Irish/Basic Sentence Structure

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General Information

Irish

  1. History
  2. Alphabet
  3. Spelling
  4. Pronunciation
  5. Grammatical Changes
  6. Basic Sentence Structure
  7. The Article
  8. Nouns
  9. Verbs
  10. Commonly Confused Words
  11. Compound Prepositions
  12. Prefixes
  13. Dictionaries
  14. Other Resources
  15. Common phrases
  16. Similar English words
  17. Vocabulary

Basic Sentence Structure


Tá and Is

Irish has two different ways of expressing the English verb "to be".

The copula is a sort of pseudo-verb. It is used for four main purposes:

"Bí" is the verb "to be."

táim I am
tá tú You are
tá sé He is
tá sí She is
táimid, ta muid We are
tá sibh You (plural) are
tá siad They are

If you want to negate "tá sé," you use níl instead of . Níl sé He is not

Some Simple Sentences

Approximate phonetic pronunciations are provided for the phrases below. Pronunciation varies from one dialect to another. If you learned a different way of pronouncing these words, don't worry.

Classification sentences

In a classification sentence, we tell what class an identified person belongs to. For example, telling the profession of someone. Here are some persons and their professions.

Cad é is gairm bheatha duit? Cén tslí bheatha atá agat? Cén cineál oibre atá agat? What is your profession?

The little word ea (in Ulster and in older texts, eadh) means "it", but it is only used in copula constructions. There is an alternative sort of classification sentence, which uses the word ea and is especially common in southern dialects:

Greeting Someone

There are three ways to say "How are you?", depending on your dialect. Just pick the one you're most comfortable with, and use it.

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Conas atá tú? How are you? (Munster) KUN-USS ATAW TOO? ?
Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? How are you? (Connaught) KAY KHWEE A WILL TOO? ?
Cad é mar atá tú? How are you? (Ulster) CAWD AY MAR ATAW TOO? ?

Basic Conversation

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Tá mé go maith. I am well. TAW MAY GUH MAH ?
_____ is ainm dom. _____ is my name. _____ ISS an-yim DUM ?
Is mise name. I am name. ISS MISH-uh... ?
Cad is ainm duit? What is your name? KOD ISS AN-yim DITCH ?
Tá _____ agam. I have _____. TAW _____ ug-UHM ?
An bhfuil _____ agat? Do you have _____? WILL _____ ug-UHT? ?
__X__ ag __Y__. __Y__ has __X__. TAW ___ EGG ___ ?
Tá mé i mo chónaí i _____. I live in _____. TAW MAY ih MUH HOH-nee ?
Cá bhfuil tú i do chónaí? Where do you live? KAW WILL TOO ih DUH HOH-nee ?
Rugadh agus togadh mé i _____. I was born and reared in _____. RUG-oo GUSS TOH-goo MAY ih... ?
Is as _____ ó dhúchas mé. I'm originally from _____. ISS AHSS _____ OH GHOO-khus MAY ?
Is maith liom _____. I like _____. ISS MAH LUM... ?
An maith leat _____? Do you like _____? UN MAH LAT... ?
Is brea liom _____. I really like _____. ISS BRAW LUM... ?
Is fuath liom _____. I hate _____. ISS FOO-uh LUM... ?
Is maith le __X__ __Y__ __X__ likes __Y__. ISS MAH LUH/LAY... ?
Ba mhaith liom _____. I would like _____. BUH WAH LUM ... ?
Ar mhaith leat _____? Would you like _____? ER WAH LAT ...? ?
an _____ seo

this _____

AN SHOW
an _____ sin that _____ AN SHIN
ceart go leor fine KyART GUH LyOHR ?
anois now uh-NISH ?
Fáilte! Welcome! FALL-chuh ?
Tá a fhios agam I know TAHSS uh-GUM ?
go raibh maith agat thank you

(Often abbreviated grma on the Internet)

GUH-ruh MAH GUT ?

Describing someone or something, part 1

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Tá sé __adjective__ He/it is _____ TAW SHAY ?
Tá sí __adjective__ She/it is _____ TAW SHEE ?
__name__ __adjective__ Name is _____ ? ?
Practice

Here are some words you can use to fill in the blanks above:

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
ard tall ARD ?
gairid short GAR-ij ?
mór big MOHR ?
beag small ByUG ?
sean old SHAN ʃæn
nua new NOO ?
óg young OHG ?
fada long FAH-duh ?
fuar cold FOO-ur ?
te hot CHEH tʃɛ
fliuch wet FLUKH ?
tirim dry CHIR-im
dorcha dark DOHR-khuh ?
geal bright GYAL ?
bán white BAHN ?
dubh black DUHV ?
dearg red JAR-ug ?
gorm blue GOHR-um ?
buí yellow BWEE ?
beo alive ByOH ?
bog soft BUG ?
crua hard KROO-uh ?
glan clean GLAHN ?
salach dirty SAH-lukh ?
milis sweet MILL-ish mɪlɪʃ
anseo here un-SHUH ?
ansin there un-SHIN ?

Describing someone or something, part 2

Example: Tá sé __adjective__ = He/it is _____

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Tá mé (or Táim) I am TAW MAY ?
Tá tú You are TAW TOO ?
Tá sé He/it is TAW SHAY ?
Tá sí She/it is TAW SHEE ?
Tá muid (or Táimid) We are TAW MWIJ ?
Tá sibh You (plural) are TAW SHIV ?
Tá siad They are TAW SHEED ?

Example: Níl sí __adjective__ = She/it isn't _____

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Níl mé (or Nílim) I am not NEEL MAY ?
Níl tú You are not NEEL TOO ?
Níl sé He/it is not NEEL SHAY ?
Níl sí She/it is not NEEL SHEE ?
Níl muid (or Nílimid) We are not NEEL MWIJ ?
Níl sibh You (plural) are not NEEL SHIV ?
Níl siad They are not NEEL SHEED ?

Asking questions

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
An bhfuil mé? Am I? (uh) WILL MAY ?
An bhfuil tú? Are you? (uh) WILL TOO ?
An bhfuil sé? Is he/it? (uh) WILL SHAY ?
An bhfuil sí? Is she/it? (uh) WILL SHEE ?
An bhfuil muid (or An bhfuilimid?) Are we? (uh) WILL MWIJ ?
An bhfuil sibh? Are you (plural)? (uh) WILL SHIV ?
An bhfuil siad? Are they? (uh) WILL SHEED ?
Nach bhfuil mé? Aren't I? NAKH WILL MAY ?
Nach bhfuil tú? Aren't you? NAKH WILL TOO ?
Nach bhfuil sé? Isn't he/it? NAKH WILL SHAY ?
Nach bhfuil sí? Isn't she/it? NAKH WILL SHEE ?
Nach bhfuil muid (or Nach bhfuilimid?) Aren't we? NAKH WILL MWIJ ?
Nach bhfuil sibh? Aren't you (plural)? NAKH WILL SHIV ?
Nach bhfuil siad? Aren't they? NAKH WILL SHEED ?

All of the above questions are answered simply or Níl.

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Cá bhfuil...? Where is ...? KAH WILL ?
Practice

Here are some more adjectives to practice with.

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
dathúil or doighiúil good-looking DAW-hyool, DOY-hyool ?
cairdiúil friendly KAR-jool ?
lách pleasant LAHkh ?
breá fine BRAA ?
álainn beautiful AW-lun ?
daor dear, expensive DEER ?
saor cheap, inexpensive SEER ?
tinn sick, sore CHEEN ?
spéisiúil interesting SPAY-shool ?
tabhachtach important TAH-wukh-tukh ?
glic cunning, "cute" GLIK ?
tuirseach tired TOOR-shukh ?
glán clean GLAHN ?
salach dirty SAH-lukh ?
deacair difficult JAA-ker ?
éasca easy AY-skuh ?
láidir strong LAW-jer ?
lag weak LAHG ?
dána bold, naughty DAH-nuh ?

Classification Statements

The verb , and its other forms (níl, an bhfuil, and nach bhfuil) can be used to describe something, but they can't be used to say what something is. For that you need to use a special verb called the copula.

Think of copula statements as a set of templates you can plug things into. You can change what you plug into the template, but you can't change the template itself. One of the templates available is a classification statement. A classification statement has the form:

Irish English
Is + category-noun + subject-noun. subject-noun is a category-noun

Examples:

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
Is fear Liam. Liam is a man. ISS FAR LEEM ?
Ní cat Dougal. Dougal is not a cat. NEE KUT GOO-gull ?
An ainmhí é? Is it an animal? un AN-uh-vee AY? ?
Nach madra Dougal? Isn't Dougal a dog? NAKH MAH-druh AY DOO-gull? ?

These questions are answered simply Is ea or Ní hea.

Notes:

  1. In place of Is, you can have , An?, Nach?, Ba, etc. as appropriate.
  2. In a classification statement, the predicate (category) is always an indefinite noun (a cat, a house, a doctor). There is another type of copula template, the identification statement, that uses a definite noun (the cat, the house, the doctor) as the predicate. This structure will be discussed later.
Practice

You can practice classification statements using the nouns below.

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
múinteoir teacher MOON-chore ?
dochtúir doctor DOKH-toor ?
feirmeoir farmer FEHR-mohr ?
meicneoir mechanic MEKH-nohr ?
dlíodóir lawyer DLEE-uh-dohr ?
iriseoir journalist EER-ish-ohr ?
tréidlia vet TRAYD-lee-uh ?
Éireannach Irish person/thing AY-run-ukh ?
Sasanach English person/thing SAH-sun-ukh ?
Meiriceánach American person/thing MEH-rih-kah-nukh

Review: vs Is

One of the most common mistakes learners make is using in place of is, or vice versa. Here's one way to remember the difference:

Another way to think of it:

Exercises

Fill in the blanks with either or is, as appropriate. Hover your mouse over each blank to see the answer.

___ sé mór. It is big.

___ fear é. He is a man.

___ an lá go deas. The day is nice.

___ muid sásta. We are happy.

___ dochtúir í. She is a doctor.

___ Máire tinn. Máire is ill.

___ an leabhar sin deacair. That book is difficult.

___ leabhar Gone With The Wind. Gone With The Wind is a book.

___ an leabhar ar an mbord. The book is on the table.

___ mo mhadra Dougal. Dougal is my dog.

___ madra mór é. He is a big dog.

___ an madra mór. The dog is big.

___ an fhuinneog briste. The window is broken.

___ fuinneog bhriste é sin. That is a broken window.

___ sé níos mó ná bosca arán. It is bigger than a breadbox.

Fiche Ceist (Twenty Questions)

Playing Fiche Ceist is an excellent way to become familiar with:

Follow the examples below.

Is it…? Describing the object

An bhfuil sé

fuar? (cold)
te? (hot)
fliuch? (wet)
tirim? (dry)
dorcha? (dark)
geal? (bright)
bán? (white)
dubh? (black)
dearg? (red)
gorm? (blue)
buí? (yellow)
beo? (alive)
bog? (soft)
crua? (hard)
glan? (clean)
salach? (dirty)
milis? (sweet)
mór? (big)
beag? (small)
ard (tall)
sean (old)
nua (new)
óg (young)

Tá. (yes)
Níl. (no)
Is deacair a rá. (It’s difficult to say).
Uaireanta. (sometimes)
Beagnach (almost)
Tá sé réasúnta fuar, etc.

(It’s reasonably cold, etc.)

chomh mór le (as big as)
níos mó ná (bigger than)
chomh beag le (as small as)
níos lú ná (smaller than)

bosca arán? (a bread box)

déanta as adhmad? (made of wood)
sa seomra ranga? (in the classroom)

sa (in the)

bhosca, chupán, mhála

ar an (on the)
faoin (under the)
in aice leis an (beside the)
gar don (near the)

mbord
mbosca
mbuidéal
gcathaoir
gclog
gcupán
ndeoch
bhfáinne
bhfuinneoig
bpáipéar
bpeann
bpictiúr
leabhar
mála
scáthán
scian
spúnóg



Is it…? Identifying or classifying the object

An

cóta (a coat)
clog (a clock)
leabhar (a book)
pictiúr (a picture)
páipéar (a paper, newspaper)
bord (a table)
buidéal (a bottle)
forc (a fork)
cupán (a cup)
bía (food)
mála (a bag)
peann (a pen)
fón (a phone)
bosca (a box)
scáthán(a mirror)
fáinne (a ring)

é?

Is ea.
Ní hea.

scian (a knife)
spúnóg (a spoon)
deoch (a drink)
cathaoir (a chair)
fuinneog (a window)
bróg (a shoe)
(a cow)

í?

Past and Future: An Introduction

The table below illustrates how to form simple sentences in the past, present and future tenses.

Past Bhí

An raibh...?

Ní raibh

muid

sibh

siad

Cáit

Seán

an cat

anseo

ansin

ann

tinn

ard

sásta

láidir

go hálainn

go dona

Present

An bhfuil...?

Níl

Future Beidh

An mbeidh...?

Ní bheidh

Irish Pronunciation IPA
Bhí VEE ?
An raibh AN ROW ?
Ní raibh NEE ROW ?
Beidh BAY ?
An mbeidh UN MAY ?
Ní bheidh NEE VAY ?

There are also a few combined forms that are used in some dialects. Until you're ready to focus on one dialect in particular, you can use either form:

Irish English Pronunciation IPA
táim I am TAWM ?
táimid we are TAW-mwidj ?
bhíomar we were VEE-mer ?
beimid we will be BAY-midj ?
Exercises

Practice by answering the questions below. If any of the words below are unfamiliar, you should be able to find them in the previous sections.

Anois... Now...

Cá bhfuil tú i do chónaí?

Cad é an aimsir inniú?

An maith leat seacláid?

An bhfuil tú óg? Sean?

An bhfuil Gaeilge easca?


Nuair a bhí tú óg... When you were young...

An raibh tú mór?

An raibh tú beag?

An raibh tú sean?

An raibh tú salach?

An raibh tú dána?

Cá raibh tú i do chónaí?


Nuair a bheidh tú sean... When you are (will be) old...

An mbeidh tú dathiúil?

An mbeidh tú láidir?

An mbeidh tú lag?

An mbeidh tú tuirseach?

Comparisons

In English, we usually make comparisons by tacking the suffix -er or -est onto the adjective. Irish also has special comparative forms.

Example:

mór big

níos mó bigger (ní ba mhó in the past tense)

is mó biggest (ba mhó in the past tense)

fuar cold

níos fuaire colder (ní b'fhuaire in the past tense)

is fuaire coldest (ab fhuaire in the past tense)

álainn lovely

níos áille lovelier (ní b'áille in the past tense)

is áille loveliest (ab áille in the past tense)

Note that the same form of the adjective is used for the relative and absolute comparisons. It's the prefix, níos or is, that makes the difference. Also note that the comparison is expressed differently for the past tense. (We're only going to worry about the present tense in this thread.)

The most common structures for comparing things are:

Is comparative X ná Y X is ___er than Y.
Tá X níos comparative ná Y X is ___er than Y.
Is X an Z is comparative X is the ___est Z.

You may have notice something unusual about that first structure. I said earlier that is is used for absolute comparisons, where we use the '-est' ending in English, but I translate the first structure using an "-er" ending. You probably remember your English teacher saying that you compare two things using "-er"; that "-est" could only be used with three or more things. However, Irish doesn't have this rule. A sentence such as Is í an tsúil chlé an tsúil is láidre literally means "My left eye is the strongest eye", where in English we would say "My left eye is the stronger eye." So in short, don't worry about it.

One final comment about the first and third structures. The copula, is, can never be followed directly by a definite noun or a proper noun; you need to insert é, í or iad. If you're not ready to deal with that, don't worry. Just stick with the second structure.

So let's look at some examples of how to make comparisons.

Example:

Tá an madra mór. The dog is big.

Tá an madra níos mó ná an cat. The dog is bigger than the cat. (Notice how is used for "than".)

Sin an madra is mó. That is the biggest dog.

Tá an aimsir fuar. The weather is cold.

Tá an aimsir níos fuaire anois. The weather is colder now.

Tá an lá inniu go deas. Today is nice.

Beidh an lá amárach níos deise. Tomorrow will be nicer.

Is airde mise ná tusa. I am taller than you.

Is é Seán an fear is airde sa rang. Seán is the tallest man in the class.

Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste. Broken Irish is better than clever English.

Comparative Forms

The rules for changing an adjective into the comparative form are fairly simple.

Irregular Comparatives

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