Irish verbs
Encyclopedia
Irish
verb
forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically.
Synthetic forms express the information about person
and number
in the ending: e.g., "I praise", where the ending -aim stands for "1st person singular present". In this case, a pronoun is not allowed: is ungrammatical.
Analytic forms are those whose endings contain no information about person and number, and a pronoun is necessary: e.g., "you (pl.) praise", where the ending -ann expresses only the present tense, and the pronoun "you" (pl.) must accompany it in order to express "2nd person plural".
In addition to the three persons, Irish also has an impersonal form (also called the "autonomous" form), which is used in forming passives and can conveniently be translated with "one" or "someone" as the subject. Shown below are the distribution of synthetic and analytic forms in the standard language; in the dialects, other patterns may be found.
See Irish orthography
for a discussion of how verb endings are pronounced.
Forms like and instead of or are frequently encountered but do not technically belong to the standard language. On the other hand, Munster Irish
uses and instead of and .
The endings are the same as in the 1st conjugation, but without the -(a)i- vowel found there.
their ending to the present stem.
, that is, different roots are used to form different tenses. Analytic forms are indicated by the symbol +. The preterites of many irregular verbs take the nonpreterite forms of preverbal particles, e.g., (interrogative particle) and (negative particle), instead of (pret. interrogative particle) and (pret. negative particle). Some verbs have different independent and dependent forms
in certain tenses; the independent forms are used when no particle precedes the verb, and also after "if" (open conditional) and the direct relative particle , while the dependent forms are used after all other particles.
1The negative particle lenites to ; the two are then fused to form ; cf. also , and .
and uses instead the verbal noun
. The verbal noun can be formed using different strategies (mostly suffixes). The most common of these are:
A progressive can be expressed with the preposition and is equivalent to the English present participle.
A perfect tense can be formed with either of the compound prepositions or and the verbal noun.
s to modify the meaning of a sentence
. In a positive statement, no particle is used and the verb comes first (except in Munster Irish where "Do" is placed before verbs in the past, habitual past and conditional, leniting the verb that follows). This is still seen in the Standard Language in said tenses, prefixed to verbs beginning with vowels, e.g., D'ól mé (D'ólas in Munster Irish) meaning "I drank": "Seán understands Irish." "Seán understood Irish." "Seán would understand Irish."
In the preterite, the particle is used . There is lenition but no . "Seán didn't understand Irish." "Séamas didn't drink the milk." (cf. "Séamas drank the milk.") "Úna didn't wait for me." (cf. "Úna waited for me.")
(In Ulster, the negative particles , pret. are also used)
These particles are also used to introduce an indirect question: "I don't know if Seán understands Irish." "I wonder if Séamas drank the milk."
(In Munster is used instead of .)
The subjunctive is normally formed from "Go" (which eclipses, and adds "n-" to a verb beginning with a vowel), plus the subjunctive form of the verb, plus the subject, plus the thing being wished for. For instance, the subjunctive form of "teigh" (go) is "té":
(lit: may you go well)
Or again, the subjunctive of "tabhair" (give) is "tuga":
Or to take a third example, sometimes the wish is also a curse, like this one from Tory Island in Donegal:
The subjunctive is generally formed by taking the present indicative tense of the verb and adding on the appropriate subjunctive ending depending on broad or slender, and first or second conjugation. For example, the present tense first person singular of bog (to move) is bog mé and its subjunctive in the same person is boga mé:
1st Conjugation:
2nd Conjugation:
E.g., "go mbeannaí Dia thú" -- May God bless you.
There is also some irregularity in certain verbs in the subjunctive. The verb bí (to be) is the most irregular verb in Irish (as in most Indo-European languages):
The Irish phrase for "thank you" -- go raibh maith agat—uses the subjunctive of "bí" and literally means "may there be good at-you".
Please note that some verbs don't follow the conjugation of the subjunctive exactly as conjugated above. These irregularities apply to verbs whose stem ends already in a stressed vowel and thus due to the rules of Irish orthography and pronunciation, can't take another. For example:
It is important to note that where the subjunctive is used in English, it may not be used in Irish and another tense might be used instead. For example:
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically.
Synthetic forms express the information about person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
and number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
in the ending: e.g., "I praise", where the ending -aim stands for "1st person singular present". In this case, a pronoun is not allowed: is ungrammatical.
Analytic forms are those whose endings contain no information about person and number, and a pronoun is necessary: e.g., "you (pl.) praise", where the ending -ann expresses only the present tense, and the pronoun "you" (pl.) must accompany it in order to express "2nd person plural".
In addition to the three persons, Irish also has an impersonal form (also called the "autonomous" form), which is used in forming passives and can conveniently be translated with "one" or "someone" as the subject. Shown below are the distribution of synthetic and analytic forms in the standard language; in the dialects, other patterns may be found.
See Irish orthography
Irish orthography
Irish orthography has evolved over many centuries, since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the 6th century AD. Prior to that, Primitive Irish was written in Ogham...
for a discussion of how verb endings are pronounced.
Regular verbs
There are two conjugation classes of regular verbs, as illustrated below. Note that in the "historical" tenses (the imperfect, preterite, and conditional), a consonant-initial stem undergoes lenition, while a vowel-initial stem is prefixed by d’. A stem beginning with f plus vowel takes both, e.g., "wait", "he waited". (Exception: the preterite impersonal neither undergoes lenition nor receives d’.)Present
In the present tense of the 1st conjugation, endings are added directly to the root. Only the 1st person singular and plural and the impersonal have synthetic endings. Otherwise the analytic ending -(e)ann is used in combination with a pronoun.| Endings | "praise" | "understand" | |
| 1sg | -(a)im | ||
| 1pl | -(a)imid | ||
| Impersonal | -t(e)ar | ||
| Analytic | -(e)ann |
Forms like and instead of or are frequently encountered but do not technically belong to the standard language. On the other hand, Munster Irish
Munster Irish
Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Dingle Peninsula Gaeltacht of west Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west Cork, in West Muskerry; Coolea,...
uses and instead of and .
Imperfect (habitual past)
Synthetic endings are used except in the 3rd person singular, 2nd person plural, and impersonal. Otherwise the analytic form is used in conjunction with a pronoun.| Endings | "used to praise" | "used to understand" | |
| 1sg | -(a)inn | ||
| 2sg | -t(e)á | ||
| 1pl | -(a)imis | ||
| 3pl | -(a)idís | ||
| Impersonal | -t(a)í | ||
| Analytic | -(e)adh |
Preterite
The analytic form, used together with a pronoun for all persons except the 1st person plural and the impersonal, has a zero ending.| Endings | "praised" | "understood" | |
| 1pl | -(e)amar | ||
| Impersonal | -(e)adh | ||
| Analytic |
Future
The future stem is formed by adding f to the root. Synthetic endings exist only for the 1st person plural and impersonal.| Endings | "will praise" | "will understand" | |
| 1pl | -f(a)imid | ||
| Impersonal | -f(e)ar | ||
| Analytic | -f(a)idh |
Conditional
The conditional is formed by taking the stem of the future tense (f, pronounced /h/ except in the 2nd person singular and the impersonal) and adding endings similar to the imperfect.| Endings | "would praise" | "would understand" | |
| 1sg | -f(a)inn | ||
| 2sg | -f(e)á | ||
| 1pl | -f(a)imis | ||
| 3pl | -f(a)idís | ||
| Impersonal | -f(a)í | ||
| Analytic | -f(e)adh |
Imperative
| Singular: simple root | Plural: root + -(a)igí |
|---|---|
| "praise!" (sg.) | "praise!" (pl.) |
| "understand!" (sg.) | "understand!" (pl.) |
Present
In the second conjugation, the present stem ends in -(a)í-, to which are added the synthetic or analytic endings. Roots ending in a slender consonant (e.g., "to tell") undergo syncope before the addition of -í-.- The root "to bless" has the present tense stem beannaí-
- The root "to tell" has the present tense stem insí-
The endings are the same as in the 1st conjugation, but without the -(a)i- vowel found there.
| Endings | "bless" | "tell" | |
| 1sg | -(a)ím | ||
| 1pl | -(a)ímid | ||
| Impersonal | -(a)ítear | ||
| Analytic | -(a)íonn |
Imperfect (habitual past)
The endings of the imperfect (again the same as in the 1st conjugation, but without the -(a)i- vowel) are added to the present stem.| Endings | "used to bless" | "used to tell" | |
| 1sg | -(a)ínn | ||
| 2sg | -(a)íteá | ||
| 1pl | -(a)ímis | ||
| 3pl | -(a)ídís | ||
| Impersonal | -(a)ítí | ||
| Analytic | -(a)íodh |
Preterite
As in the first conjugation, the bare root is used as the analytic form. The synthetic forms of the 1st plural and the impersonal attachtheir ending to the present stem.
| Endings | "blessed" | "told" | |
| 1pl | -(a)íomar | ||
| Impersonal | -(a)íodh | ||
| Analytic |
Future
The future stem consists of the root followed by the suffix -ó-/-eo-. This -ó-/-eo- replaces the -(a)í- of the present tense. The endings are almost as in the 1st conjugation. Synthetic endings are found only in the 1st person plural and the impersonal.| Endings | "will bless" | "will tell" | |
| 1pl | -óimid/-eoimid | ||
| Impersonal | -ófar/-eofar | ||
| Analytic | -óidh/-eoidh |
Conditional
As in the 1st conjugation, the conditional is formed by adding endings similar to those of the imperfect to the future stem.| Endings | "would bless" | "would tell" | |
| 1sg | -óinn/-eoinn | ||
| 2sg | -ófá/-eofá | ||
| 1pl | -óimis/-eoimis | ||
| 3pl | -óidís/-eoidís | ||
| Impersonal | -ófaí/-eofaí | ||
| Analytic | -ódh/-eodh |
Imperative
| Singular: simple root | Plural: present stem + ending -gí |
|---|---|
| "bless!" | "bless!" (pl.) |
| "tell!" | "tell!" (pl.) |
Irregular verbs
There are eleven irregular verbs in Irish. Most of them are characterized by suppletionSuppletion
In linguistics and etymology, suppletion is traditionally understood as the use of one word as the inflected form of another word when the two words are not cognate. For those learning a language, suppletive forms will be seen as "irregular" or even "highly irregular". The term "suppletion" implies...
, that is, different roots are used to form different tenses. Analytic forms are indicated by the symbol +. The preterites of many irregular verbs take the nonpreterite forms of preverbal particles, e.g., (interrogative particle) and (negative particle), instead of (pret. interrogative particle) and (pret. negative particle). Some verbs have different independent and dependent forms
Dependent and independent verb forms
In the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms; each tense of each verb exists in both forms. Verbs are often preceded by a particle which marks negation, or a question, or has some other force. The dependent verb forms are used after a particle, while...
in certain tenses; the independent forms are used when no particle precedes the verb, and also after "if" (open conditional) and the direct relative particle , while the dependent forms are used after all other particles.
"to say"
The d- in this verb is not lenited.| Present | |
| Imperfect | etc. |
| Preterite | |
| Future | etc. |
| Conditional | etc. |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to catch"
| Present | etc. (regular) |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular) |
| Preterite | etc.) |
| Future | etc. |
| Conditional | etc. |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to be"
| Present | independent | (also |
| dependent1 | (also | |
| Habitual present | ||
| Imperfect | ||
| Preterite | independent | |
| dependent | ||
| Future | ||
| Conditional | ||
| Imperative | ||
| Verbal noun | ||
1The negative particle lenites to ; the two are then fused to form ; cf. also , and .
"to hear"
| Present | etc. (regular)/ etc. (regular) |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular)/ etc. (regular) |
| Preterite | etc.) |
| Future | etc. (regular)/ etc. (regular) |
| Conditional | etc. (regular)/ etc. (regular) |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to do, to make"
| Present | etc. (regular) | |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular) | |
| Preterite | independent | |
| dependent | etc.) | |
| Future | etc. (regular) | |
| Conditional | etc. (regular) | |
| Imperative | ||
| Verbal noun | ||
"to receive, to find, to get"
The f- in this verb is eclipsed rather than lenited after .| Present | etc. (regular) | |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular) | |
| Preterite | etc.) | |
| Future | independent | |
| dependent | etc.) | |
| Conditional | independent | |
| dependent | etc.) | |
| Imperative | ||
| Verbal noun | ||
"to see"
| Present | feicimid. (regular) | |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular) | |
| Preterite | independent | |
| dependent | ||
| Future | feicfimid. (regular) | |
| Conditional | etc. (regular) | |
| Imperative | ||
| Verbal noun | ||
"to eat"
| Present | etc. (regular) |
| Imperfect | etc. (regular) |
| Preterite | etc. (regular) ( etc.) |
| Future | etc. |
| Conditional | etc. |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to give, to bring"
| Present | etc. |
| Imperfect | etc. |
| Preterite | etc. |
| Future | etc. |
| Conditional | etc. |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to come"
| Present | etc. |
| Imperfect | etc. |
| Preterite | |
| Future | etc. |
| Conditional | etc. |
| Imperative | |
| Verbal noun |
"to go"
| Present | ||
| Imperfect | ||
| Preterite | independent | |
| dependent | etc.) | |
| Future | ||
| Conditional | ||
| Imperative | ||
| Verbal noun | ||
Formation of the verbal noun
Irish has no infinitiveInfinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
and uses instead the verbal noun
Verbal noun
In linguistics, the verbal noun turns a verb into a noun and corresponds to the infinitive in English language usage. In English the infinitive form of the verb is formed when preceded by to, e.g...
. The verbal noun can be formed using different strategies (mostly suffixes). The most common of these are:
- Suffix -adh, e.g., "soften" :
- Suffix -áil, e.g., "leave" :
- Suffix -ú, e.g., "lift" :
- Suffix -amh, e.g., "spend" :
- Suffix -t, e.g., "defend" :
- Suffix -úint, e.g., "follow" :
- Slender consonant is made broad, e.g., "prevent" :
- Suffix -ach, e.g., "buy" :
- Suffix nothing, e.g., "drink" :
- Suffix -cht, e.g., "awake" :
- Suffix -e, e.g., "dance" :
Usage of the verbal noun
The verbal noun is used as the infinitive would be used in English.- "He asked me to go."
- "I would rather stay."
A progressive can be expressed with the preposition and is equivalent to the English present participle.
- "Seán is working."
- "Máire was speaking."
A perfect tense can be formed with either of the compound prepositions or and the verbal noun.
- "She has (just) mowed the grass." (cf. Hiberno-EnglishHiberno-EnglishHiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...
"She is after cutting the grass.") - "He had (just) washed the cups." (cf. Hiberno-English "He was after washing the cups.")
Preverbal particles
Irish uses a number of preverbal particleGrammatical particle
In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition...
s to modify the meaning of a sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
. In a positive statement, no particle is used and the verb comes first (except in Munster Irish where "Do" is placed before verbs in the past, habitual past and conditional, leniting the verb that follows). This is still seen in the Standard Language in said tenses, prefixed to verbs beginning with vowels, e.g., D'ól mé (D'ólas in Munster Irish) meaning "I drank": "Seán understands Irish." "Seán understood Irish." "Seán would understand Irish."
Negative particles
To negate a statement, the particle is used, which causes lenition; a d’ before a vowel or lenited f is omitted: "Seán doesn't understand Irish." "Seán wouldn't understand Irish." "Séamas would not drink the milk." (cf. "Séamas would drink the milk.") "Úna would not wait for me." (cf. "Úna would wait for me.")In the preterite, the particle is used . There is lenition but no . "Seán didn't understand Irish." "Séamas didn't drink the milk." (cf. "Séamas drank the milk.") "Úna didn't wait for me." (cf. "Úna waited for me.")
(In Ulster, the negative particles , pret. are also used)
Interrogative particles
To pose a simple yes/no question, the particle is used, which causes eclipsis (no eclipsis of vowels, because already ends with n). In the preterite (+ lenition) is used. The prefix is omitted: "Does Seán understand Irish?" "Would Seán understand Irish?" "Does Séamas drink milk?" "Would Úna wait for me?" "Did Seán understand Irish?" "Did Séamas drink the milk?" "Did Úna wait for me?"These particles are also used to introduce an indirect question: "I don't know if Seán understands Irish." "I wonder if Séamas drank the milk."
Negative interrogative particles
To pose a negative yes/no question, the particle is used, which causes eclipsis (in preterite: + lenition): "Doesn't Seán understand Irish?" "Wouldn't Seán understand Irish?" "Wouldn't Séamas drink the milk?" "Wouldn't Úna wait for me?" "Didn't Seán understand Irish?" "Didn't Séamas drink the milk?" "Didn't Úna wait for me?"(In Munster is used instead of .)
Wh-interrogative particles
To pose a wh-question, one of the interrogative particles etc. is used. "Where will you put the letter?" "What will the neighbors think?" "When will you sell your house?" "Who will stand next to me?" "How will you clean the dress?"Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive covers the idea of wishing something and so appears in some famous Irish proverbs and blessings. It's considered an old-fashioned tense for daily speech (except in set phrases) but still appears often in print.The subjunctive is normally formed from "Go" (which eclipses, and adds "n-" to a verb beginning with a vowel), plus the subjunctive form of the verb, plus the subject, plus the thing being wished for. For instance, the subjunctive form of "teigh" (go) is "té":
- Go dté tú slán. -- May you be well.
(lit: may you go well)
Or again, the subjunctive of "tabhair" (give) is "tuga":
- Go dtuga Dia ciall duit. -- May God give you sense.
Or to take a third example, sometimes the wish is also a curse, like this one from Tory Island in Donegal:
- Go ndéana an Diabhal toirneach de d'anam in Ifreann. -- May the Devil make thunder of your soul in Hell.
The subjunctive is generally formed by taking the present indicative tense of the verb and adding on the appropriate subjunctive ending depending on broad or slender, and first or second conjugation. For example, the present tense first person singular of bog (to move) is bog mé and its subjunctive in the same person is boga mé:
1st Conjugation:
| mol (to praise) | mola mé | mola tú | mola sé/sí | molaimid | mola sibh | mola siad |
| bris (to break) | brise mé | brise tú | brise sé/sí | brisimid | brise sibh | brise siad |
2nd Conjugation:
| beannaigh (to bless) | beannaí mé | beannaí tú | beannaí sé/sí | beannaímid | beannaí sibh | beannaí siad |
| bailigh (to collect) | bailí mé | bailí tú | bailí sé/sí | bailímid | bailí sibh | bailí siad |
E.g., "go mbeannaí Dia thú" -- May God bless you.
There is also some irregularity in certain verbs in the subjunctive. The verb bí (to be) is the most irregular verb in Irish (as in most Indo-European languages):
| Present Indicative | tá mé/táim | tá tú | tá sé/sí | tá muid/táimid | tá sibh | tá siad |
| Present Subjunctive | raibh mé | raibh tú | raibh sé/sí | rabhaimid | raibh sibh | raibh siad |
The Irish phrase for "thank you" -- go raibh maith agat—uses the subjunctive of "bí" and literally means "may there be good at-you".
Please note that some verbs don't follow the conjugation of the subjunctive exactly as conjugated above. These irregularities apply to verbs whose stem ends already in a stressed vowel and thus due to the rules of Irish orthography and pronunciation, can't take another. For example:
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | |
|---|---|---|
| téigh (to go) | téann tú | té tú |
| sáigh (to stab) | sánn tú | sá tú |
| luigh (to mention; cite) | luíonn tú | luí tú |
| *feoigh (to decay; wither) | feonn tú | feo tú |
- Although, feoigh doesn't have a fáda (accent), the 'o' in this position is stressed and thus the subjunctive is irregular.
It is important to note that where the subjunctive is used in English, it may not be used in Irish and another tense might be used instead. For example:
- If I were (past subjunctive) you, I would study for the exam tomorrow. -- Dá mba (past/conditional of the copulaCopulaIn linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate . The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a link or tie that connects two different things.A copula is often a verb or a verb-like word, though this is not universally the case...
) mise tusa, dhéanfainn (conditional) staidéar ar don scrúdú amárach. - I wish *(that) you were (past sub.) here. -- Is mian liom go raibh (present sub.) tú anseo.
- It is important that he choose (present sub.) the right way—Tá sé tábhachtach go roghnaíonn (present indicative) sé ar an mbealach ceart.
- **When you're older (present ind.), you'll understand—Nuair a bheidh (future ind.) tú níos sine, beidh tú a thuiscint.
- *Note that in English, the relative pronoun that can be omitted, in Irish the corresponding go must be retained.
- **Note that in English, the present tense is often used to refer to a future state whereas in Irish there is less freedom with tenses (i.e. time is more strictly bound to the appropriate tense, present for present, past for past, future for future). In this particular example, you will be older and it is then that you will understand.