IRISH STUDY CARD

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. 

• The subject personal pronouns are the words that substitute the noun. They are the ones that perform the action expressed by the verb: 

She won a medal.

• Pronouns are used differently in Irish. Look at these examples:

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.

• In English, you can substitute car, house, with the pronoun it. Since Irish has masculine and feminine nouns, sé (masculine) and sí (feminine) are used when substituting.
  
  

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. 

• The object personal pronouns replace the person or thing that’s affected by the subject. They are the words me, him, us, etc.
  
  

Example:

Chonaic Pól thú. Paul saw you.

• Just as with the subject pronouns, when substituting nouns like car or house, you have to consider the feminine and masculine forms. In the direct object, use é  for masculine nouns and í for feminine nouns.
  
  

Example:

Bhris Séan é/í. Sean broke it. (It depends if what Sean broke is a masculine or feminine thing.)

• They’re the words used to show ownership. They tell you to whom the noun belongs. In English, they correspond to my, your, his, her, our, your and their respectively.
  
  
  
• They go before the noun and they can suffer séimhiú or urú changes, depending on the possessive.
  The change is indicated on the table by the colour beside it, orange or green.
  

Example:

do dheartháir –your brother

ár ndeartháir –our brother

• Pay attention to the changes when the noun begins with a vowel or in f + vowel.
  
  

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.

• The séimhiú and the urú change the way a word is pronounced to help with the flow in the pronunciation.

   

• The séimhiú or aspiration happens when an h is placed after the initial consonant. Depending on which word precedes them, nouns, verbs, and adjectives can be aspirated.
  
  

Example: 

a peann – her pen

mo pheann – my pen

a mála – her bag

mo mhála – my bag

• The urú or eclipsis happens when a letter is placed in front of another letter.  It’s called eclipsis because the added consonant eclipses the original one. This change makes the original initial letter go silent.
  
  
• The table in the card shows you which consonants are added to specific letters. Nouns, verbs, and adjectives can be eclipsed.
  
  
• Before vowels, n– is added in the urú mutation.
  
  
• Note that words that begin with vowels never take a séimhiú, only urú.
  
  

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.

• For pronunciation purposes, and depending on the part the word plays in the sentence, t- or h can be placed before words beginning with a vowel.
  
  

Example: 

an t-uisce – the water

na hispíní  – the sausages

• Note that t– and n– are followed by a hyphen. When the first letter is a capital letter, the hyphen is omitted.
  
  

Example:

an tSín – China

• Words beginning with s followed by a vowel or by l, n, r, are prefixed by t when there’s an article an in the Nominative feminine singular and the Genitive masculine singular. If you don’t know what the cases are, don’t worry, they will be explained at a later stage.
  
  

Example:  

sráid – street ( feminine)

an tsráid – the street

sagart – priest ( masculine )

an tsagairt – of the priest

• In Irish, there’s only one article, the definite article an (singular). In English, it’s the word the.
  
  

Example: an fhuinneog – the window

• The plural form of an is na.
  
  

Example:

na fuinneoga – the windows

• In the Genitive case in the singular form, feminine nouns use an instead of na.
  
  

Example:

Bun na fuinneoige.  At the bottom of the window.

• If a noun doesn’t have the article an or na, then it’s not a specific word.
  
  

Example: 

fuinneog

Since there’s no article, it could mean window or a window. It’s any window, not the window.

• Vowels are divided into broad (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) and slender (i, í, e, é).
  
  
• This is important because the type of vowel affects the pronunciation of the consonants beside it. It also affects the way you conjugate a verb.
  
  
• “Slender with slender and broad with broad”, means that a consonant in the middle of a word must be surrounded by the same type of vowel, both slender or both broad.
  
  

Example: 

anois – now

 inné – yesterday 

Note that there are a few exceptions to this rule.

• Vowels also have a long or short form. The fada over the vowels indicates that the vowel is to be pronounced long (á, é, í, ó, ú).
  
  
• If the fada is omitted, words can take on very different meanings.
  
  

Example:

cáca (cake) 

caca (excrement)

• The Copula is a particle used for identification or definition.
  
  

Example:

Is péileadóir Seán.

Sean (subject) is a footballer (predicate).

Is Sasanaigh iad. They are English.

Is bord é. It is a table.

• The table given in the card shows how is changes in negative, interrogative, questions in negative. It also gives you the past and conditional forms.
  
  

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?

• The Copula is also used to express ownership with the preposition le.
  
  

Example:

Is le Pól an carr. The car belongs to Paul.

• Bí is used to express existence, a state of being, location, description. It is used for the immediate present, events that are occurring at present.
  
  
• In English it means I am, you are, he is, she is, you are, they are.
  
  

Example:

Tá Séan ar scoil – John is at school. (John is in school now).

Tá an bord mór – The table is big.

• Bí is a very common verb, and the negative ad interrogative forms are very different from the affirmative form. These tables should be studied thoroughly.
  
  

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.

• When you conjugate the verbs in any tense, it’s very important to be familiar with the broad and slender final sound concept. Look at your verb and see what the last vowel is.
• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: a, á, o, ó, u or ú,  it’s a broad verb.

For example:

bog (move) = broad

• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: e, é, i or í,  it’s a slender verb.

For example:

cuir (put) = slender

You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs.

• Type 1 verbs are usually one syllable verbs (short verbs) Though there are exceptions.
• Type 2 verbs are usually verbs with more than one syllable (long verbs).
• Most verbs end in (a)igh. If the verb ends in aigh, it’s a broad verb, if it ends in igh it’s a slender verb.
• Verbs that end in –il, –ir, –is are slender.
• Verbs that end in –ail, –air, –ais are broad.

   

• The Past is the tense you use when you want to talk about completed actions in the past. This tense is very regular, as most words are the same, except for muid (we).

To form the past in Irish you have to do the following steps:

1. Identify if your verb has a broad or slender end.
2. Identify if your verb is a type 1 or type 2 verb.
3. Identify if your verb begins in the consonants given in the table or in a vowel/f+vowel.

    

4. Check your table and see what change needs to be done on each person. If it begins in the consonants given, you use séimhiú (add an h after the first consonant). If it begins with a vowel or f, you add d’.

    

• In the case of muid (we), there are four different possible endings.  Type 1 broad/slender: amar/eamar. Type 2 broad/slender: aíomar/ íomar.

   

• You don’t need to use the pronoun muid in the past tense. You will see that it’s in brackets, (muid). 

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.

• When you conjugate the verbs in any tense, it’s very important to be familiar with the broad and slender final sound concept. Look at your verb and see what the last vowel is.
• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: a, á, o, ó, u or ú,  it’s a broad verb.

For example:

bog (move) = broad

• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: e, é, i or í,  it’s a slender verb.

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.

• Type 1 verbs are usually one syllable verbs (short verbs) Though there are exceptions.
• Type 2 verbs are usually verbs with more than one syllable (long verbs).
• Most verbs end in (a)igh. If the verb ends in aigh, it’s broad, if it ends in igh it’s slender.
• Verbs that end in –il, –ir, –is are slender.
• Verbs that end in –ail, –air, –ais are broad.

   

• The Present tense tells you what normally happens, it also tells you about present facts. This tense is very regular, as most endings are the same, except for mé (I) and muid (we).

To form the Present in Irish you have to do the following steps:

1. Identify if your verb has a broad or slender ending.
2. Identify if your verb is a type 1 or type 2 verb.
3. If it’s a type 1 verb, add the particular ending needed to the base form of the verb.
4. If it’s a type 2 verb, remove aigh/igh and add the necessary ending.
5. If the verb ends in (a)il, (a)in, (a)ir or (a)is,  remove the last i or ai and conjugate the verb with the appropriate ending.
6. Add the pronoun after the verb. Mé and Muid are not used in the present tense. They are in brackets in your card.

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.

• When you conjugate the verbs in any tense, it’s very important to be familiar with the broad and slender final sound concept. Look at your verb and see what the last vowel is.

• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: a, á, o, ó, u or ú,  it’s a broad verb.

For example:

bog (move) = broad

• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: e, é, i or í,  it’s a slender verb.

For example:

cuir (put) = slender

You also need to be familiar with type 1 and type 2 verbs.

• Type 1 verbs are usually one syllable verbs (short verbs) Though there are exceptions.
• Type 2 verbs are usually verbs with more than one syllable (long verbs).
• Most verbs end in (a)igh. If the verb ends in aigh, it’s broad, if it ends in igh it’s slender.
• Verbs that end in –il, –ir, –is are slender.
• Verbs that end in –ail, –air, –ais are broad.

   

• The Future is the tense used to talk about something that hasn’t happened yet, something that will happen in the future. This tense is very regular, as most endings are the same, except for the ending needed for the pronoun we.

To form the Future in Irish you have to do the following steps:

1. Identify if your verb has a broad or slender ending.
2. Identify if your verb is a type 1 or type 2 verb.
3. If it’s a type 1 verb, add the particular ending needed to the base form of the verb.
4. If it’s a type 2 verb, remove aigh/igh and add the necessary ending.
5. If the verb ends in (a)il, (a)in, (a)ir or (a)is, remove the last i or ai and conjugate the verb with the appropriate ending.
6. Then add the pronoun after the verb. Muid isn’t used in the future tense, that’s why it’s in brackets in your card. 

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

• Type 1 verbs are known to be one syllable verbs or short verbs. However, there are some short verbs that end in (a)igh.
  
  

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)

• Some type 2 verbs end in il, in, ir and is. For pronunciation purposes, they become syncopated or shortened. All you do is remove the last i or ai and conjugate the verb with the appropriate ending.
  
  

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.

• This table shows the negative and interrogative forms in Past for 6 of the 11 irregular verbs that frame that same page.
  
  
• These verbs use ní instead of níor in the Past negative.
  
  

Study this table thoroughly as the verbs are very different to the positive form.

• The first conjugation given: ní fhaca mé… is for I, you, he, she, you (pl)  and they. 
  
  
• The second conjugation given: ní fhacamar is for the pronoun we. 
  
  

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?)

• When you conjugate  the verbs in any tense, it’s very important to be familiar with the broad and slender final sound concept. Look at your verb and see what the last vowel is.
• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: a, á, o, ó, u or ú,  it’s a broad verb.

Example:

bog (move) = broad

• If the last vowel in the stem has any of these vowels: e, é, i or í, it’s a slender verb.

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.

• Type 1 verbs are usually one syllable verbs (short verbs) Though there are exceptions.
• Type 2 verbs are usually verbs with more than one syllable (long verbs).
• Most verbs end in (a)igh. If the verb ends in aigh, it’s broad, if it ends in igh it’s slender.
• Verbs that end in –il, –ir, –is are slender.
• Verbs that end in –ail, –air, –ais are broad.

   

• The Conditional is used to express an action could happen depending on certain conditions: I would go, if…

   

• To form the Conditional, you need to add the ending to the base form and then add the pronoun only for the persons sé/sí and sibh. They’re underlined.

To form the Conditional in Irish you have to do the following steps:

1. Identify if your verb has a broad or slender end.
2. If it’s a type 1 verb, add the particular ending needed to the base form of the verb.
3. If it’s a type 2 verb, remove aigh/igh and add the necessary ending.
4. If the verb ends in (a)il, (a)in, (a)ir or (a)is,  remove the last i or ai and conjugate the verb with the appropriate ending.
5. Identify if your verb begins in the consonants given or in a vowel/f. If it begins in the consonants given in the table, you use séimhiú in affirmative and negative statements (add an h after the first consonant). Eclipse in affirmative and negative questions.
6. If it begins in a vowel or f, add d’/d’fh. Drop d’/d’fh after an, ní and nach.
7. When using nach, add n-

    

8. Add the pronoun after the verb only for sé/sí and sibh. You don’t use the other pronouns for the conditional. You will see the ones you don’t need in brackets in your card.
    

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? 

• Indirect Speech is used to report what someone has said.
  
  
• Use the prepositions go (that) and nach (that not)to report something in Present. Note that you need to use urú.
  
  
• In the past, go becomes gur and nach becomes nár.
  
  

Some irregular verbs take go / nach, instead of gur /nár. Examples of each are given in the table below.

• These pronouns are used when you wish to emphasize the person. In English, you might need to change the intonation when saying: “He did it!”.  In Irish, you add these pronouns to the sentence.
  
  

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.

• These emphatic forms are used when you wish the emphasize the person in the sentence.
  
  
• Add the emphatic forms at the end of your prepositional pronoun.
  
  

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.