Irish Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Irish grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Irish and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Irish and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Irish.

Prepositions - Irish
and agus
above thuas
under faoi
before roimh
after tar éis
in front of os comhair
behind taobh thiar
far from i bhfad ó
near in aice le
in i
inside laistigh
outside lasmuigh
with le
without gan
about um
between idir
but ach
for le haghaidh
from ó
to go

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Irish
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ithim gan scian
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] tá sí ina cónaí in aice leis an séipéal
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] tá sé níos airde ná í
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] tháinig sé lena mhadra beag
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] an féidir leat teacht in éineacht liom?

Negation in Irish

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Irish
I understand you [affirmative form] tuigim tú
I don't understand you [negation + verb] ní thuigim tú
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] ní hé seo an focal ceart
don't leave me [imperative negation] ná fág mé
no problem [negation + noun] aon fhadhb

Negative Sentences - Irish
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] ní féidir liom labhairt Fraincís
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] níor thug sí cuairt ar an Ghearmáin
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] ní féidir leis muid a fheiceáil
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ní féidir léi ficheall a imirt?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ní thiocfaidh muid teacht go déanach

Questions in Irish

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Irish
how? conas?
what? cad é?
who? cé?
why? cén fáth?
where? cén áit?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Irish
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] cén áit a bhfuil cónaí ort?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] an labhraíonn sí Sínis?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] cé mhéad é seo?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] is féidir liom cabhrú leat?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] cad is ainm duit?

Adverbs in Irish

It's time to learn the adverbs in Irish. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Irish
now anois
yesterday inné
today inniu
tonight anocht
tomorrow amárach
soon go luath
quickly go tapa
slowly go mall
together le chéile
very an-
almost beagnach
always i gcónaí
usually de ghnáth
sometimes uaireanta
rarely go hannamh
never riamh (past)

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Irish
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] an dtuigeann tú mé anois?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] tá cabhair ag teastáil uaim ar an bpointe
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] tá sí an-chliste
I will always love you [verb + adverb] beidh grá agam duit go deo
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] an féidir linn gearmáinis a fhoghlaim le chéile?

Pronouns in Irish

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Irish. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Irish
I mé/ mise
you tú/ tusa
he sé
she sí
we sinn
they siad

Object Pronouns - Irish
me agam/dom/orm/liom/uaim/chugam/asam/ionam
you agat/duit/ort/leat/uait/chugat/asat/ionat
him aige/dó/air/leis/uaidh/chuige/as/ann
her aici/di/uirthi/léi/uaithi/chuici/aisti/inti
us againn/dúinn/orainn/linn/uainn/chugainn/asainn/ionainn
them acu/dóibh/orthu/leo/uathu/chucu/astu/iontu

Possessive Pronouns - Irish
my mo
your do
his a charr
her a carr
our ár gcarr
their a gcarr

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Irish
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] is mise do chara
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] labhraíonn tú go han-tapa
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] tá trí mhadra aige
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] is féidir léi Gearmáinis a labhairt
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ní thiocfaidh muid go déanach
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] cheannaigh siad bainne agus arán

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Irish
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] an féidir leat d'ainm a insint dom?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] tabhairfaidh mé airgead duit
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] scríobh sí litir dó
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] thug siad cuairt uirthi inné
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] an féidir léi cuidiú linn?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] thug sé bia dóibh

Possessive Pronouns - Irish
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] maya is ainm dom
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] conaíonn do dheartháir anseo
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] déanann a máthair cócaireacht dúinn
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] is é léamh leabhar a chaitheamh aimsire
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] is é cuairt a thabhairt páras ár aisling
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] níl a teach i bhfad

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Irish
this is my house is é seo mo theach
that restaurant is far tá an bialann sin i bhfad
these apples are delicious tá na úlla seo sobhlasta
those stars are shiny tá na réaltaí sin lonrach

I hope you learned a lot about the Irish grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!