Irregular Verbs, Demystified
Irish only has a handful of
irregular verbs, so breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, as with most languages, the most commonly used
verbs are
irregular.
So the sooner you face them, the better.
If you look up the irregular verbs in your foclóir, you may see a big
conjugation table and assume you'll have to memorise the whole thing.
Wrong! It's really much easier than that.
It will help if you remember this guiding principle, which may not be obvious to the beginner:
There are a few exceptions, of course.
One very good way to learn these verbs is simply to read this list of questions and answers, out loud, once a day for a week or two.
After that, you will find that you know most of them without having made an effort to memorise.
Then you can focus on the particular ones that give you trouble.
abair (say)
present An ndéir tú? Deirim/Ní deirim
past An ndúirt tú? Dúírt/Ní dúirt
future An ndéarfaidh tú? Déarfaidh/Ní dhéarfaidh
beir (catch, give birth to)
present An mbeireann tú? Beirim/Ní bheirim
past Ar rug tú? Rug/Níor rug
future An mbéarfaidh tú? Béarfaidh/Ní bhéarfaidh
clois (hear)
present An gcloiseann tú? Cloisim/Ní chloisim
past Ar chuala tú? Chuala/Níor chuala
future An gcloisfidh tú? Cloisfidh/Ní chloisfidh
déan (make, do)
present An ndéanann tú? Déanaim/Ní dhéanaim
past An ndearna tú? Rinne/Ní dhearna
future An ndéanfaidh tú? Déanfaidh/Ní dhéanfaidh
faigh (get)
present An bhfaigheann tú? Faighim/Ní fhaighim
past An bhfuair tú? Fuair/Ní bhfuair
future An bhfaighfaidh tú? Gheobhaidh/Ní bhfaighidh
feic (see)
present An bhfeiceann tú? Feicim (Chím in Ulster)/Ní fheicim
past An bhfaca tú? Chonaic/Ní fhaca
future An bhfeicfidh tú? Feicfidh (Chífidh in Ulster)/Ní fheicfidh
ith (eat)
present An itheann tú? Ithim /Ní ithim
past Ar ith tú? D'ith/Níor ith
future An íosfaidh tú? Íosfaidh/Ní íosfaidh
tabhair (give)
present An dtugann tú? Tugaim /Ní thugaim
past Ar thug tú? Thug/Níor thug
future An dtabharfaidh tú? Tabharfaidh/Ní thabharfaidh
tar (come)
present An dtagann tú? Tagaim /Ní thagaim
past Ar tháinig tú? Tháinig/Níor tháinig
future An dtiocfaidh tú? Tiocfaidh/Ní thiocfaidh
téigh (go)
present An dtéann tú? Téim /Ní théim
past An ndeachaigh tú? Chuaigh/Ní dheachaigh
future An rachfaidh tú? Rachfaidh/Ní rachfaidh
bí (be)
present An bhfuil tú? Tá (or Táim)/Níl (or Nílim)
past An raibh tú? Bhí/Ní raibh
future An mbeidh tú? Beidh/Ní bheidh