Irish Sentence Structure

Basic Sentence Structure

Tá and Is

Irish has two different ways of expressing the English verb "to be".

Tá is the verb "to be", used for describing people or things, "I am..." eg. "I am tired, I am

here" a) where something is or b) what state it is in

Is is the copula, and is not quite a complete verb; its most common use is to say what

something is, "I am a..." eg. "I am a teacher, I am a man"

The copula is a sort of pseudo-verb. It is used for four main purposes:

Identification, or saying that some specific thing, identified by a definite noun (usually a

noun with the article) or pronoun is the same as some other specific thing

Example: "That is my cow" = "Is í mo bhó í sin"

Classification, or saying that some specific thing fits into some class - in other words,

saying that the thing "is a" something, where the something is a general class rather

than a specific object

Example: "That is a cow" = "Is bó í sin"

Emphasis, or moving certain sentence parts earlier in the clause to make them more

prominent to the listener or reader. English often uses tone of voice, accented syllables

to do this, but Irish primarily relies on word order

Example: "In God we trust" = "Is i nDia a cuirimid ár muinín" (compare to "We trust in

God" = "Cuirimid ár muinín i nDia")

Questions use a special form of the copula: "An." For example "An fear é Seán?": "Is

Seán a man?"

There are also instances in which the copula may safely be left out: "Is mise Seán"

can become simply "Mise Seán."

"Bí" is the verb "to be."

tá mé I amtá tú You aretá sé He istá sí She istá sinn, ta muid We aretá sibh You (plural) aretá siad They are

If you want to negate "tá sé," you use níl instead of tá. Níl sé He is not

Some Simple Sentences[edit]

Approximate phonetic pronunciations are provided for the phrases below. Pronunciation varies from one dialect to another. If you learned a different way of pronouncing these words, don't worry.

Classification sentences[edit]

In a classification sentence, we tell what class an identified person belongs to. For example, telling the profession of someone. Here are some persons and their professions.

Cad é is gairm bheatha duit? Cén tslí bheatha atá agat? Cén cineál oibre atá agat? What is your profession?

Is múinteoir mé. I am a teacher.

Is scoláire thú. You are (thou art) a scholar, a pupil. (Scoláire is obviously the same word

as the English scholar, but the Irish word is more often used in the sense of a school

pupil, which, incidentally, can also be dalta. In the Irish-speaking districts, a person who

could read and write - in those days when analphabetism was still common - could also

be called a scoláire. Note that the word for "school ide" is scoil íde.)

Is dlíodóir í Siobhán. Siobhán (Joan) is a lawyer. (Dlíodóir - in Ulster Irish, dlítheoir -

comes from the word for law, dlí.)

Is feirmeoir é Seán. Seán (John) is a farmer. (Feirmeoir is obviously related to feirm, a

farm. In Connacht, there are the parallel forms feilméir and feilm, respectively.)

Is pluiméir é Máirtín. Máirtín (Martin) is a plumber.

Is bríceadóir é Colm. Colm (Malcolm) is a bricklayer. (Instead of bríceadóir, you can also

use the obvious English loan-word brícléir. A brick is called bríce in Irish.)

Is ríomhinnealtóir é Risteárd. Risteárd (Richard) is a computer engineer (a computer is

called ríomhaire, an engineer is innealtóir).

Is státseirbhíseach í Nóra. Nóra is a civil servant.

Is tiománaí tacsaí í Máire. Máire (Mary) is a taxi driver. In Irish, "a driver of taxi". The

English of is understood.

Is spásaire é James Tiberius Kirk. James Tiberius Kirk is a spaceman, an astronaut.

Is arrachtach é The Incredible Hulk. The Incredible Hulk is a monster.

Is aisteoir í Nana Visitor. Nana Visitor is an actress (actually, in Irish it is perfectly OK to

use the word aisteoir, actor, even for a female actor; if you want to stress the fact that

she is female, you can say Is ban-aisteoir í Nana Visitor orIs aisteoir mná í Nana Visitor.)

An dochtúir é Liam? Is ea. Is dochtúir é. Is dochtúir maith é. "Is Liam a doctor? Yes. He

is a doctor. He is a good doctor." Irish doesn't actually have words for the English "yes"

and "no" - this might feel a little funny, but the way Irish does it is actually quite common

as languages go. If you ask a question in the form of a classification sentence, such as

"is he a doctor?" -an dochtúir é? it is answered either is ea ("is") or ní hea ("isn't").

Please note that the attributive adjective maith, good, comes after the noun it qualifies.

The little word ea (in Ulster and in older texts, eadh) means "it", but it is only used in copula constructions. There is an alternative sort of classification sentence, which uses the word ea and is especially common in southern dialects:

Is dlíodóir í. = Dlíodóir is ea í. She is a lawyer.

Is feirmeoir é. = Feirmeoir is ea é. He is a farmer.

Is pluiméir é. = Pluiméir is ea é. He is a plumber.

Is brícléir é. = Brícléir is ea é. He is a bricklayer.

Is imreoir sacair é. = Imreoir sacair is ea é. He is a soccer player

(imreoir player, sacar soccer, imreoir sacair player of soccer)

Is peileadóir thú. = Peileadóir is ea thú. You are (thou art) a player of Gaelic football.

Is ríomhinnealtóir mé. = Ríomhinnealtóir is ea mé. I am a computer engineer.

Is siúinéir thú. = Síúinéir is ea thú. You are a carpenter. (Siúinéir, which comes from the

English word "joiner", is probably the most common word for "carpenter" in Irish

nowadays, but you might want to know that there are the alternative

terms cearpantóir and saor adhmaid.)

Is fisiceoir í. = Fisiceoir is ea í. She is a physicist.

Is ceimiceoir mé. = Ceimiceoir is ea mé. I am a (research) chemist (i.e. a laboratory kind

of chemist).

Is poitigéir thú. = Poitigéir is ea thú. You are a (pharmaceutical) chemist (i.e. you work at

the chemist's).

Is matamaiticeoir í. = Matamaiticeoir is ea í. She is a mathematician.

Is geolaí mé. = Geolaí is ea mé. I am a geologist.

Is geoiceimiceoir thú. = Geoiceimiceoir is ea thú. You are a geochemist.

Is réalteolaí í. = Réalteolaí is ea í. She is an astronomer.

Is réaltfhisiceoir mé. = Réaltfhisiceoir is ea mé. I am an astrophysicist.

Is geoifisiceoir thú. = Geoifisiceoir is ea thú. You are a geophysicist.

Greeting Someone[edit]

There are three ways to say "How are you?", depending on your dialect. Just pick the one you're most comfortable with, and use it.

Irish English Pronunciation IPA

Conas atá tú? How are you? (Munster) KUN-USS ATAW TOO? ?

Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?How are you? (Connaught)

KAY KHWEE A WILL TOO? ?

Cad é mar atá tú? How are you? (Ulster) CAWD AY MAR ATAW TOO? ?

Basic Conversation[edit]


Tá mé go maith. I am well. TAW MAY GUH MAH ?

_____ is ainm dom. _____ is my name. _____ ISS an-yim DUM ?

Is mise name. I am name. ISS MISH-uh... ?

Cad is ainm duit? What is your name? KOD ISS AN-yim DITCH ?

Tá _____ agam. I have _____. TAW _____ ug-UHM ?

An bhfuil _____ agat? Do you have _____? WILL _____ ug-UHT? ?

Tá __X__ ag __Y__. __Y__ has __X__. TAW ___ EGG ___ ?

Tá mé i mo chónaí i _____. I live in _____. TAW MAY ih MUH HOH-nee ?

Cá bhfuil tú i do chónaí? Where do you live?KAW WILL TOO ih DUH HOH-nee

?

Rugadh agus togadh mé i _____.

I was born and reared in _____.RUG-oo GUSS TOH-goo MAY ih...

?

Is as _____ ó dhúchas mé. I'm originally from _____.ISS AHSS _____ OH GHOO-khus MAY

?

Is maith liom _____. I like _____. ISS MAH LUM... ?

An maith leat _____? Do you like _____? UN MAH LAT... ?

Is brea liom _____. I really like _____. ISS BRAW LUM... ?

Is fuath liom _____. I hate _____. ISS FOO-uh LUM... ?

Is maith le __X__ __Y__ __X__ likes __Y__. ISS MAH LUH/LAY... ?

Ba mhaith liom _____. I would like _____. BUH WAH LUM ... ?

Ar mhaith leat _____? Would you like _____? ER WAH LAT ...? ?

an _____ seo this _____ AN SHOW

an _____ sin that _____ AN SHIN

ceart go leor fine KyART GUH LyOHR ?

anois now uh-NISH ?

Fáilte! Welcome! FALL-chuh ?

Tá a fhios agam I know TAHSS uh-GUM ?

go raibh maith agat

thank you

(Often abbreviated grma on the Internet)

GUH-ruh MAH GUT ?

Describing someone or something, part 1[edit]


Tá sé __adjective__ He/it is _____ TAW SHAY ?

Tá sí __adjective__ She/it is _____ TAW SHEE ?

Tá __name__ __adjective__ Name is _____ ? ?

Practice[edit]

Here are some words you can use to fill in the blanks above:


ard tall ARD ?

gairid short GAR-ij ?

mór big MOHR ?

beag small ByUG ?

sean old SHAN ʃæn

nua new NOO ?

óg young OHG ?

fada long FAH-duh ?

fuar cold FOO-ur ?

te hot CHEH tʃɛ

fliuch wet FLUKH ?

tirim dry CHIR-im

dorcha dark DOHR-khuh ?

geal bright GYAL ?

bán white BAHN ?

dubh black DUHV ?

dearg red JAR-ug ?

gorm blue GOHR-um ?

buí yellow BWEE ?

beo alive ByOH ?

bog soft BUG ?

crua hard KROO-uh ?

glan clean GLAHN ?

salach dirty SAH-lukh ?

milis sweet MILL-ish mɪlɪʃ

anseo here un-SHUH ?

ansin there un-SHIN ?

Describing someone or something, part 2[edit]

Example: Tá sé __adjective__ = He/it is _____


Tá mé (or Táim) I am TAW MAY ?

Tá tú You are TAW TOO ?

Tá sé He/it is TAW SHAY ?

Tá sí She/it is TAW SHEE ?

Tá muid (or Táimid)

We are TAW MWIJ ?

Tá sibh You (plural) are TAW SHIV ?

Tá siad They are TAW SHEED ?

Example: Níl sí __adjective__ = She/it isn't _____


Níl mé (or Nílim) I am not NEEL MAY ?

Níl tú You are not NEEL TOO ?

Níl sé He/it is not NEEL SHAY ?

Níl sí She/it is not NEEL SHEE ?

Níl muid (or Nílimid)

We are not NEEL MWIJ ?

Níl sibh You (plural) are not NEEL SHIV ?

Níl siad They are not NEEL SHEED ?

Asking questions[edit]


An bhfuil mé? Am I? (uh) WILL MAY ?

An bhfuil tú? Are you? (uh) WILL TOO ?

An bhfuil sé? Is he/it? (uh) WILL SHAY ?

An bhfuil sí? Is she/it? (uh) WILL SHEE ?

An bhfuil muid (or An bhfuilimid?) Are we? (uh) WILL MWIJ ?

An bhfuil sibh? Are you (plural)? (uh) WILL SHIV ?

An bhfuil siad? Are they? (uh) WILL SHEED ?

Nach bhfuil mé? Aren't I? NAKH WILL MAY ?

Nach bhfuil tú? Aren't you? NAKH WILL TOO ?

Nach bhfuil sé? Isn't he/it? NAKH WILL SHAY ?

Nach bhfuil sí? Isn't she/it? NAKH WILL SHEE ?

Nach bhfuil muid (or Nach bhfuilimid?)

Aren't we? NAKH WILL MWIJ ?

Nach bhfuil sibh? Aren't you (plural)? NAKH WILL SHIV ?

Nach bhfuil siad? Aren't they? NAKH WILL SHEED ?

All of the above questions are answered simply Tá or Níl.

Irish EnglishPronunciatio

nIPA

Cá bhfuil...?

Where is ...? KAH WILL ?

Practice[edit]

Here are some more adjectives to practice with.


dathiúil or doighiúil

good-looking DAW-hyool, DOY-hyool ?

cairdiúil friendly KAR-jool ?

lách pleasant LAHkh ?

breá fine BRAA ?

álainn beautiful AW-lun ?

daor dear, expensive DEER ?

saorcheap, inexpensive

SEER ?

tinn sick, sore CHEEN ?

spéisiúil interesting SPAY-shool ?

tabhachtach important TAH-wukh-tukh ?

glic cunning, "cute" GLIK ?

tuirseach tired TOOR-shukh ?

glán clean GLAHN ?

salach dirty SAH-lukh ?

deacair difficult JAA-ker ?

éasca easy AY-skuh ?

láidir strong LAW-jer ?

lag weak LAHG ?

dána bold, naughty DAH-nuh ?

Classification Statements[edit]

The verb tá, and its other forms (níl, an bhfuil, and nach bhfuil) can be used to describe something, but they can't be used to say what something is. For that you need to use a special verb called the copula.

Think of copula statements as a set of templates you can plug things into. You can change what you plug into the template, but you can't change the template itself. One of the templates available is a classification statement. A classification statement has the form:

Irish English

Is + category-noun + subject-noun.

subject-noun is a category-noun

Examples:


Is fear Liam. Liam is a man. ISS FAR LEEM ?

Ní cat Dougal. Dougal is not a cat. NEE KUT GOO-gull ?

An ainmhí é? Is it an animal? un AN-uh-vee AY? ?

Nach madra Dougal?Isn't Dougal a dog?

NAKH MAH-druh AY DOO-gull? ?

These questions are answered simply Is ea or Ní hea.

Notes:

1. In place of Is, you can have Ní, An?, Nach?, Ba, etc. as appropriate.

2. In a classification statement, the predicate (category) is always an indefinite noun (a

cat, a house, a doctor). There is another type of copula template, the identification

statement, that uses a definite noun (the cat, the house, the doctor) as the predicate.

This structure will be discussed later.

Practice[edit]

You can practice classification statements using the nouns below.


múinteoir teacher MOON-chore ?

dochtúir doctor DOKH-toor ?

feirmeoir farmer FEHR-mohr ?

meicneoir mechanic MEKH-nohr ?

dlíodóir lawyer DLEE-uh-dohr ?

iriseoir journalist EER-ish-ohr ?

tréidlia vet TRAYD-lee-uh ?

Éireannach Irish person/thing AY-run-ukh ?

Sasanach English person/thing SAH-sun-ukh ?

MeiriceánachAmerican person/thing

MEH-rih-kah-nukh

Review: Tá vs Is[edit]

One of the most common mistakes learners make is using tá in place of is, or vice versa. Here's one way to remember the difference:

The verb tá can be used to describe something.

To say what something is, you need the copula, is.

Another way to think of it:

Tá is used to associate a noun with an adjective.

Is is used to associate a noun with a another noun.

Exercises

Fill in the blanks with either tá or is, as appropriate. Hover your mouse over each blank to see the answer.

___ sé mór. It is big.

___ fear é. He is a man.

___ an lá go deas. The day is nice.

___ muid sásta. We are happy.

___ dochtúir í. She is a doctor.

___ Máire tinn. Máire is ill.

___ an leabhar sin deacair. That book is difficult.

___ leabhar Gone With The Wind. Gone With The Wind is a book.

___ an leabhar ar an mbord. The book is on the table.

___ mo mhadra Dougal. Dougal is my dog.

___ madra mór é. He is a big dog.

___ an madra mór. The dog is big.

___ an fhuinneog briste. The window is broken.

___ fuinneog bhriste é sin. That is a broken window.

___ sé níos mó ná bosca arán. It is bigger than a breadbox.

Fiche Ceist (Twenty Questions)[edit]

Playing Fiche Ceist is an excellent way to become familiar with:

the difference between "tá" and "is",

how nouns change when preceded by a preposition + definite article, and

masculine vs. feminine nouns

Follow the examples below.

TO DO: provide translations for all the words that aren't introduced earlier in the text

Is it…? Describing the object[edit]

An bhfuil sé

fuar? (cold)te? (hot)fliuch? (wet)tirim? (dry)dorcha? (dark)geal? (bright)bán? (white)dubh? (black)dearg? (red)gorm? (blue)buí? (yellow)beo? (alive)bog? (soft)crua? (hard)glan? (clean)salach? (dirty)milis? (sweet)mór? (big)beag? (small)ard (tall)sean (old)nua (new)óg (young)

Tá. (yes)Níl. (no)Is deacair a rá. (It’s difficult to say).Uaireanta. (sometimes)Beagnach (almost)Tá sé réasúnta fuar, etc.

(It’s reasonably cold, etc.)

chomh mór le (as big as)níos mó ná (bigger than)chomh beag le (as small as)níos lú ná (smaller than)

bosca arán? (a bread box)

déanta as adhmad? (made of wood)sa seomra ranga? (in the classroom)

sa (in the) bhosca, chupán, mhála

ar an (on the)faoin (under the)in aice leis an (beside the)gar don (near the)

mbordmboscambuidéalgcathaoirgcloggcupánndeochbhfáinnebhfuinneoigbpáipéarbpeannbpictiúrleabharmálascáthánscianspúnóg

Is it…? Identifying or classifying the object[edit]

An cóta (a coat)clog (a clock)leabhar (a book)pictiúr (a picture)páipéar (a paper, newspaper)bord (a table)buidéal (a bottle)forc (a fork)cupán (a cup)bía (food)mála (a bag)peann (a pen)fón (a phone)bosca (a box)scáthán(a mirror)fáinne (a ring)

é?

Is ea.Ní hea.

scian (a knife)spúnóg (a spoon)deoch (a drink)cathaoir (a chair)

í?

fuinneog (a window)bróg (a shoe)bó (a cow)

Is it…? Describing location[edit]

Past and Future: An Introduction[edit]

The table below illustrates how to form simple sentences in the past, present and future tenses.

Past

Bhí

An raibh...?

Ní raibh

mé

tú

sé

sí

muid

sibh

siad

Cáit

Seán

an cat

anseo

ansin

ann

tinn

ard

sásta

láidir

go hálainn

go dona

Present

Tá

An bhfuil...?

Níl

Future

Beidh

An mbeidh...?

Ní bheidh

IrishPronunciatio

nIPA

Bhí VEE ?

An raibh AN ROW ?

Ní raibh NEE ROW ?

Beidh BAY ?

An mbeidh UN MAY ?

Ní bheidh NEE VAY ?

There are also a few combined forms that are used in some dialects. Until you're ready to focus on one dialect in particular, you can use either form:


táim I am TAWM ?

táimid we are TAW-mwidj ?

bhíomar

we were VEE-mer ?

beimid we will be BAY-midj ?

Exercises

Practice by answering the questions below. If any of the words below are unfamiliar, you should be able to find them in the previous sections.

Anois... Now...

Cá bhfuil tú i do chónaí?

Cad é an aimsir inniú?

An maith leat seacláid?

An bhfuil tú óg? Sean?

An bhfuil Gaeilge easca?

Nuair a bhí tú óg... When you were young...

An raibh tú mór?

An raibh tú beag?

An raibh tú sean?

An raibh tú salach?

An raibh tú dána?

Cá raibh tú i do chónaí?

Nuair a bheidh tú sean... When you are (will be) old...

An mbeidh tú dathiúil?

An mbeidh tú láidir?

An mbeidh tú lag?

An mbeidh tú tuirseach?

Comparisons[edit]

In English, we usually make comparisons by tacking the suffix -er or -est onto the adjective. Irish also has special comparative forms.

Example:

mór big

níos mó bigger (ní ba mhó in the past tense)

is mó biggest (ba mhó in the past tense)

fuar cold

níos fuaire colder (ní b'fhuaire in the past tense)

is fuaire coldest (ab fhuaire in the past tense)

álainn lovely

níos áille lovelier (ní b'áille in the past tense)

is áille lovelier (ab áille in the past tense)

Note that the same form of the adjective is used for the relative and absolute comparisons. It's the prefix, níos or is, that makes the difference. Also note that the comparison is expressed differently for the past tense. (We're only going to worry about the present tense in this thread.)

The most common structures for comparing things are:

Is comparative X ná Y X is ___er than Y.

Tá X níos comparative ná Y

X is ___er than Y.

Is X an Z is comparative X is the ___est Z.

You may have notice something unusual about that first structure. I said earlier that is is used for absolute comparisons, where we use the '-est' ending in English, but I translate the

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evolution-tasks.png

first structure using an "-er" ending. You probably remember your English teacher saying that you compare two things using "-er"; that "-est" could only be used with three or more things. However, Irish doesn't have this rule. A sentence such as Is í an tsúil chlé an tsúil is láidre literally means "My right eye is the strongest eye", where in English we would say "My right eye is the stronger eye." So in short, don't worry about it.

One final comment about the first and third structures. The copula, is, can never be followed directly by a definite noun or a proper noun; you need to insert é, í or iad. If you're not ready to deal with that, don't worry. Just stick with the second structure.

So let's look at some examples of how to make comparisons.

Example:

Tá an madra mór. The dog is big.

Tá an madra níos mó ná an cat. The dog is bigger than the cat. (Notice how ná is used for "than".)

Sin an madra is mó. That is the biggest dog.

Tá an aimsir fuar. The weather is cold.

Tá an aimsir níos fuaire anois. The weather is colder now.

Tá an lá inniu go deas. Today is nice.

Beidh an lá amárach níos deise. Tomorrow will be nicer.

Is airde mise ná tusa. I am taller than you.

Is é Seán an fear is airde sa rang. Seán is the tallest man in the class.

Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste. Broken Irish is better than clever English.

Comparative Forms[edit]

The rules for changing an adjective into the comparative form are fairly simple.

If it ends in a consonant, add -e to it. (If the ending isn't slender, you'll need to make it

slender first.)

glas - níos glaise - is glaise

If it ends in a vowel, no change.

dána - níos dána - is dána

If it ends in -(e)ach, change the ending to -(a)í.

bacach - níos bacaí - is bacaí

díreach - níos dírí - is dírí

If it ends in -(i)úil, change the ending to -(i)úla.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evolution-tasks.png

flaithiúil - níos flaithiúla - is flaithiúla

dathúil - níos dathúla - is dáthúla.

Irregular Comparatives[edit]

beag - níos lú - is lú

breá - níos breátha - is breátha

dócha - níos dóichí - is dóichí

fada - níos faide - is faide

fogus - níos foisce - is foisce

furasta - níos fusa - is fusa

iomaí - níos lia - is lia

ionúin - níos ionúine - is ionúine

maith - níos fearr - is fearr

olc - níos measa - is measa

te - níos teo - is teo

tréan - níos tréine/treise - is tréine/treise

mór - níos mó - is mó

Compound Prepositions[edit]

opposite -- ar aghaidh, os coinne, os comhairbehind -- ar chúl, taobh thiar deduring -- ar feadh, i gcaitheamh, i rith, in imeacht, le linnthroughout -- ar fudlooking for -- ar lorglike, in the manner of -- ar nósfor the sake of -- ar son, thar ceann, de cheannabout to -- ar tías a result of, because of -- de bharr, dá bhrí, de thairbheaccording to -- de réiron account of -- de thairbhefor the purpose of -- fa choinne, le haghaidhto meet -- faoi dhéinto the end of, to the top of -- go ceannin charge of, minding -- i bhfeighil, i gcionnalong with -- i dteanntaagainst -- i gcoinne, in aghaidh, in éadan

in the middle of -- i lárpresent at, in the presence of -- i láthairamong -- i meascafter -- i ndiaidh, tar éisin place of -- in áitalong with -- le cois, i dteannta, in éineacht lebeside -- le hais, in aice (le), taobh leabove -- os cionnin front of -- os coinne, os comhairnear -- in aice (le)in order -- i gcóirtherefore -- dá bhrí sinunder the care of -- faoi churamat the head of -- ar ceannat the end of -- i gceann, faoi cheannin reference to -- um cheann (very rare)

Documents

Irish Sentence Structure