In the Irish language, verb forms are constructed either "synthetically" or "analytically":
Synthetic forms express the information about person and number in the ending: e.g., "I praise", where the ending - stands for "first person singular present". In this case, a pronoun is not allowed: * is ungrammatical. is allowed but using the - ending is more common.
Analytic forms are those whose endings contain no information about person and number, and a pronoun is necessary: e.g., "you (pl.) praise", where the ending - expresses only the present tense, and the pronoun "you" (pl.) must accompany it in order to express "second person plural".
In addition to the three persons, Irish also has an impersonal form (also called the "autonomous" form), which is used in forming the passive 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, although some of the most important distinctions made in certain dialects are pointed out in this article.
See Irish orthography for the pronunciation of verb endings.
Regular verbs There are two conjugation classes of regular verbs, as illustrated below. Forms in italics are not part of the standard language. The suffixes shown change to agree with the word ending in a velarised ("broad") consonant or palatalised ("slender") consonant. In the examples below, verbs ending with "broad" consonants are shown above those ending with "slender" consonants.
In the imperfect, preterite, and conditional, a consonant-initial stem undergoes lenition (and dialectally is preceded by ), while a vowel-initial stem is prefixed by . A stem beginning with + a vowel takes both, e.g. "wait", "he waited". The preterite impersonal, e.g. "one waited", neither undergoes lenition nor receives . The -- in future and conditional stems is pronounced ; except in the conditional 2nd person singular and the impersonal, where it remains .
1st conjugation Tense Particle Mutation Ending Analytic Synthetic Singular Plural Impersonal 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Indicative Present — — -(e)ann -(a)im -(a)ir -(a)imid rowspan="2" -(a)id -t(e)ar Past Imperfect Lenition -(e)adh -(a)inn -t(e)á -(a)imis -(a)idís -t(a)í Past Perfect Lenition -(e)as -(a)is -(e)amar -(e)abhar -(e)adar -(e)adh Future — -f(a)idh -f(e)ad -f(a)ir -f(a)imid rowspan="2" -f(a)id -f(e)ar Conditional Lenition -f(e)adh -f(a)inn -f(e)á -f(a)imis -f(a)idís -f(a)í Imperative — -(e)adh -(a)im -(a)imis -(a)igí/-(a)idh -(a)idís -t(e)ar Subjunctive Presentgo Eclipsis -a/-e -(e)ad -(a)ir -(a)imid rowspan="2" -(a)id -t(e)ar Pastdá Eclipsis -(e)adh -(a)inn -t(e)á -(a)imis -(a)idís -t(a)í Past Participle — -ta/-te colspan="7"
+1st conjugation examples: "to praise" and "to understand"TenseAnalytic Synthetic Singular Plural Impersonal 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Indicative Present molanntuigeann molaimtuigim molairtuigir molaimidtuigimid rowspan="2" molaidtuigid moltartuigtear PastImperfect mholadhthuigeadh mholainnthuiginn mholtáthuigteá mholaimisthuigimis mholaidísthuigidís moltaítuigtí PastPerfect mholthuig mholasthuigeas mholaisthuigis mholamarthuigeamar mholabharthuigeabhar mholadarthuigeadar mholadhthuigeadh Future molfaidhtuigfidh molfadtuigfead molfairtuigfir molfaimidtuigfimid rowspan="2" molfaidtuigfid molfartuigfear Conditional mholfadhthuigfeadh mholfainnthuigfinn mholfáthuigfeá mholfaimisthuigfimis mholfaidísthuigfidís mholfaíthuigfí Imperative moladhtuigeadh molaimtuigim moltuig molaimistuigimis molaigí / molaidhtuigigí / tuigidh molaidístuigidís moltartuigtear Subjunctive Present go molago dtuige go moladgo dtuigead go molairgo dtuigir go molaimidgo dtuigimid rowspan="2" go molaidgo dtuigid go moltargo dtuigtear Past dá moladhdá dtuigeadh dá molainndá dtuiginn dá moltádá dtuigteá dá molaimisdá dtuigimis dá molaidísdá dtuigidís dá moltaídá dtuigtí Past Participle moltatuigthe colspan="7"
2nd conjugation Second stem verbs take the same base suffixes as first conjugation verbs, but add the infix in -- (most forms), or -- (in the future and conditional).
Roots ending in a slender consonant undergo syncope before the addition of --.
Tense Particle Mutation Ending Analytic Synthetic Singular Plural Impersonal 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd Indicative Present — — -(a)íonn -(a)ím -(a)ír -(a)ímid rowspan="2" -(a)íd -(a)ítear Past Imperfect Lenition -(a)íodh -(a)ínn -(a)íteá -(a)ímis -(a)ídís -(a)ítí Past Perfect Lenition -(a)íos -(a)ís -(a)íomar -(a)íobhar -(a)íodar -(a)íodh Future — -óidh/-eoidh -ód/-eod -óir/-eoir -óimid/-eoimid rowspan="2" -óid/-eoid -ófar/-eofar Conditional Lenition -ódh/-eodh -óinn/-eoinn -ófá/-eofá -óimis/-eoimis -óidís/-eoidís -ófaí/-eofaí Imperative — -(a)íodh -(a)ím -(a)ímis -(a)ígí/-(a)ídh -(a)ídís -(a)ítear Subjunctive Present go Eclipsis -(a)í -(a)íod -(a)ír -(a)ímid rowspan="2" -(a)íd -(a)ítear Pastdá Eclipsis -(a)íodh -(a)ínn -(a)íteá -(a)ímis -(a)ídís -(a)ítí Past Participle— -t(h)e colspan="7"
+2nd conjugation examples: "to begin” and "to tell" Tense Analytic Synthetic Singular Plural Impersonal 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rdIndicativePresent tosaíonninsíonn tosaíminsím tosaírinsír tosaímidinsímid rowspan="2" tosaídinsíd tosaítearinsítearPastImperfect thosaíodhd'insíodh thosaínnd'insínn thosaíteád'insíteá thosaímisd'insímis thosaídísd'insídís thosaítíd'insítíPastPerfect thosaighd'inis thosaíosd'insíos thosaísd'insís thosaíomard'insíomar thosaíobhard'insíobhar thosaíodard'insíodar thosaíodhd'insíodhFuture tosóidhinseoidh tosódinseod tosóirinseoir tosóimidinseoimid rowspan="2" tosóidinseoid tosófarinseofarConditional thosódhd'inseodh thosóinnd'inseoinn thosófad'inseofá thosóimisd'inseoimis thosóidísd'inseoidís thosófaíd'inseofaíImperative tosaíodhinsíodh tosaíminsím tosaighinis tosaímisinsímis tosaígí / tosaídhinsígí / insídh tosaídísinsídís tosaítearinsítear Subjunctive Present go dtosaígo n-insí go dtosaíodgo n-insíod go dtosaírgo n-insír go dtosaímidgo n-insímid rowspan="2" go dtosaídgo n-insíd go dtosaíteargo n-insítear Past dá dtosaíodhdá n-insíodh dá dtosaínndá n-insínn dá dtosaíteádá n-insíteá dá dtosaímisdá n-insímis dá dtosaídísdá n-insídís dá dtosaítídá n-insítíPast participle tosaitheinste colspan="7"
Irregular verbs There are eleven irregular verbs in Standard Irish, whose equivalents when translated into English are irregular verbs as well (e.g. the Irish irregular verb is translated into "to say" in English, but the English word "say" itself is also an irregular verb); individual dialects have a few more. 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, i.e. (interrogative particle) and (negative particle), instead of (pret. interrogative particle) and (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 "if" (open conditional) and the direct relative particle , while the dependent forms are used after all other particles.
"to say" The - in this verb's independent forms is not lenited, and the dependent forms are slightly archaic. +Abair conjugationAbair, "to say"AnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentIndependentdeirdeir-Dependentabrannab(a)r-Past ImperfectIndependentdeireadhdeir-Dependentabradhab(a)r-Past Perfectdúirtdúr-FutureIndependentdéarfaidhdéar-Dependentabróidhabró-ConditionalIndependentdéarfadhdéar-Dependentabródhabró-Imperativeabradhabair, abraigí; abr-SubjunctivePresentIndependentgo ndeirego ndeir-Dependentgo n-abrago n-abr-PastIndependentdá ndeireadhdá ndeir-Dependentdá n-abradhdá n-abr-Verbal NounráPast Participleráite
"to catch" +Beir conjugationBeir, "to bear"StandardMunsterAnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentbeireannbeir-Past ImperfectbheireadhbheirPast Perfectrugrug-riugriug-Futurebéarfaidhbéar-Conditionalbéarfadhbéar-Imperativebeireadhbeir-SubjunctivePresentgo mbeirego mbeir-Pastdá mbeireadhdá mbeir-Verbal NounbreithPast Participlebeirthe
"to be" If a noun phrase is in the predicate, then forms of the particle is are used rather than anything below. +Bí conjugationBí, "to be"AnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresent Independenttá(nn)taoi (2pS), táthaoi (2pP), tádar (3pP); tái-Dependentfuilfuil-Negativenílníl-Present Habitualbíonnbí-Past Imperfectbhíodhbhí-Past PerfectIndependentbhíbhío-Dependentraibhrabh-Futurebeidhbe-Conditionalbheadhbhei-Imperativebíodhbí, bígí; bí-SubjunctivePresentgo raibhgo rabh-Pastdá mbeadhdá mbei-Verbal NounbheithPast Participle(none)
/ "to hear"
is used in southern and south-central Irish (Munster, Connemara, Aran Islands etc.), whereas is used in northern and north-central varieties (Mayo, Ulster). +Clois/Cluin conjugationClois/ Cluin "to hear"Southern IrishNorthern IrishAnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentcloiseannclois-cluineanncluin-Past Imperfectchloiseadhchlois-chluineadhchluin-Past Perfectchualachual-chualachual-Futurecloisfidhclois-cluinfidhcluin-Conditionalchloisfeadhchlois-chluinfeadhchluin-Imperativecloiseadhclois, cloisigí; clois-cluineadhcluin, cluinigí; cluin-SubjunctivePresentgo gcloisego gclois-go gcluinego gcluin-Pastdá gcloiseadhdá gclois-dá gcluineadhdá gcluin-Verbal NouncloisteáilcluinstinPast Participlecloistecluinte
"to do, to make" +Déan conjugationDéan, "to do, to make"StandardMunsterUlster, Aran (Connacht)AnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentIndependentghní(onn)ghní-Dependentdéananndéan-deineanndein-Past ImperfectIndependent(gh)níodhghní-ghníodhghní-Dependentdhéanadhdhéan-dheindhein-Past PerfectIndependentrinnerinn-dheineadhdhein-rinnrinn-Dependentdearnadearn-dearndearn-FutureIndependentdéanfaidhdéan-DependentConditionalIndependentdhéanfadhdhéan-DependentImperativedéanadhdéan, déanaigí; déan-deineadhdein, deinigí; dein-SubjunctivePresentgo ndéanago ndéan-go ndeinago ndein-Pastdá ndéanadhdá ndéan-dá ndeineadhdá ndein-Verbal NoundéanamhPast Participledéanta
"to find, to get" The - in forms of this verb is eclipsed rather than lenited after . +Faigh conjugationFaigh, "to get"AnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentIndependentgheibheanngheibh-Dependentfaigheannfaigh-Past ImperfectIndependentgheibheadhgheibh-Dependentd'fhaigheadhd'faigh-Past Perfectfuairfuair-FutureIndependentgheobhaidhgheobh-Dependentfaighidhfaigh-ConditionalIndependentgheobhadhgheobh-Dependentfaigheadhfaigh-Imperativefaigheadhfaigh, faighigí; faigh-SubjunctivePresentgo bhfaighego bhfaigh-Pastdá bhfaigheadhdá bhfaigh-Verbal NounfáilPast Participlefaighte
"to see" +Feic conjugationFeic, "to see"StandardMunsterUlsterAnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentIndependentfeiceannfeic-c(h)íonnc(h)í-tchíonntchí-Dependentfeiceannfeic-feiceannfeic-Past ImperfectIndependentd'fheiceadhfheicc(h)íodhc(h)í-tíodhtchí-Dependentfheiceadhfheic-Past PerfectIndependentchonaicchonaic-chnaicchnaic-thain(a)icthainic-Dependentfacafac-feaca(igh)feaca-facafac-FutureIndependentfeicfidhfeic-c(h)ífidhc(h)í-tchífidhtchí-Dependentgcífidhgcí-ConditionalIndependentd'fheicfeadhd'fheic-c(h)ífeadhc(h)ítchífeadhtchí-Dependentfheicfeadhfheic-gcífeadhgcí-Imperativefeiceadhfeic, feicigí; feic-SubjunctivePresentgo bhfeicego bhfeic-Pastdá bhfeiceadhdá bhfeic-Verbal NounfeiceáilfeiscintPast Participlefeicthe
"to eat" +Ith conjugationIth, "to eat"StandardCape Clear (Munster)AnalyticSyntheticAnalyticSyntheticIndicativePresentitheannith-Past Imperfectd'itheadhd'ith-Past Perfectd'ithd'ith-duaidhdua-Futureíosfaidhíosfai-ConditionalIndependentd'íosfadhdíos-Dependentíosfadhíos-Imperativeitheadhith, ithigí; ith-SubjunctivePresentgo n-ithego n-ith-Pastdá n-itheadhdá n-ith-Verbal NounithePast Participleite
"to give, to bring, (to be named)"