Question on "Fèisean nan Gàidheal " following dative case preposition

[CFCUJY]

In current Duolingo Section 4 Unit 51 (a few weeks ago was Section 3 Unit 64) Discuss Gaelic Organizations --- I have gotten this sentence a few times:

"Fèisean nan Gàidheal is an exceptional project!"

Fèisean nan Gàidheal is a proper noun whose spelling has not varied in the sentences I've had so far. Also Fèisean nan Gàidheal doesn't seem to have an article attached to the front that would indicate what grammar pattern to use. For example, like cities whose Gaelic names may or may not have an article, such as, Glasgow versus Oban (an t-Oban).

fèis is a feminine noun and in a dative case might be written as "ann an fhèis". ("in a festival") Nominative case definite form would be "an fhèis" (the festival).

BUT "ann an" is a preposition followed by the dative/prepositional case where it usually becomes "ann am" before an indefinite noun starting with b, f, m, p.

Here is my question: What is the correct Gaelic translation for "Fèisean nan Gàidheal is an exceptional project!"?

A few days ago 'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann am Fèisean nan Gàidheal! was correct. Note the use of "am."

Today, the system generated this "'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann an Fèisean nan Gàidheal!" and asked for the English translation. Note the use of "an" and no lenition on "Fèisean."

Translating back to English is easy enough. But if I have to type the Gaelic, this an/am question could "cost" me a heart and the free version of Duo only allows 5 hearts per day. Also, I'd really like to know what the correct grammar is in this case. My first guess would be "ann am" following the grammar for the preposition because the noun in this case is a proper noun which seems to have standard spelling. But, then again, I could easily be wrong.

This is a new topic that doesn't have any grammar notes on the duome page and Duo's guidebook sentences don't provide any clues.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

26August2025 edit -- found this item below online at the link, using "Fèisean nan Gàidheal" in a sentence.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/site/gaelic ... index.html
Fèisean nan Gàidheal
'S e buidheann neo-eisimeileach a th' ann am Fèisean nan Gàidheal agus tha grunn fhèisean teagaisg Gàidhlig fo sgèith na buidhne seo. Tha Fèisean nan Gàidheal a' toirt seachad tabhartasan is prògraman trèanaidh, agus tha iad an sàs ann an tòrr iomairtean eile a tha a' brosnachadh na Gàidhlig agus a cultar.
Fèisean nan Gàidheal is an independent umbrella organisation for many of the Gaelic teaching festivals in Scotland. Fèisean nan Gàidheal gives support funding and delivers training programmes, and they are involved in many initiatives which promote the Gaelic language and its culture. <www.feisean.org>

So " 'S e buidheann neo-eisimeileach a th' ann am Fèisean nan Gàidheal " uses "am" - but then the question remains why would Duolingo use "an Fèisean nan Gàidheal" in their sentence?

Thanks again for any ideas.

[CFCUJY]

So Tuesday, September 9, 2025 I got the sentence again. This one uses "ann an" and I'm still wondering why it isn't "ann am".

'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann an Fèisean nan Gàidheal!

Posting again in case anyone can explain the grammar?
Thanks again. CFCUJY

[Morag Kerr]

I'm no expert, but Feisean nan Gàidheal is in the genitive case. That is why there is no definite article before the first noun. So "Fèis" is festival (always remember the accent on that one!) and Fèisean is the plural, festivals. "nan" indicates that the genitive case is in play, explaining the lack of an article at the beginning. "Gàidheal" may look like the nominative singular, but as it says in the notes...

Plurals - Pattern 2

Many one-syllable nouns and nouns that end in -ach, -an, and -al have a genitive plural form that is identical to their nominative singular form.

One-syllable:

cat

Code: Select all

taigh nan cat - the house of the cats

-al ending:

Gàidheal

Code: Select all

cànan nan Gàidheal - the language of the Gaels

So there it is, with Gàidhlig given as the last example there, it's the genitive plural. Thus, Fèisean nan Gaidheal means Festivals of the Gaels.

However, I can't immediately explain why the "an" rather than "am" in the context you cite, so maybe none of this is any use at all. Won't it give you a "typo" pass for a single-letter mistake?

[CFCUJY]

Thanks for this. At least I've got the genitive case idea correct. So that just leaves me wondering why Duo changed:

"'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann AM Fèisean nan Gàidheal!"

into

"'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann AN Fèisean nan Gàidheal!"

Since I had the "am" version first in my notes, it seems that someone looked at the "am" version and decided it needed to be "an" - and I don't understand why because it doesn't seem to fit with what I know about the grammar. My guess would have been to use "am." So there is something I'm missing.

I think Duo does allow the one error - so whether I put "an" or "am" (and make no other mistakes) I can get a pass. So that helps, but still leaves me wondering about the reason why.

Anyway, thanks again. I should probably post this to foramnagaidhlig and see if anyone there responds.
CFCUJY

[Morag Kerr]

I have just got that exact question and it reads "'S e pròiseact air leth a th' ann am Fèisean nan Gàidheal!" This is on the web page, not the app. So I suspect the one you spotted may have been a mistake.

[CFCUJY]

Thanks!
"many laughing emojis"
At least I'm not crazy. I hope this is a permanent "fix" and not a sign there are 2 versions lurking in the Duo databases!

[Morag Kerr]

Hang on, no. There are two versions lurking in the database. Later on in the module I got the one with "an Fèis" as well.

The other thing I noticed though was that there were quite a few mistakes of one sort or another in that last module. For example a listening exercise where the speaker clearly said "iad" but there was no word tile for iad. Several places where a correct answer which wasn't the one on the card was rejected. And once or twice where the wrong tense was the preferred answer.

I suspect that module needs trouble-shooting, but whether anyone is motivated to do it, I don't know. I'd just shrug it off as one of these things, I think.