Word order in Irish is of the form VSO (verb–subject–object) so that, for example, "He hit me" is Bhuail [hit-past tense] sé [he] mé [me].
One distinctive aspect of Irish is the distinction between is, the copula (known in Irish as an chopail), and tá. Is describes identity or quality in a permanence sense, while temporary aspects are described by tá. This is similar to the difference between the verbs ser and estar in Spanish and Portuguese (see Romance copula), although this is not an exact match; is and tá are cognate respectively with the Spanish es and está.
Examples are:
Is fear é. "He is a man." (Spanish Es un hombre, Portuguese (Ele) é um homem)
Is duine fuar é. "He is cold (a cold-hearted person)." (Spanish Es frío, Portuguese (Ele) é frio)
Tá sé/Tomás fuar. "He/Thomas is cold" (= feels cold) (Alt. Tá fuacht air [= "Cold is on him"]). (Spanish Tiene frío – in this case Spanish uses tener (to have) instead of estar (to be), Portuguese (Ele) está com frio)
Tá sé ina chodladh. "He is asleep." (Spanish Él está durmiendo, Portuguese Ele está a dormir)
Is duine maith é. "He is good (a good person)." (Spanish Es bueno, Portuguese (Ele) é bom)
Tá sé go maith. "He is well." (Spanish Está bien, Portuguese (Ele) está bem)
Irish nouns are masculine or feminine. To a certain degree the gender difference is indicated by specific word endings, -án and -ín being masculine and -óg feminine. While the neuter has mostly disappeared from vocabulary, the neuter gender is seen in various place names in Ireland.
The Irish definite article has two forms: an and na. An may cause lenition, eclipsis, or neither. Na may cause eclipsis, but the only instance of lenition with na is with the genitive singular of the word céad meaning first. An is used in the common case singular for all nouns, and lenites feminine nouns. In the genitive singular, an with lenition is used with masculine nouns, na with feminine nouns. In the dative singular, an may cause lenition or eclipsis depending on the preposition preceding it and on regional norms (in Ulster usage, lenition is standard with all prepositions, while in other regions eclipsis is used with many). Na is the only plural form of the article; it causes eclipsis in the genitive for both genders, and no mutation in other cases.
Names of countries usually take the definite article in the nominative: An Fhrainc "France", an Bhrasaíl "Brazil", an tSeapáin "Japan". Exceptions to this include Éire "Ireland", Albain "Scotland" and Sasana "England".
There is no indefinite article in Irish; the word appears by itself, for example: Tá peann agam. – "I have a pen", Tá madra sa seomra. – "There's a dog in the room".
When two definite noun phrases appear as part of a genitive construction (equivalent to the X of the Y in English), only the noun phrase in the genitive takes the article. Compare Áras an Uachtaráin or Teitheamh na nIarlaí to English the residence of the President, the flight of the Earls.
Irish adjectives always follow the noun. The adjective is influenced by the case, number and gender of the noun preceding it.
An cailín beag "The small girl" – masculine singular nominative
An bhean bhocht "The poor woman" – feminine singular nominative
Na buachaillí óga "The young boys" – masculine plural nominative
Adjectives in Irish have two morphological degrees of comparison: the positive (Irish: bunchéim), e.g. Tá an buachaill cairdiúil "the boy is friendly", and the comparative (breischéim), e.g. Tá an cailín níos cairdiúla ná an buachaill "the girl is nicer than the boy". A superlative (sárchéim) sense is rendered by the comparative in a relative clause, e.g. Is é Seán an páiste is cairdiúla den triúr "Seán is the nicest child of the three".
Adverbs
Irish adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
An adverb can be created from an adjective by adding go before it, e.g. go mall, go tapaidh, go maith, etc. If the adjective begins with a vowel, ⟨h⟩ is added before it, e.g. go hálainn, go híseal, go háirithe, etc.
Adverbs can often be created from nouns by putting a preposition before them, e.g. ar bith, de ghnáth, faoi dheireadh, etc.
Other categories of adverbs include the following:
Adverbs that describe relation to time, e.g. uaireanta, anois, cheana, etc.
Adverbs that describe relation to place, e.g. ann, abhaile, amuigh, etc.
Adverbs used in questions, e.g. cathain?, conas?, cá?, etc.
Adverbs used for negation, e.g. ní, nach, nár, etc.
Other adverbs, e.g. áfach, chomh maith, ach oiread, etc.
There are two conjugations and 11 irregular verbs. Tenses or moods are formed by inflecting the stem, and in the past and habitual past tenses and the conditional mood also by leniting any initial consonant. The inflected tense and mood forms are: present indicative, present habitual indicative (differs from present only in the verb bí "to be"), future, past indicative, past habitual indicative, conditional, imperative, present subjunctive, and past subjunctive. Verbs also have a verbal noun and past participle, and progressive constructions similar to those using the English present participle may be formed from the verbal noun and an appropriate tense of bí. Examples of tense conjugations: (all third person forms without subject pronoun):
In addition to the passive voice, there is the impersonal form of the verb, termed the saorbhriathar or "autonomous verb", which serves a similar function (the most literal translation is "You/One/They...[e.g. say, are, do]").
Verbs can be conjugated either synthetically (with the personal pronoun included in the verb inflection) or analytically (with the verb inflected for tense only and a separate subject). However, the official standard generally prescribes the analytic form in most person-tense combinations, and the synthetic in only some cases, such as the first person plural. The analytic forms are also generally preferred in the western and northern dialects, except in answer to what would in English be "yes/no" questions, while Munster Irish prefers the synthetic forms. For example, the following are the standard form, synthetic form and analytical form of the past tense of rith "to run":
Person
Standard
Synthetic
Analytic
1st sing
rith mé
ritheas
rith mé
2nd sing
rith tú
rithis
rith tú
3rd sing
rith sé
rith
rith sé
1st plural
ritheamar
ritheamar
rith sinn / rith muid
2nd plural
rith sibh
ritheabhar
rith sibh
3rd plural
rith siad
ritheadar
rith siad
Impersonal
ritheadh
ritheadh
ritheadh
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns in Irish do not inflect for case, but there are three different sets of pronouns used: conjunctive forms, disjunctive forms, and emphatic forms (which may be used either conjunctively or disjunctively)
Irish personal pronouns
Simple pronouns
Singular
Plural
Conjunctive
Disjunctive
Conjunctive
Disjunctive
1st person
mé
(muid)
muid, sinn
2nd person
tú
thú
sibh
3rd person
Masculine
sé
é
siad
iad
Feminine
sí
í
Intensive pronouns
Singular
Plural
Conjunctive
Disjunctive
Conjunctive
Disjunctive
1st person
mise
muidne, sinne
2nd person
tusa
thusa
sibhse
3rd person
Masculine
seisean
eisean
siadsan
iadsan
Feminine
sise
ise
Conjunctive forms
The normal word order in Irish is verb–subject–object (VSO). The forms of the subject pronoun directly following the verb are called conjunctive.
The form muid in the 1st person plural has only recently been approved for use in the official standard, but is very common in western and northern dialects. The standard and southern dialects have no subject pronoun in the 1st person plural, using the synthetic verb ending -imíd (alternatively -imid) instead.
Irish has no T–V distinction, i.e. it does not differentiate between formal and familiar forms of second person pronouns. The difference between tú and sibh is purely one of number.
There is no equivalent to the English "it". Either sé or sí are used depending on whether the thing the speaker is referring to is a masculine noun or a feminine noun. The exception is the pronoun ea, used in impersonal copula phrases, particularly in the phrases is ea (> sea) "yes", "so", "that is so", ní hea (the opposite of is ea), nach ea? "is that not so?", an ea (Kerry am b'ea) "Is that so?", fear is ea é "it's a man", and so on.
Disjunctive forms
If a pronoun is not the subject or if a subject pronoun does not follow the verb (as in a verbless clause, or as the subject of the copula, where the pronoun stands at the end of the sentence), the so-called disjunctive forms are used:
In Munster dialects the form thú is either (a) archaic (replaced by tú) or (b) is only found after words ending in a vowel.
Standard
Buailim thú ("I hit you", present tense), Bhuail mé thú ("I hit you", past tense)
Dialect type (a)
Buailim tú, Bhuail mé tú
Dialect type (b)
Buailim tú, Bhuail mé thú
Intensive forms
Irish also has intensive pronouns, used to give the pronouns a bit more weight or emphasis.
The word féin (/heːnʲ/ or /fʲeːnʲ/) "-self" can follow a pronoun, either to add emphasis or to form a reflexive pronoun.
Rinne mé féin é. "I did it myself."
Ar ghortaigh tú thú féin? "Did you hurt yourself?"
As the object of a preposition, a pronoun is fused with the preposition; one speaks here of "inflected" prepositions, or, as they are more commonly termed, prepositional pronouns.
Irish prepositional pronouns
Prepositional pronouns
Singular
Plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
Masculine
Feminine
ag "at"
Simple
agam
agat
aige
aici
againn
agaibh
acu
Emphatic
agamsa
agatsa
aigesean
aicise
againne
agaibhse
acusan
ar "on"
Simple
orm
ort
air
uirthi
orainn
oraibh
orthu
Emphatic
ormsa
ortsa
airsean
uirthise
orainne
oraibhse
orthusan
as "from, out of"
Simple
asam
asat
as
aisti
asainn
asaibh
astu
Emphatic
asamsa
asatsa
as-san
aistise
asainne
asaibhse
astusan
chuig/ chun "to(wards)"
Simple
chugam
chugat
chuige
chuici
chugainn
chugaibh
chucu
Emphatic
chugamsa
chugatsa
chuigesean
chuicise
chugainne
chugaibhse
chucusan
de "of, from"
Simple
díom
díot
de
di
dínn
díbh
díobh
Emphatic
díomsa
díotsa
desean
dise
dínne
díbhse
díobhsan
do "to, for"
Simple
dom
duit
dó
di
dúinn
daoibh
dóibh
Emphatic
domsa
duitse
dósan
dise
dúinne
daoibhse
dóibhsean
faoi "about, under"
Simple
fúm
fút
faoi
fúithi
fúinn
fúibh
fúthu
Emphatic
fúmsa
fútsa
faoisean
fúithise
fúinne
fúibhse
fúthusan
i "in"
Simple
ionam
ionat
ann
inti
ionainn
ionaibh
iontu
Emphatic
ionamsa
ionatsa
annsan
intise
ionainne
ionaibhse
iontusan
idir "between"
Simple
—
eadrainn
eadraibh
eatarthu
Emphatic
eadrainne
eadraibhse
eatarthusan
le "with"
Simple
liom
leat
leis
léi
linn
libh
leo
Emphatic
liomsa
leatsa
leisean
léise
linne
libhse
leosan
ó "since"
Simple
uaim
uait
uaidh
uaithi
uainn
uaibh
uathu
Emphatic
uaimse
uaitse
uaidhsean
uaithise
uainne
uaibhse
uathusan
roimh "before, in front of"
Simple
romham
romhat
roimhe
roimpi
romhainn
romhaibh
romhu
Emphatic
romhamsa
romhatsa
roimhesean
roimpise
romhainne
romhaibhse
romhusan
thar "over, beyond, past"
Simple
tharam
tharat
thairis
thairsti
tharainn
tharaibh
tharstu
Emphatic
tharamsa
tharatsa
thairisean
thairstise
tharainne
tharaibhse
tharstusan
trí "through"
Simple
tríom
tríot
tríd
tríthi
trínn
tríbh
tríothu
Emphatic
tríomsa
tríotsa
trídsean
tríthise
trínne
tríbhse
tríothusan
um "around"
Simple
umam
umat
uime
uimpi
umainn
umaibh
umpu
Emphatic
umamsa
umatsa
uimesean
uimpise
umainne
umaibhse
umpusan
Possessive pronouns
The possessive determiners cause different initial consonant mutations.
These forms (especially a and ár) can also blend with certain prepositions:
Irish possessive pronoun contractions
Preposition
Possessive pronoun
mo/ m'"my"
do/ d'"your"
a "his, her(s), their(s)"
ár "our(s)"
de "from"
dem
ded, det
dá
dár
do "to, for"
dom
dod, dot
faoi "about, under"
—
—
faoina
faoinár
i "in"
im
id, it
ina
inár
le "with"
lem
led, let
lena
lenár
ó "from"
óm
ód, ót
óna
ónár
trí "through"
—
—
trína
trínár
The object of a verbal noun is in the genitive case:
Tá sé ag plé a rothair. "He's discussing his bicycle" (lit.: He is at the discussing of his bicycle)
Similarly, if the object of the verbal noun is a pronoun, then it is a possessive pronoun:
Tá sé á phlé. "He's discussing it." (lit.: He is at its (i.e. the bicycle's) discussing)
More examples:
Tá sí do mo bhualadh. "She's hitting me."
Tá siad do do phlé. "They are discussing you."
Tá sé á pógadh. "He's kissing her."
Tá tú dár mbualadh. "You're hitting us."
Tá mé do bhur bplé. "I'm discussing you (pl.)."
Tá sibh á bpógadh. "You (pl.) are kissing them."
Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns introduce a question, e.g. the words who, what, which. The Irish equivalents are:
cé "who?, which?"
cad or céard "what?"
cén "which?"
Examples:
Cé a rinne é? "Who did it?"
Cé a chonaic tú? "Who did you see?"
Cé ar thug tú an leabhar dó? "Who did you give the book to?"
Cad atá ort? "What's wrong (with you)?" (lit. "What is on you?")
Céard a dúirt tú? "What did you say?"
Cén t-ainm atá ort? "What's your name?" (lit. "Which name is upon you?")
Cén aois tú? "How old are you?" (lit. "Which age are you?")
Numbers
Irish numbers
Value
Cardinal
Ordinal
Disjunctive
Conjunctive
Nonhuman
Human
0
náid
1
a haon
(aon)...amháin
céad
2
a dó
dhá
beirt
dara
3
a trí
trí
triúr
tríú
4
a ceathair
ceithre
ceathrar
ceathrú
5
a cúig
cúig
cúigear
cúigiú
6
a sé
sé
seisear
séú
7
a seacht
seacht
seachtar
seachtú
8
a hocht
ocht
ochtar
ochtú
9
a naoi
naoi
naonúr
naoú
10
a deich
deich
deichniúr
deichiú
11
a haon déag
aon...déag
aonú...déag
12
a dó dhéag
dhá...déag
dáréag
dóú...déag
20
fiche
fichiú
21
fiche a haon
...'s fiche
aonú...'s fiche
22
fiche a dó
dhá ...'s fiche
dóú...'s fiche
30
tríocha
tríochadú
40
daichead
daicheadú
50
caoga
caogadú
60
seasca
seascadú
70
seachtó
seachtódú
80
ochtó
ochtódú
90
nócha
nóchadú
100
céad
céadú
1000
míle
míliú
There are three kinds of cardinal numbers in Irish: disjunctive numbers, nonhuman conjunctive numbers, and human conjunctive numbers.
Disjunctive numbers
Disjunctive numbers are used for example in arithmetic, in telling time, in telephone numbers and after nouns in forms like bus a trí déag "bus 13" or seomra a dó "room 2".
Conjunctive numbers
Nonhuman conjunctive numbers
Nonhuman conjunctive numbers are used to count nouns that do not refer to human beings, e.g. capall "horse"
"One" as a pronoun is rendered with ceann (lit. "head") when it concerns things and animals, e.g.:
Tá cúig chapall agam; tá ceann acu breoite. "I have five horses; one of them is sick."
Human conjunctive numbers
Human conjunctive numbers are used to count nouns that refer to human beings, e.g. páiste 'child'
"One" as a pronoun is rendered with duine (lit. "person") with people. The other "personal" numbers can also be used pronominally, e.g.:
Tá cúigear páistí agam; tá duine acu breoite. "I have five children; one of them is sick."
Tá seisear sa seomra. "Six people are in the room."
Higher numbers are done as with the nonhuman conjunctive numbers: trí pháiste déag, fiche páiste, etc.
A notable feature of Irish phonology is that consonants (except /h/) come in pairs, one "broad" (velarized, pronounced with the back of the tongue pulled back towards the soft palate) and one "slender" (palatalized, pronounced with the middle of the tongue pushed up towards the hard palate).
