Tá mé ag treabhadh liom

‘Ag treabhadh’ means ‘ploughing’ and is used in lots of expressions in the Irish language to talk about how things are going. It is generally used with the preposition ‘le’.

Tá mé ag treabhadh liom

I’m getting on with it / I’m plodding along

If you have no option but just to keep going at something you might say:

Níl aon dul as ach treabhadh linn

We have no option but to keep going (lit. there is no way out but to keep ploughing along)

If you’re just plodding along as best you can you might say:

Tá mé ag treabhadh liom chomh maith agus is féidir liom.

‘Ag treabhadh’ / ‘ploughing’ is used in many expressions, just as in English

Tá mé ag treabhadh liom tríd an leabhar

I’m ploughing my way through the book

Bhí an long ag treabhadh na farraige

The ship was ploughing ahead (lit. the ship was ploughing the sea)

Níl siad ag treabhadh le chéile

They’re not getting on (lit. they’re not ploughing together!)

But hopefully you’re not plodding along, but rather forging ahead!

Tá muid ag treabhadh chun cinn

We are forging ahead

Ní mór dúinn treabhadh ar aghaidh

We must forge ahead / move forward

And finally, where there are ploughs there are also ridges and ruts! In English we say that someone is ‘in a rut’, whereas in Irish the equivalent expression refers to ploughing the same ridge over and over!

Bhraith sé go raibh sé ag treabhadh an iomaire chéanna i gcónaí

He felt that he was caught in a rut (lit. he felt that he was ploughing the same ridge all the time)

Ní gá a bheith ag treabhadh an iomaire chéanna agus tú ag foghlaim Gaeilge! Cláraigh le haghaidh cúrsaí Gaeilge ar líne le All About Irish agus beidh tú ag treabhadh chun cinn gan mhoill!

There is no need to be stuck in a rut with your Irish learning. Register for an online Irish language course with All About Irish and you’ll be forging ahead in no time.