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. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Irish Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |