinion is that it is a gap which changes rather than grows. Marking the judgement as yours is both honest and, in AO3 terms, a demonstration of the copula used with an abstract noun.

Result: A six-move answer built on the past habitual against the present habitual, carrying i dtús báire, ba ghnách le, an autonomous cuirtear, two eclipses after go and nach, the negative past níor athraigh, and a closing judgement explicitly marked as the speaker's own.

The examiner asks: Cé acu an tionchar is mó ar dhaoine óga, an teaghlach nó na cairde? Which has more influence on young people, the family or friends? Argue one side, then be asked to argue the other.

1. 01Take a position with a comparative

   Dar liom, bíonn tionchar níos mó ag cairde ar dhéagóirí ná mar a bhíonn ag an teaghlach. In my opinion friends have more influence on teenagers than the family does. Note ar dhéagóirí with the lenition after ar, and the ná mar a construction for comparing two clauses.

2. 02Justify with a mechanism

   Caitheann duine óg an chuid is mó den lá lena chairde, agus is minic a dhéanann sé aithris orthu. A young person spends most of the day with friends and often imitates them. Is minic a is the specification's own copula-with-adverb construction.

3. 03Limit the claim, which strengthens it

   Ach ní bhaineann sin ach le rudaí beaga — éadaí, ceol, teanga na sráide. But that only applies to small things: clothes, music, street language. Limiting a claim is what distinguishes an argued answer from an asserted one, and ní bhaineann shows the lenition after ní.

4. 04Now the examiner turns it round

   Agus na luachanna? And values? Take the reversal without resisting it: Sin scéal eile ar fad. Is é an teaghlach an tionchar is láidre ar luachanna duine. That is another matter entirely. The family is the strongest influence on a person's values. Here the superlative is is required, not níos.

5. 05Make the two-way point

   Agus ná déanaimis dearmad go dtéann an tionchar sa dá threo — múineann páistí rudaí dá dtuismitheoirí fosta. And let us not forget that the influence goes both ways: children teach their parents things too. Note the imperative ná déanaimis, the eclipsis after go, and dá dtuismitheoirí with the possessive eclipsis.

6. 06Close with the equative

   Mar sin, is dóigh liom go bhfuil an dá thionchar chomh tábhachtach lena chéile, ach go n-oibríonn siad ar rudaí difriúla. So I think the two influences are as important as each other, but that they work on different things. The equative chomh ... le closes the set of three comparative structures.

Result: One question argued in both directions using all three comparative structures — níos mó ná for the first position, the superlative is láidre for the reversal, and the equative chomh tábhachtach le for the synthesis — plus a limiting move and a two-way observation that make the answer argued rather than asserted.