cé acu

Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From cé +‎ acu, third-person plural inflected form of ag (“at; of”).

Pronunciation

Determiner

cé acu

  1. which
    Cé acu ceann is fearr? ― Which one is better?

Usage notes

When used with plural pronouns, the inflected form may appear twice. For example:

Ní cinnte mise cé acu acu atá ann. ― I'm not sure which of them is there.

"Which of us" may be expressed as either cé againn, cé acu againn, or cé acu duine againn and similarly with agaibh.

Cé acu duine agaibh is sine? ― Which of you is the older?

In certain questions, cé acu can replace the interrogative form of the copula an:

Cé acu bád nó long í sin? ― Is that a boat or a ship?

References
  1. Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 87
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