Irish conjugation

Irish verb forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically.

Synthetic forms express the information about person and number in the ending: e.g., molaim "I praise", where the ending -aim stands for "1st person singular present". In this case, a pronoun is not allowed: * molaim mé is ungrammatical. Molann mé is allowed but using the -aim ending is more common.

Analytic forms are those whose endings contain no information about person and number, and a pronoun is necessary: e.g., molann sibh "you (pl.) praise", where the ending -ann expresses only the present tense, and the pronoun sibh "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.

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., fan "wait", d'fhan sé "he waited". (Exception: the preterite impersonal neither undergoes lenition nor receives d’.)

First conjugation

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	molaim	tuigim
1pl	-(a)imid	molaimid	tuigimid
Impersonal	-t(e)ar	moltar	tuigtear
Analytic	-(e)ann	molann	tuigeann

Forms like molann muid and tuigeann muid instead of molaimid or tuigimid are frequently encountered but do not technically belong to the standard language. On the other hand, Munster Irish uses molair and molaid instead of molann tú and molann siad.

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	mholainn	thuiginn
2sg	-t(e)á	mholtá	thuigteá
1pl	-(a)imis	mholaimis	thuigimis
3pl	-(a)idís	mholaidís	thuigidís
Impersonal	-t(a)í	mholtaí	thuigtí
Analytic	-(e)adh	mholadh	thuigeadh

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	mholamar	thuigeamar
Impersonal	-(e)adh	moladh	tuigeadh
Analytic	∅	mhol	thuig

Future

The future stem is formed by adding f (pronounced [h] except in the impersonal) to the root. Synthetic endings exist only for the 1st person plural and impersonal.

	Endings	"will praise"	"will understand"
1pl	-f(a)imid	molfaimid	tuigfimid
Impersonal	-f(e)ar	molfar	tuigfear
Analytic	-f(a)idh	molfaidh	tuigfidh

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	mholfainn	thuigfinn
2sg	-f(e)á	mholfá	thuigfeá
1pl	-f(a)imis	mholfaimis	thuigfimis
3pl	-f(a)idís	mholfaidís	thuigfidís
Impersonal	-f(a)í	mholfaí	thuigfí
Analytic	-f(e)adh	mholfadh	thuigfeadh

Imperative

Singular: simple root	Plural: root + -(a)igí
mol! "praise!" (sg.)	molaigí! "praise!" (pl.)
tuig! "understand!" (sg.)	tuigigí! "understand!" (pl.)

Second conjugation

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., inis "to tell") undergo syncope before the addition of -í-.

• The root beannaigh "to bless" has the present tense stem beannaí-
• The root inis "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	beannaím	insím
1pl	-(a)ímid	beannaímid	insímid
Impersonal	-(a)ítear	beannaítear	insítear
Analytic	-(a)íonn	beannaíonn	insíonn

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	bheannaínn	d'insínn
2sg	-(a)íteá	bheannaíteá	d'insíteá
1pl	-(a)ímis	bheannaímis	d'insímis
3pl	-(a)ídís	bheannaídís	d'insídís
Impersonal	-(a)ítí	bheannaítí	d'insítí
Analytic	-(a)íodh	bheannaíodh	d'insíodh

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 attach their ending to the present stem.

	Endings	"blessed"	"told"
1pl	-(a)íomar	bheannaíomar	d'insíomar
Impersonal	-(a)íodh	beannaíodh	insíodh
Analytic	∅	bheannaigh	d'inis

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	beannóimid	inseoimid
Impersonal	-ófar/-eofar	beannófar	inseofar
Analytic	-óidh/-eoidh	beannóidh	inseoidh

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	bheannóinn	d'inseoinn
2sg	-ófá/-eofá	bheannófá	d'inseofá
1pl	-óimis/-eoimis	bheannóimis	d'inseoimis
3pl	-óidís/-eoidís	bheannóidís	d'inseoidís
Impersonal	-ófaí/-eofaí	bheannófaí	d'inseofaí
Analytic	-ódh/-eodh	beannódh	d'inseodh

Imperative

Singular: simple root	Plural: present stem + ending -gí
beannaigh! "bless!"	beannaígí! "bless!" (pl.)
inis! "tell!"	insígí! "tell!" (pl.)

Irregular verbs

There are eleven irregular verbs in Irish. Most of them are characterized by suppletion, 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., an (interrogative particle) and ní (negative particle), instead of ar (pret. interrogative particle) and níor (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 má "if" (open conditional) and the direct relative particle a, while the dependent forms are used after all other particles.

abair "to say"

The d- in this verb is not lenited.

Present	deir +, deirim, deirimid, deirtear
Imperfect	deireadh + etc.
Preterite	dúirt (an ndúirt/ní dúirt) +, dúramar, dúradh
Future	déarfaidh + etc.
Conditional	déarfadh + etc.
Imperative	abair, abraigí
Verbal noun	rá

beir "to catch"

Present	beireann + etc. (regular)
Imperfect	bheireadh + etc. (regular)
Preterite	rug +, rugamar, rugadh. (ar/níor rug + etc.)
Future	béarfaidh + etc.
Conditional	bhéarfadh + etc.
Imperative	beir, beirigí
Verbal noun	beirthe

bí "to be"

Present	independent	tá +, táim (also tá mé), táimid, táthar
	dependent1	fuil +, fuilim (also fuil mé), fuilimid
Habitual present		bíonn +, bím, bímid, bítear
Imperfect		bhíodh +, bhínn, bhíteá, bhímis, bhídís, bhítí
Preterite	independent	bhí +, bhíomar, bhíothas
	dependent	(an/ní) raibh +, rabhamar, rabhthas
Future		beidh +, beimid, beifear
Conditional		bheadh +, bheinn, bheifeá, bheimis, bheidís, bheifí
Imperative		bí, bígí
Verbal noun		bheith

¹The negative particle ní lenites fuil to fhuil; the two are then fused to form níl +; cf. also nílim, nílimid, and níltear.

clois/cluin "to hear"

clois is used in southern and western Irish (Munster, Connemara, Aran Islands etc.) whereas cluin is used in northern and north-western varieties (Mayo, Ulster).

Present	cloiseann + etc. (regular)/cluineann + etc. (regular)
Imperfect	chloiseadh + etc. (regular)/chluineadh etc. (regular)
Preterite	chuala +, chualamar, chualathas. (ar/níor chuala + etc.)
Future	cloisfidh + etc. (regular)/cluinfidh + etc. (regular)
Conditional	chloisfeadh + etc. (regular)/chluinfeadh + etc. (regular)
Imperative	clois, cloisigí/cluin, cluinigí
Verbal noun	cloisteáil/cluinstin

déan "to do, to make"

Present		déanann + etc. (regular)
Imperfect		dhéanadh + etc. (regular)
Preterite	independent	rinne +, rinneamar, rinneadh
	dependent	dearna +, dearnamar, dearnadh (an ndearna/ní dhearna + etc.)
Future		déanfaidh + etc. (regular)
Conditional		dhéanfadh + etc. (regular)
Imperative		déan, déanaigí
Verbal noun		déanamh

faigh "to receive, to find, to get"

The f- in this verb is eclipsed rather than lenited after ní.

Present		faigheann + etc. (regular)
Imperfect		d'fhaigheadh + etc. (regular)
Preterite		fuair +, fuaireamar, fuarthas. (an/ní bhfuair + etc.)
Future	independent	gheobhaidh +, gheobhaimid, gheofar
	dependent	faighidh +, faighimid, faighfear (an/ní bhfaighidh + etc.)
Conditional	independent	gheobhadh +, gheobhainn, gheofá, gheobhaimis, gheofaí
	dependent	faigheadh +, faighinn, faighfeá, faighimis, faighfí (an/ní bhfaigheadh + etc.)
Imperative		faigh, faighigí
Verbal noun		fáil

feic "to see"

Present		feiceann + feicimid. (regular)
Imperfect		d'fheiceadh + etc. (regular)
Preterite	independent	chonaic +, chonaiceamar, chonacthas
	dependent	faca +, facamar, facthas (an bhfaca/ní fhaca)
Future		feicfidh + feicfimid. (regular)
Conditional		d'fheicfeadh + etc. (regular)
Imperative		feic, feicigí
Verbal noun		feiceáil/feiscint1

¹The form feiscint of the verbal noun is used in Munster.

ith "to eat"

Present	itheann + etc. (regular)
Imperfect	d'itheadh + etc. (regular)
Preterite	d'ith + etc. (regular) (ar/níor ith + etc.)
Future	íosfaidh + etc.
Conditional	d'íosfadh + etc.
Imperative	ith, ithigí
Verbal noun	ithe

tabhair "to give, to bring, (to name)"

Present	tugann + etc.
Imperfect	thugadh + etc.
Preterite	thug + etc. (ar/níor thug)
Future	tabharfaidh + etc.
Conditional	thabharfadh + etc.
Imperative	tabhair, tugaigí
Verbal noun	tabhairt

The meaning "to name" is often found in writings and can therefore be considered as strange for learners. When meaning "to name" the verbform is usually followed by the preposition "ar", which is also inflected due to the person it is connected with. e.g.:

• Bhí Seán, mar a thugtaí air, an-shásta. "Seán, as he was (usually) called, was very happy."
• Tá Seán ag tabhairt an úill dom. "Seán is giving me the apple."

tar "to come"

Present	tagann + etc.
Imperfect	thagadh + etc.
Preterite	tháinig +, thángamar, thángthas (ar/níor tháinig)
Future	tiocfaidh + etc.
Conditional	thiocfadh + etc.
Imperative	tar, tagaigí
Verbal noun	teacht

téigh "to go"

Present		téann +, téim, téimid, téitear
Imperfect		théadh +, théinn, théiteá, théimis, théidís, théití
Preterite	independent	chuaigh +, chuamar, chuathas
	dependent	deachaigh +, deachamar, deachthas (an ndeachaigh +/ní dheachaigh + etc.)
Future		rachaidh +, rachaimid, rachfar
Conditional		rachadh +, rachainn, rachfá, rachaimis, rachaidís, rachfaí
Imperative		téigh, téigí
Verbal noun		dul

Verbal nouns

Formation of the verbal noun

Irish has no infinitive and uses instead the verbal noun. The verbal noun can be formed using different strategies (mostly suffixes). The most common of these are:

• Suffix -adh, e.g., bog "soften" : bogadh
• Suffix -áil, e.g., fág "leave" : fágáil
• Suffix -ú, e.g., ardaigh "lift" : ardú
• Suffix -amh, e.g., caith "spend" : caitheamh
• Suffix -t, e.g., cosain "defend" : cosaint
• Suffix -úint, e.g., lean "follow" : leanúint
• Slender consonant is made broad, e.g., coisc "prevent" : cosc
• Suffix -ach, e.g., ceannaigh "buy" : ceannach
• Suffix nothing, e.g., ól "drink" : ól
• Suffix -cht, e.g., dúisigh "awake" : dúiseacht
• Suffix -e, e.g., rinc "dance" : rince

Usage of the verbal noun

The verbal noun is used as the infinitive would be used in English.

D'iarr sé orm imeacht. "He asked me to go."

B'fhearr liom fanacht. "I would rather stay."

A progressive can be expressed with the preposition ag and is equivalent to the English present participle.

Tá Seán ag obair. "Seán is working."

Bhí Máire ag caint. "Máire was speaking."

A perfect tense can be formed with either of the compound prepositions tar éis or i ndiaidh and the verbal noun.

Tá sí tar éis baint an fhéir. "She has (just) mowed the grass." (cf. Hiberno-English "She is after cutting the grass.")

Bhí sé i ndiaidh ní na gcupán. "He had (just) washed the cups." (cf. Hiberno-English "He was after washing the cups.")

Preverbal particles

Irish uses a number of preverbal particles 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":

• Tuigeann Seán Gaeilge. "Seán understands Irish."
• Thuig Seán Gaeilge. "Seán understood Irish."
• Thuigfeadh Seán Gaeilge. "Seán would understand Irish."

Negative particles

To negate a statement, the particle ní is used, which causes lenition; a d’ before a vowel or lenited f is omitted:

• Ní thuigeann Seán Gaeilge. "Seán doesn't understand Irish."
• Ní thuigfeadh Seán Gaeilge. "Seán wouldn't understand Irish."
• Ní ólfadh Séamas an bainne. "Séamas would not drink the milk." (cf. D'ólfadh Séamas an bainne. "Séamas would drink the milk.")
• Ní fhanfadh Úna liom. "Úna would not wait for me." (cf. D'fhanfadh Úna liom. "Úna would wait for me.")

In the preterite, the particle níor is used . There is lenition but no d’.

• Níor thuig Seán Gaeilge. "Seán didn't understand Irish."
• Níor ól Séamas an bainne. "Séamas didn't drink the milk." (cf. D'ól Séamas an bainne. "Séamas drank the milk.")
• Níor fhan Úna liom. "Úna didn't wait for me." (cf. D'fhan Úna liom. "Úna waited for me.")

(In Ulster, the negative particles cha(n), pret. char are also used)

Interrogative particles

To pose a simple yes/no question, the particle an is used, which causes eclipsis (no eclipsis of vowels, because an already ends with n). In the preterite ar (+ lenition) is used. The prefix d’ is omitted:

• An dtuigeann Seán Gaeilge? "Does Seán understand Irish?"
• An dtuigfeadh Seán Gaeilge? "Would Seán understand Irish?"
• An ólann Séamas bainne? "Does Séamas drink milk?"
• An bhfanfadh Úna liom? "Would Úna wait for me?"
• Ar thuig Seán Gaeilge? "Did Seán understand Irish?"
• Ar ól Séamas an bainne? "Did Séamas drink the milk?"
• Ar fhan Úna liom? "Did Úna wait for me?"

These particles are also used to introduce an indirect question:

• Níl a fhios agam an dtuigeann Seán Gaeilge. "I don't know if Seán understands Irish."
• Ní mé ar ól Séamas an bainne. "I wonder if Séamas drank the milk."

Negative interrogative particles

To pose a negative yes/no question, the particle nach is used, which causes eclipsis (in preterite: nár + lenition):

• Nach dtuigeann Seán Gaeilge? "Doesn't Seán understand Irish?"
• Nach dtuigfeadh Seán Gaeilge? "Wouldn't Seán understand Irish?"
• Nach n-ólfadh Séamas an bainne? "Wouldn't Séamas drink the milk?"
• Nach bhfanfadh Úna liom? "Wouldn't Úna wait for me?"
• Nár thuig Seán Gaeilge? "Didn't Seán understand Irish?"
• Nár ól Séamas an bainne? "Didn't Séamas drink the milk?"
• Nár fhan Úna liom? "Didn't Úna wait for me?"

(In Munster ná is used instead of nach.)

Wh-interrogative particles

To pose a wh-question, one of the interrogative particles cá, cad a/céard a, cathain a, cé a, conas a etc. is used.

• Cá gcuirfidh tú an litir? "Where will you put the letter?"
• Cad/Céard a cheapfaidh na comharsana? "What will the neighbors think?"
• Cathain a dhíolfaidh sibh bhur dteach? "When will you sell your house?"
• Cé a sheasfaidh i m'aice? "Who will stand next to me?"
• Conas a ghlanfaidh tú an gúna? "How will you clean the dress?"

Subjunctive

The subjunctive covers the idea of wishing something and so appears in some famous Irish proverbs and blessings. It is 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)

Again, the subjunctive of "tabhair" (give) is "tuga":

• Go dtuga Dia ciall duit. -- May God give you sense.

In the third example, 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".

Some verbs do not follow the conjugation of the subjunctive exactly as above. The irregularities apply to verbs whose stem ends already in a stressed vowel, and the rules of Irish orthography and pronunciation mean that it cannot take another:

	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 does not have a fáda (accent), the 'o' in this position is stressed (pronounced as though it is ó) and do the subjunctive is irregular.

It is important to note that when the subjunctive is used in English, it may not be used in Irish, and another tense might be used instead:

• If I were (past subjunctive) you, I would study for the exam tomorrow. -- Dá mba (past/conditional of the copula) 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, but in Irish, the corresponding go must be retained.
• **Note that in English, the present tense is often used to refer to a future state, but in Irish, there is less freedom with tenses (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.