In this section, you will find easy-to-understand explanations of each grammar table to help you get the most out of your Irish Study Card.
You will find explanations of the layout, the content, and the grammar points with examples.
If you come across an English Grammar Term you are not familiar with, check the Glossary section on the website. Remember that you can use your Irish Study Card with any textbook you may be using.
Remember that you can use your Irish Study Card with any textbook you may be using.
The Irish Card part 1 displays 30 independent tables.
COLOURS EXPLAINED
The PERSONAL PRONOUNS determine the three main colours used in the card.
Always think of the Subject Personal Pronouns as the persons who do the action. In English, they are the words I, you, he, she, it, we, you, and they.
They are divided into first, second and third persons, in singular and plural.
Think of the first person as the most important for you. They are the pronouns that include you on your own, or with someone else, I, and we.
The second most important person is the one you are talking to, you.
The third most important person is whoever is not in the room, she, he, it, they.
In Irish, you need to use specific endings and words for the different persons in different tenses. The colour-coded system will help you find the word needed for a specific person.
The colours green and orange are used to identify when séimhiú or urú takes place.
Get familiar with these colours and in no time, you’ll be able to easily identify the word you need and will be able to identify when you have to change the spelling of a word.
This section is intended to be a general explanation on grammar created for you to understand the layout of your card to take full advantage of it. By no means should this section be considered a course on its own. While it is possible to group certain rules, Irish has many exceptions, which are not contained in this section.
The colours on this table will help you identify the persons easily.
You can see on your table that some words are displayed as pairs, tú/thú, sé/é, siad/iad. The words on the left are subject personal pronouns, and the words on the right are object personal pronouns.
She won a medal.
Tiomáinim. – I drive.
Tiománann tú. – You drive.
In English, the person that performs the action is clearly marked by the pronouns I and you and they are placed at the beginning of the sentence.
In Irish, the word order is different. The verb generally comes at the beginning of a sentence and depending on the tense, the pronoun can be included in the verb with a specific ending, or it’s placed at the end, like tú.
Example:
úll – apple (masculine)
Tá an úll ar an tábla. The apple is on the table.
Tá sé ar an tábla. It‘s on the table.
scian – knife (feminine)
Tá an scian ar an tábla. The knife is on the table.
Tá sí ar an tábla. It‘s on the table.
Example:
Chonaic Pól thú. Paul saw you.
Example:
Bhris Séan é/í. Sean broke it. (It depends if what Sean broke is a masculine or feminine thing.)
Example:
do dheartháir –your brother
ár ndeartháir –our brother
Example:
d’uncail – your uncle
ár n-uncail – our uncle
m’ feoil – my flesh
A characteristic of the Irish language is the way words are pulled together to make speaking more natural. Pauses are mostly avoided. When certain consonants come together, and they cause the air to stop, the flow is affected.
Example:
a peann – her pen
mo pheann – my pen
a mála – her bag
mo mhála – my bag
Example:
b – mb
bróga – shoes
ár mbróga – our shoes
c – cg
cairde – friends
ár gcairde – our friends
f – bhf
feirm – farm
ár bhfeirm – our farm
Before vowels:
n-
athair – father
ár n-athair – our father
oifig – office
na n-oifigí – the office
i nÉrinn – in Ireland
In the Irish cards part 1 and part 2, the séimhiú and urú are indicated in the colours green and orange respectively. These colours are used throughout the card to indicate when the aspiration or eclipsis takes place.
Example:
an t-uisce – the water
na hispíní – the sausages
Example:
an tSín – China
Example:
sráid – street ( feminine)
an tsráid – the street
sagart – priest ( masculine )
an tsagairt – of the priest
Example: an fhuinneog – the window
Example:
na fuinneoga – the windows
Example:
Bun na fuinneoige. At the bottom of the window.
Example:
fuinneog
Since there’s no article, it could mean window or a window. It’s any window, not the window.
Example:
anois – now
inné – yesterday
Note that there are a few exceptions to this rule.
Example:
cáca (cake)
caca (excrement)
Example:
Is péileadóir Seán.
Sean (subject) is a footballer (predicate).
Is Sasanaigh iad. They are English.
Is bord é. It is a table.
Example:
Ní duine deas é. He is not a nice man.
An Iodálach é? Is he Italian?
Arbh é Pól do chara? Was Paul your friend?
Example:
Is le Pól an carr. The car belongs to Paul.
Example:
Tá Séan ar scoil – John is at school. (John is in school now).
Tá an bord mór – The table is big.
Tá sé fuar. It’s cold.
Níl sé fuar. It’s not cold.
An bhfuil sé fuar? – Is it cold?
For easy reference, the colours clearly indicate the different persons.
The centre pages have plenty of information on verbs. To take full advantage of the Irish Study Cards, it’s important to understand the layout and colour-coded system.
The left-hand side page has an upper and lower U table. The upper section contains the type 1 verbs (short verbs). They are also known as the 1st Conjugation verbs.
The bottom U table contains type 2 verbs (long verbs). They are also known as the 2nd Conjugation verbs.
On each box you will find the verb in Irish, tosaigh its meaning in English, begin, its verbal noun, tosú (beginning) and verbal adjective, tosaithe (begun).
In the centre of the page, you’ll find the three main tenses, Past, Present and Future.
Each person is indicated by its particular colour for easy reference.
Each tense table gives you the specific ending or change needed for each person for type 1 and type 2 verbs, the negative and interrogative forms.
For example:
bog (move) = broad
For example:
cuir (put) = slender
You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs.
To form the past in Irish you have to do the following steps:
Examples:
ól – drink
d’ól me – I drank
d’ól tú – you drank
d’ól sé/sí – he/she drank
d’ólamar – we drank (first type broad ending)
d’ól sibh – you (pl) drank
d’ól siad – they drank
bris – break
bhris mé – I broke
bhris tú – you broke
bhris sé/sí – he/she broke
bhriseamar – we broke (first type slender ending)
bhris sibh – you broke (plural)
bhris siad – they broke
Within the Past Tense section, you will see a red box with the symbols – / ? and
The colour green in the table indicates that séimhiú takes place in negative and interrogative.
Example:
Níor bhris sé an fhuinneog. He didn’t break the window.
Ar bhris sé an fhuinneog? Did he break the window?
There are exceptions to the type 2 verbs and additional changes may be made. This happens in some common verbs, so it will be best if you memorise them.
For example:
bog (move) = broad
For example:
cuir (put) = slender
You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs. Also known as 1st and 2nd conjugation.
To form the Present in Irish you have to do the following steps:
Example:
ceannaigh (buy) – ceann + broad ending = ceannaím (I buy)
cruinnigh (gather) cruinn + slender ending = cruinníonn tú (You gather)
Example of conjugated verbs:
ceannaigh – buy bris – break
ceannaím – I buy brisim – I break
ceannaíonn tú – you buy briseann tú – you break
ceannaíonn sé/sí – he/she buys briseann sé/sí – he/she breaks
ceannaímid – we buy brisimid – we break
ceannaíonn sibh – you (pl) buy briseann sibh – you (pl) break
ceannaíonn siad – they buy briseann siad – they break
Within the Present Tense section, you will see a red box with the symbols – / ? These colours in the table indicate when séimhiú and urú take place in negative and interrogative.
Examples:
Ní cheannaím. I don’t buy.
An gceannaíonn tú? Do you buy?
There are exceptions to the type 2 verbs and additional changes may be made. This happens in some common verbs, so it will be best if you memorise them.
For example:
bog (move) = broad
For example:
cuir (put) = slender
You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs.
To form the Future in Irish you have to do the following steps:
Example:
Type 1: cuir (put) + slender ending fidh (for the first person singular I) = cuirfidh mé (I will put)
Type 2: cuimhnigh (remember) cuimhn + slender ending eoidh = cuimhneoidh mé (I will remember)
Conjugation:
cuir– put
cuirfidh mé – I will put
cuirfidh tú – you will put
cuirfidh sé/sí – he/she will put
cuirfimid – we will put
cuirfidh sibh – you (pl) will put
cuirfidh siad – they will put
tosaigh – start
tosóidh mé – I will start
tosóidh tú – you will start
tosóidh sé/sí – he/she will start
tosóimid – we will start
tosóidh sibh – you will start (plural)
tosóidh siad – they will start
Within the Future Tense section, you will see a red box with the symbols – / ?. These colours in the table indicate when séimhiú and urú take place in negative and interrogative.
Examples:
Ní chuirfidh mé (I will not put)
An gcuirfidh tú? (Will you put?)
There are exceptions to the type 2 verbs and additional changes may be made. This happens in some common verbs, so it will be best if you memorise them.
1 SYLLABLE VERBS WITH IGH ENDING
Example:
buaigh (win) – buann sé (he wins)
nigh (wash) – níonn sé (he washed)
2 syllables like 1 syllable. Your table shows a few verbs that are 2 syllables verbs but treated like a 1 syllable.
Example:
tiomáin (drive) – tiomáinim ( I drive)
sábháil (save) – sábhálann tú ( you save)
Example:
codail (sleep) – codlaíonn tú (you sleep)
There are some verbs with these endings and aren’t shortened, therefore, it is advisable you study these forms thoroughly.
The 11 irregular verbs frame the third page.
As you can see, each box contains different sections. The Past tense is shown first.
The first word given is the verb form for mé, tú, sé, sí, sibh and siad: rug mé… (Anytime you see mé… it means this same form is also used for tú, sé, sí, sibh and siad).
The second word is the verb form for muid (we): rugamar, we caught.
The Present tense is given after. The first word is the form for mé: beirim, I catch.
The following word is the form for tú, sé, sí, sibh and siad: beireann tú…(Anytime you see tú... it means this same form is also used for sé, sí, sibh and siad.
The last word in the section is the verb form for muid (we): beirimid, we catch.
The Future tense follows the same pattern as with the Past tense. One form for mé… (I and the rest of the persons) and another for muid (we).
At the end of each verb box, the two words in bold represent the verbal noun: breith (catching) and the verbal adjective: beirthe (caught).
You’ll notice that some verbs have an asterisk, * this means they have an irregular form for the negative and interrogative in the past tense. Refer to the table on the bottom called IRREGULAR IN PAST for the irregular forms.
Study this table thoroughly as the verbs are very different to the positive form.
Example:
chonaic sé (he saw) chonaiceamar (we saw)
ní fhaca sé ( he didn’t see) ní fhacamar (we didn’t see)
an bhfaca sé? (did he see?) an bhfacamar? (did we see?)
Example:
bog (move) = broad
Example:
cuir (put) = slender
You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs. They are also known as 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs.
To form the Conditional in Irish you have to do the following steps:
Example:
siúil – walk
siúl – siúlfadh sé – he would walk
ordaigh – order
d’ordóinn – I would order
ól – drink
d’ólfainn – I would drink
d‘ólfá – you would drink
d’ólfadh sé/sí – he/she would drink
d’ólfaimis – we would drink
d’ólfadh sibh– you (pl) would drink
d’ólfaidís – they would drink
bris – break
bhrisfinn – I would break
bhrisfeá – you would break
bhrisfeadh sé/sí – he/she would break
bhrisfimis – we would break
bhrisfeadh sibh – you would break (plural)
bhrisfidís – they would break
Within the Conditional Tense section, you will see a red box with the symbols – / ?. These colours in the table indicate when séimhiú and urú take place in negative and interrogative.
Example:
Ní bhrisfeadh sé (He wouldn’t break)
An mbrisfeadh sé? (Would he break?)
There are exceptions to the type 2 verbs and additional changes may be made. This happens in some common verbs, so it will be best if you memorise them.
This table shows the 11 irregular verbs and their conditional form for every person. They follow the same rules for séimhiú and urú in negative and interrogative as with the regular verbs.
Example:
tar – come
thiocfainn – I would come
ní thiocfainn – I wouldn’t come
an dtiocfainn? – Would I come?
Some irregular verbs take go / nach, instead of gur /nár. Examples of each are given in the table below.
Example:
Ólann mise tae ach ólann tusa caife. I drink tea but you drink coffee.
If you want to emphasize the object pronoun, use the forms beside the subject pronouns: tusa/ thusa.
Example:
Chuir sí litir chugam. She sent a letter to me.
Chuir sí litir chugamsa. She sent a letter to me.
Remember that the colours are used to make it easier to find the form needed.
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