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Irish VerbsIrish verb forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically. Synthetic forms are those which 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 m is ungrammatical. 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 s 'he waited'. (Exception: the preterite impersonal neither undergoes lenition nor receives d'.) 1st 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 molaimid or tuigimid are frequently encountered but do not technically belong to the standard language. 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) | mholt | thuigte | | 1pl | -(a)imis | mholaimis | thuigimis | | 3pl | -(a)ids | mholaids | thuigids | | Impersonal | -t(a) | mholta | thuigt | | 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) | mholf | thuigfe | | 1pl | -f(a)imis | mholfaimis | thuigfimis | | 3pl | -f(a)ids | mholfaids | thuigfids | | Impersonal | -f(a) | mholfa | thuigf | | Analytic | -f(e)adh | mholfadh | thuigfeadh | Imperative | Plural: root + -(a)ig | | mol! 'praise!' (sg.) | molaig! 'praise!' (pl.) | | tuig! 'understand!' (sg.) | tuigig! 'understand!' (pl.) | 2nd Conjugation Present In the 2nd conjugation, the present stem ends in -(a)-, 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 --. - The root beannaigh 'to bless' has the present tense stem beanna- 'to bless'
- The root inis has the present tense stem ins- 'to tell'
The endings are the same as in the 1st conjugation, but without the -(a)i- vowel found there. | Endings | 'bless' | 'tell' | | 1sg | -(a)m | beannam | insm | | 1pl | -(a)mid | beannamid | insmid | | Impersonal | -(a)tear | beannatear | instear | | Analytic | -(a)onn | beannaonn | insonn | 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)nn | bheannann | d'insnn | | 2sg | -(a)te | bheannate | d'inste | | 1pl | -(a)mis | bheannamis | d'insmis | | 3pl | -(a)ds | bheannads | d'insds | | Impersonal | -(a)t | bheannat | d'inst | | Analytic | -(a)odh | bheannaodh | d'insodh | 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)omar | bheannaomar | d'insomar | | Impersonal | -(a)odh | beannaodh | insodhn | | Analytic | - | bheannaigh | d'inis | Future The future stem consists of the root followed by the suffix --/-eo-. This --/-eo- replaces the -(a)- 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 | -imid/-eoimid | beannimid | inseoimid | | Impersonal | -far/-eofar | beannfar | inseofar | | Analytic | -idh/-eoidh | beannidh | 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 | -inn/-eoinn | bheanninn | d'inseoinn | | 2sg | -f/-eof | bheannf | d'inseof | | 1pl | -imis/-eoimis | bheannimis | d'inseoimis | | 3pl | -ids/-eoids | bheannids | d'inseoids | | Impersonal | -fa/-eofa | bheannfa | d'inseofa | | Analytic | -dh/-eodh | beanndh | d'inseodh | Imperative | Plural: present stem + ending -g | | beannaigh! 'bless!' | beannag! 'bless!'(pl.) | | inis! 'tell!' | insg! '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 n (negative particle), instead of ar (pret. interrogative particle) and nor (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 m '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. | deir +, deirim, deirimid, deirtear | | Imperfect | deireadh + etc. | | Preterite | dirt +, dramar, dradh. (an/n dirt + etc.) | | Future | darfaidh + etc. | | Conditional | darfadh + etc. | | Imperative | abair, abraig | | Verbal noun | r | beir 'to carry' | beireann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | bheireadh + etc. (regular) | | Preterite | rug +, rugamar, rugadh. (ar/nor rug + etc.) | | Future | barfaidh + etc. | | Conditional | bharfadh + etc. | | Imperative | beir, beirig | | Verbal noun | beirthe | b 'to be' | t +, tim (also t m), timid, tthar | | Present dependent* | fuil +, fuilim (also fuil m), fuilimid | | Habitual present | bonn +, bm, bmid, btear | | Imperfect | bhodh +, bhnn, bhte, bhmis, bhds, bht | | Preterite independent | bh +, bhomar, bhothas | | Preterite dependent | (an/n) raibh +, rabhamar, rabhthas | | Future | beidh +, beimid, beifear | | Conditional | bheadh +, bheinn, bheife, bheimis, bheids, bheif | | Imperative | b, bg | | Verbal noun | bheith | * The negative particle 'n lenites fuil to fhuil; the two are then fused to form nl +; cf. also nlim, nlimid, and nltear'. clois/cluin 'to hear' | cloiseann + etc. (regular)/cluineann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | chloiseadh + etc. (regular)/chluineadh etc. (regular) | | Preterite | chuala +, chualamar, chualathas. (ar/nor chuala + etc.) | | Future | cloisfidh + etc. (regular)/cluinfidh + etc. (regular) | | Conditional | chloisfeadh + etc. (regular)/chluinfeadh + etc. (regular) | | Imperative | clois, cloisig/cluin, cluinig | | Verbal noun | cloisteil/cluinstin | dan 'to do, to make' | danann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | dhanadh + etc. (regular) | | Preterite independent | rinne +, rinneamar, rinneadh | | Preterite dependent | dearna +, dearnamar, dearnadh (an ndearna/n dhearna + etc.) | | Future | danfaidh + etc. (regular) | | Conditional | dhanfadh + etc. (regular) | | Imperative | dan, danaig | | Verbal noun | danamh | faigh 'to receive, to find' The 'f- in this verb is eclipsed rather than lenited after n'. | faigheann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | d'fhaigheadh + etc. (regular) | | Preterite | fuair +, fuaireamar, fuarthas. (an/n bhfuair + etc.) | | Future independent | gheobhaidh +, gheobhaimid, gheofar | | Future dependent | faighidh +, faighimid, faighfear. (an/n bhfaighidh + etc.) | | Conditional independent | gheobhadh +, gheobhainn, gheof, gheobhaimis, gheofa | | Conditional dependent | faigheadh +, faighinn, faighfe, faighimis, faighf. (an/n bhfaigheadh + etc.) | | Imperative | faigh, faighig | | Verbal noun | fil | feic 'to see' | feiceann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | d'fheiceadh + etc. (regular) | | Preterite independent | chonaic +, chonaiceamar, chonacthas | | Preterite dependent | faca +, facamar, facthas (an bhfaca/n fhaca) | | Future | feicfidh + etc. (regular) | | Conditional | d'fheicfeadh + etc. (regular) | | Imperative | feic, feicig | | Verbal noun | feiceil | ith 'to eat' | itheann + etc. (regular) | | Imperfect | d'itheadh + etc. (regular) | | Preterite | d'ith + etc. (regular) (ar/nor ith + etc.) | | Future | osfaidh + etc. | | Conditional | d'osfadh + etc. | | Imperative | ith, ithig | | Verbal noun | ithe | tabhair 'to give, to bring' | tugann + etc. | | Imperfect | thugadh + etc. | | Preterite | thug + etc. (ar/nor thug) | | Future | tabharfaidh + etc. | | Conditional | thabharfadh + etc. | | Imperative | tabhair, tugaig | | Verbal noun | tabhairt | tar 'to come' | tagann + etc. | | Imperfect | thagadh + etc. | | Preterite | thinig +, thngamar, thngthas. (ar/nor thinig) | | Future | tiocfaidh + etc. | | Conditional | thiocfadh + etc. | | Imperative | tar, tagaig | | Verbal noun | teacht | tigh 'to go' | tann +, tim, timid, titear | | Imperfect | thadh +, thinn, thite, thimis, thids, thit | | Preterite independent | chuaigh +, chuamar, chuathas | | Preterite dependent | deachaigh +, deachamar, deachthas (an ndeachaigh +/n dheachaigh + etc.) | | Future | rachaidh +, rachaimid, rachfar | | Conditional | rachadh +, rachainn, rachf, rachaimis, rachaids, rachfa | | Imperative | tigh, tig | | 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 - bog 'soften' : bogadh
- bris 'break' : briseadh
Suffix -il - fg 'leave' : fgil
- tg 'take': tgil
Suffix - - ardaigh 'lift' : ard
- bailigh 'collect': baili
Suffix -amh - caith 'spend' : caitheamh
- dan 'do' : danamh
Suffix -t - cosain 'defend' : cosaint
- bain 'pull' : baint
Suffix -int - lean 'follow' : leanint
- oil 'nourish' : oiliint
Slender consonant is made broad - coisc 'prevent' : cosc
- cuir 'place' : cur
Suffix -ach - ceannaigh 'buy' : ceannach
- cldaigh 'cover' : cldach
No change to root - l 'drink' : l
- scrobh 'write' : scrobh
Suffix -cht - disigh 'awake' : diseacht
- imigh 'go away' : imeacht
Suffix -e - rinc 'dance' : rince
- ith 'eat' : ithe
Usage of the verbal noun The verbal noun is used as the infinitive would be used in English. - D'iarr s 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. - T Sen ag obair. 'Sen is working.'
- Bh Mire ag caint. 'Mire was speaking.'
A perfect tense can be formed with either of the prepositions tar is or i ndiaidh and the verbal noun. - T s tar is baint an fhir. 'She has (just) cut the grass.' (cf. Hiberno-English 'She is after cutting the grass.')
- Bh s i ndiaidh n na gcupn. '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: - Tuigeann Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen understands Irish.'
- Thuig Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen understood Irish.'
- Thuigfeadh Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen would understand Irish.'
Negative particles To negate a statement, the particle n is used, which causes lenition; a d' before a vowel or lenited f is omitted: - N thuigeann Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen doesn't understand Irish.'
- N thuigfeadh Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen wouldn't understand Irish.'
- N lfadh Samas an bainne. 'Samas would not drink the milk.' (cf. D'lfadh Samas an bainne. 'Sen would drink the milk.')
- N fhanfadh na liom. 'na would not wait for me.' (cf. D'fhanfadh na liom. 'na would wait for me.')
In the preterite, the particle nor is used . There is lenition but no d'. - Nor thuig Sen Gaeilge. 'Sen didn't understand Irish.'
- Nor l Samas an bainne. 'Samas didn't drink the milk.' (cf. D'l Samas an bainne. 'Sen drank the milk.')
- Nor fhan na liom. 'na didn't wait for me.' (cf. D'fhan na liom. 'na 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 Sen Gaeilge? 'Does Sen understand Irish?'
- An dtuigfeadh Sen Gaeilge? 'Would Sen understand Irish?'
- An lann Sen bainne? 'Does Sen drink milk?'
- An bhfanfadh na liom? 'Would na wait for me?'
- Ar thuig Sen Gaeilge? 'Did Sen understand Irish?'
- Ar l Samas an bainne? 'Did Samas drink the milk?'
- Ar fhan na liom? 'Did na wait for me?'
These particles are also used to introduce an indirect question: - Nl a fhios agam an dtuigeann Sen Gaeilge. 'I don't know if Sen understands Irish.'
- N m ar l Samas an bainne. 'I wonder if Samas drank the milk.'
Negative interrogative particles To pose a negative yes/no question, the particle nach is used, which causes eclipsis (in preterite: nr + lenition): - Nach dtuigeann Sen Gaeilge? 'Doesn't Sen understand Irish?'
- Nach dtuigfeadh Sen Gaeilge? 'Wouldn't Sen understand Irish?'
- Nach n-lfadh Sen an bainne? 'Wouldn't Sen drink the milk?'
- Nach bhfanfadh na liom? 'Wouldn't na wait for me?'
- Nr thuig Sen Gaeilge? 'Didn't Sen understand Irish?'
- Nr l Samas an bainne? 'Didn't Sen drink the milk?'
- Nr fhan na liom? 'Didn't na wait for me?'
(In Munster n is used instead of nach.) Wh-interrogative particles To pose a wh-question, one of the interrogative particles c, cad a/card a, cathain a, c a, conas a etc. is used. - C gcuirfidh t an litir? 'Where will you put the letter?'
- Cad/Card a cheapfaidh na comharsana? 'What will the neighbors think?'
- Cathain a dholfaidh sibh bhur dteach? 'When will you sell your house?'
- C a sheasfaidh i m'aice? 'Who will stand next to me?'
- Conas a ghlanfaidh t an gna? 'How will you clean the dress?'
See also Verbs
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