Coursepack GOC6

1
Coursepack for the course at Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín and

Cumann Carad na Gaeilge called
RÉAMHRANG - AG TOSÚ A FHOGHLAIM

PRE-COURSE - STARTING TO LEARN
An Aid for New Students of Irish
CLÁR ÁBHAIR / TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Réamhrá / Introduction
01. Fáth, Cuspóirí, agus Ábhair Fhoghlamtha An Chúrsa Seo / The Reason For, The
Objectives Of, And Learning Materials For This Course. p. 2
II. Téarmanna Ghramadúla / Grammatical Terms (Review as needed.)
02. Sainmhínithe Eagartha in Ord Aibítreach / Definitions in Alphabetical Order. p. 5
III. An Bunsraith / The Foundation
03. Conas Síntí Fada a Dhéanamh / How to Make Fadas. p. 15

04. Forainmneacha / Pronouns. p. 16
05. Réamhfhocail / Prepositions. p. 17
06. Aidiachtaí Sealbhacha / Possessive Adjectives. p. 18
07. Séimhiú / Aspiration a.k.a. Lenition. p. 19
08. Urú / Eclipsis. p. 20
09. An Treoirlíne D,N,T,L,S / The D,N,T,L,S Guideline. p. 22
10. Na Pairteagail / The Particles An, Ní, Má, And Dá. p. 23
11. Na Dobhriathair Cheisteacha / The Interrogatory Adverbs. p. 25
12. Déanmhais Abairtí / Structures of Sentences. p. 26
13. An Briathar / The Verb. p. 27
14. An Briathar Rialta ‘Bris’ / The Regular Verb ‘Bris’. p. 28
15. An Briathar Rialta ‘Tóg’ / The Regular Verb ‘Tóg’. p. 29
16. An Briathar Neamhrialta ‘Bí’ / The Irregular Verb ‘Bí’. p. 30
17. An t-Ainmfhocal agus A Thuisil / The Noun and Its Cases. p. 31
18. Ainmfhocail agus a nAidiachtaí / Nouns and Their Adjectives. p. 32
19. ‘Seo’ agus ‘Sin’ / ‘This’ and ‘That’. p. 34
20. An Cairt Díochlaonta agus A Tábhacht / The Declension Chart and Its Importance.
p. 35
21. Cairt Díochlaonta Samplach / A Typical Declension Chart. p. 37
22. Achoimre agus Deireadh / 22. Summary and End. p. 38
AGUISÍNÍ / APPENDICES
A. Ogham. p. 39
B. Aibítir Ghaelach / The Gaelic Alphabet. p. 40
C. Aibítir Ghaelach - Sampla / The Gaelic Alphabet – Example. p. 41
Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

2
1. FÁTH, CUSPÓIRÍ, AGUS ÁBHAIR FHOGHLAMTHA AN CHÚRSA SEO

1. THE REASON FOR, THE OBJECTIVES OF, AND LEARNING MATERIALS FOR
THIS COURSE
A. The Starting Point. The Absolute Basis. Without this it won’t happen:
This coursepack is based on your desire to really learn the language and your
commitment to follow through on that.
B. This Course’s Reason for Being
Here’s why this course exists.
Irish has a very different phonetics system. This is easy to learn if you apply yourself
for several hours and if we help you for several hours. Mistakenly, we used to put our
students right into the main body of our curriculum without giving them the opportunity
to master Irish phonetics. We assumed that our students would pick these up as they
went along. We were wrong. That didn’t work. We discovered that you can’t master a
different language’s very different phonetic system by treating it as an afterthought only
for a few minutes during an hour of class once a week. Therefore, I will help you master
Irish phonetics right up front in this pre-class so that you don’t continue to stumble over
Irish pronunciation as you go forward in the language and into the main body of our
curriculum next term.
We also discovered that providing an overview of the structure of Irish right up front
helps the student orient himself/herself to each new topic in our main body of
curriculum. In other words, it’s better to have a student saying “Sure, I remember we
talked about that / It’s no big deal” than “What the heck is this and how many of these
do I have to face in the lessons ahead?” So, I will give you an overview of the structure
of the language right up front in this pre-class before you move into the main body of
our curriculum next term.
C. Resulting Objectives
1. phonetics. Please take the time to master Irish phonetics. This won’t be difficult if
you spend the time. Specifically, I will teach you how to say whatever you see and spell
whatever you hear.
2. overview of the language. We’re going to give you an overview of the language.
Don’t memorize it. You’ll have plenty of time to do that later. Just appreciate the
differences. You’ll soon learn that Irish is a much more elegant, efficient, and
expressive than certain other languages which shall (for the moment) go un-named.

3
D. Learning Materials
1. (free) Phonetics
Go to http://philo-celtic.com/pronunciation/how-to-pronounce-irish.html
Watch the phonetics videos. Memorize them. Irish phonetics are radically different from
English phonetics but they’re not that tough. You need to do this so you don’t spend the
next many years fumbling and stumbling over how to pronounce your vocabulary or
trying to use English phonetics to understand someone speaking Irish.
2. At about week 4, I’ll ask you to buy a detailed dictionary with grammatical charts.
These four have the best charts and are currently (or usually) in print and on Amazon:
Oxford Pocket Irish Dictionary
Foclóir Scoile English-Irish / Irish-English Dictionary (publisher: An Gúm)
Collins Easy Learning Irish Dictionary (Don’t buy the “Gem” version – it’s too
small.)
Easy Reference Irish-English English-Irish Dictionary (Roberts Rinehart

Publishers). This one has the most extensive noun and verb charts. It’s more
advanced than the preceding three. You might want to get one of the three above
and this one at a later date.
3. (free) for listening comprehension, pronunciation, and expansion of your

vocabulary, Duolingo. This is free online at www.duolingo.com .
E. Additional Resources (all free)
Just for fun, consider exploring these.
Nuacht TG4 (news on TG4) with transcription at http://vifax.maynoothuniversity.ié
Pota Focal – a pot of words – examples of how words are used at www.potafocal.com
Google's machine translator (which can't be trusted): http://translate.google.com/
Abair.ie (a speech generator!!!): http://www.abair.tcd.ié
Mozilla Firefox as Gaeilge (in Irish): http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/
Teilifís na Gaeilge Bealach 4 = TG4 (Irish TV!!!): www.tg4.ie
Raidió na Gaeltachta: http://www.rte.iérnag/

4
Raidió Life: http://www.raidionalife.ié
Raidió RíRá: http://www.rrr.ié
YouTube keywords: Coláiste Lurgan: www.youtube.com

YouTube keywords for films in Irish: scannán gaeilge: www.youtube.com
F. Some of our Tradition (all free)
CELT - Corpus of Electronic Texts: http://www.ucc.iécelt/
An Bíobla Naofa (the Holy Bible): http://www.anbioblanaofa.org/en/pdf

Altú roimh bhéile (Grace before meals): http://www.irishpage.com/prayers/grace.htm
Béaloideas / Folklore - Edison wax cylinders: http://www.bealbeo.ié

TG4 sean-nós songs with words! http://old.tg4.iéen/programmes/archive.html

5
2. SAINMHÍNITHE EAGARTHA IN ORD AIBÍTREACH

2. DEFINITIONS ORGANIZED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
This list is organized in alphabetical order (rather than by topic) for quick reference.
This list is intended to include all the grammatical terms used in this coursepack. If it’s
missing any, please let me know!
a – an abbreviation typically used to indicate an adjective
a1 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 1st Declension of adjectives
a2 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 2nd Declension of adjectives
a3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 3rd Declension of adjectives
accusative – the form (spelling) of a noun which is usually used as the direct object of a
verb (e.g., John hit the ball.) It has the same spelling as the nominative so it usually
isn’t displayed in declension tables.
Additional Information – In both classification and identification sentences, this is any

additional information the speaker or writer wishes to provide. In the copula’s sentence
structure, it comes after the subject.
adjective - describes a noun (big soldier, Tall John, steep hill, hard rock)
adverb - describes the verb (did well, hit hard, ate quickly, etc.)
An, and its variations (used before a verb at the beginning of a sentence or phrase) –
This particle demonstrates that the sentence or phrase is a question.
aspiration – another name for séimhiú, which see
Autonomous form of the verb (passive voice, ‘free verb’) – This is called the
saorbhriathar (‘free verb’) in Irish because it doesn’t have a subject. Instead, it has an
object. Example: Tógtar é – present tense - It is being taken (in the present but we’re
not saying by whom). ‘é’ is the object of the verb, not the subject.
broad consonant – consonant for which the closest vowel is a broad vowel
broad vowels – a, o, u
buailte – the dot over a consonant in the Gaelic alphabet demonstrating aspiration,
a.k.a., lenition. To save money by using English and American typewriters, the Irish
government replaced the buailte with an h after the consonant in 1958. Use of the

6
Gaelic alphabet (including the buailte) is now increasing due to the availability of
computerized Gaelic fonts.
Classification Sentences – These are sentences which classify the nature of the subject
of the sentence. Examples: He is a man. That was a good table. We are people.
These sentences use the verb called the copula, which see.
common noun - any person, place, or thing (a man, a hometown, a volcano)
comp. – comparative form. This is used to create comparatives like “more clever” and
“most clever”. It is formed form the genitive singular feminine form of the adjective.
Conditional Mood examples: If a certain condition is fulfilled, I would/should/could take

it, You would/should/could take it, He / She / It would/should/could take it, etc.
conditional mood: I would / should / could be; I would / should / could take; I would /
should / could go (if a certain condition is fulfilled)
consonants – the Irish consonants are b, c, d, f, g, l, m, n, p, r, s, t. h is used for

grammatical purposes. Officially since 1958, h has also been used to demonstrate
séimhiú in pronunciation of consonants.
copula – The copula is separate from the verb ‘Bí’ / ‘Be’, which uses the Standard
Sentence Structure. The copula is used in Irish to indicate either classification or
identification. You might generally think of this verb as describing permanent states of
being. Examples of classification: This is a book; He was a good person; She would be
a good choice. Examples of identification: He is Jerry; The person who went to Boston
was Síle. The right person for the job would be Nancy. In contrast, the verb Bí
describes temporary states of being (example: I am sitting at the table right now; Brian
is going to the park; etc.).
Dá – ‘if’ – This particle is used with the Conditional Mood and Past Subjunctive
dative form of a noun – the form (spelling) of a noun used as the object of a preposition.
These days, with only a couple of exceptions, the dative form is the same as the
nominative form
declension – a group of nouns or adjectives. Irish has 5 declensions (groups) of nouns

and 3 declensions of adjectives. All members of a given declension are declined in the
same way.
declension table – a table which shows how to decline the various declensions of nouns
or adjectives
decline – to decline a noun or adjective is to identify its form, including any spelling
changes, as the noun or adjective changes from nominative singular to genitive singular
to nominative plural to genitive plural.

7
definite article – an (used before a noun) - 'the' as in “the rock”
definite noun – a proper noun or a noun modified by the word ‘the’ or by a possessive
adjective (my, your, his, her, etc.)
definite noun phrase – a phrase which includes a definite noun (example: a grain of
sand of the beach, a product of New England, cousins of my in-laws, etc.)
Dependent Form of the verb – These are forms of the verb which are “dependent” of
(i.e., need) the particles An (question coming), Ní (not), go (that), and nach (that not)
in order to give the sentence the meaning you want. For Regular Verbs, the root used
to create the Independent Form and Dependent Form of any particular tense, mood, or
person are the same. For Irregular Verbs, the root used to create the Independent Form
and Dependent Form of any particular tense, mood, or person may not be the same,
which is why these verbs are called ‘Irregular”. To see this in action, take a look at the
verb chart for the regular verb ‘Bris / Break’ and the irregular verb ‘Bí / Be’.
direct object of the verb (aka, direct object, object of the sentence) - the person, place,
or thing TO WHICH the action is being done. (I hit a ball, I ate a cake, He took the car,
etc.)
direct object of the verb (aka, direct object, object of the sentence) - the person, place,
or thing TO WHICH the action is being done. (I hit a ball, I ate a cake, He took the car,
etc.)
eclipsis – putting certain consonants in front of letters while pronouncing the new
(eclipsing) consonant and not the original (eclipsed) consonant. This occurs as a result
of specific rules, which you will eventually learn.
emphatic form of a word – You can make certain small additions (like –sa, -se, and –
san) to Irish words in order to order to provide emphasis to that particular word without
changing the tone of your voice, screaming at somebody, or beating them over the
head. This altered word is called the emphatic form.
f2 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 2nd Declension
f3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 3rd Declension
f4 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 4th Declension
fada – short name for the síneadh fada, which see
free verb (saorbhriathar) – see autonomous form of the verb

8
future tense examples: I will be, I will take, I will go
Future Tense examples: I will take it, You will take it, He / She / It will take it, etc.
genitive of a noun, or genitive form of a noun, or noun in its genitive form – the form
(spelling) of a noun which means ‘of X’, with X being the noun.
genitive plural of a noun – the form (spelling) of a plural noun in its genitive form, i.e.,
the genitive form of a plural noun
genitive position – any position in a noun string which succeeds the nominative position.
With a single exception, the noun in this position takes the genitive form of the noun.
genitive singular of a noun – the form (spelling) of a singular noun in its genitive form,
i.e., the genitive form of a singular noun
Gerund examples: taking, putting, being
gpl – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the genitive plural form of a noun or
adjective. example: of boats
gs – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the genitive singular form of a noun or
adjective. example: of a boat
habitual past tense examples: I used to be, I used to take, I used to go
Habitual Past Tense examples: I used to take it, You used to take it, He / She / It used
to take it, etc. on a regular basis.
Habitual Present Tense examples using “daily” as an example (although we could use
monthly, weekly, yearly, every minute, etc.): I take it daily, You take it daily, He / She
/ It takes it daily, etc. Note that this is the same as the Present Tense except for the
verb Bí / Be, which has a separate form to indicate the Habitual Present Tense.
Identification Sentences – These are sentences which identify who the subject of the
sentence is, was, would be, were, or are. Examples: You are Máire. We are Liam and
Tomás. They were the teachers. These sentences use the verb called the copula, which
see.
imperative form of the verb – This is the form of the verb which you use to order
someone to do something. Do this! Eat your spinach! Be good! The second person
singular imperative form of the verb is the root of the verb. For example, (You –
addressed to one person) Do this! Regular Verbs use the root to conjugate all the other
tenses and moods of the verb. Irregular Verbs often or usually use this root to
conjugate all the other tenses and moods of the verb, but sometimes throw it away in
some of the tenses and moods.

9
Imperative Mood examples: Take it! (singular). Take it! (plural)
indefinite article - 'a' as in “a ball”. We don’t use the indefinite article in Irish. We just
say the noun.
Independent Form of the verb – These are forms of the verb which are “independent” of
(i.e., don’t need) the particles An (question coming), Ní (not), go (that), and nach (that
not) in order to give the sentence the meaning you want. For Regular Verbs, the root
used to create the Independent Form and Dependent Form of any particular tense,
mood, or person are the same. For Irregular Verbs, the root used to create the
Independent Form and Dependent Form of any particular tense, mood, or person may
not be the same, which is why these verbs are called ‘Irregular”. To see this in action,
take a look at the verb chart for the regular verb ‘Bris / Break’ and the irregular verb ‘Bí
/ Be’.
indirect object of the verb - the person, place, or thing TÓFOR WHICH the action is being
done. (I hit him the ball, He brought her the car, etc.). We replace this in Irish with
prepositional phrases (to him and for her).
Infinitive examples: to take, to put, to be
Information – This is used in both classification and identification sentences. In

classification sentences, these are the words which classify the subject of the sentence.
Example: Jerry is a man. Here, “Jerry” is the subject of the sentence and “a man” is
the Information. In identification sentences, the Information consists of the words which
are intended to identify the subject of the sentence. Example: He is Jerry. Here, “He”
is the subject and “Jerry” is the Information.
interrogatory adverbs – Who ...?, What ...?, When ...?, Where ...?, Why ...?, How ...?,
How much ...?, Which ...? These are used at the beginning of a sentence in both Irish
and English.
Interrogatory statement examples: Do I take it? Did you take it? Will He / She / It take
it? Etc. Interrogatory statements take the dependent form of the verb (i.e., the form of
the verb dependent upon a negative or interrogatory particle.)
intransitive verb - v.i. – a verb which does not have a direct object. Examples: Sneeze!
Die! Evaporate!
irregular verb - a verb which uses different roots when conjugating (I am, I was, I will
be, etc.)
lenition – another name for séimhiú, which see
m1 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the masculine 1st Declension
m3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the masculine 3rd Declension

10
m4 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the masculine 4th Declension
Má – ‘if’ – This particle is used with all tenses and moods except the Conditional Mood
and Past Subjunctive.
n – an abbreviation typically used to indicate a noun
Negative statement examples: I don’t take it, You didn’t take it, He / She / It will not
take it, etc. Negative statements take the dependent form of the verb (i.e., the form of
the verb dependent upon a negative or interrogatory particle.)
Ní, and its variations – ‘not’. This particle makes a sentence or phrase negative.
nominative of a noun – the form (spelling) of a noun which is used as the subject of a
sentence. This can be singular or plural.
nominative plural of a noun – the form (spelling) of a plural noun which is used as the
subject of a sentence, i.e., the nominative form of a plural noun
nominative position – the initial position in a noun string. The noun in this position
takes the nominative form.
nominative singular of a noun – the form (spelling) of a singular noun which is used as
the subject of a sentence, i.e., the nominative form of a singular noun
noun - a person, place, or thing (soldier, John, Atlantic Ocean, hill, rock)
noun string – two or more nouns in succession (rock of quartz, wood of a boat, wood of
the mast of a boat, grain of sand of a beach, etc.). The first noun in a noun string is in
the Nominative Position and takes the nominative form of the noun. Succeeding nouns
in a noun string are in the Genitive Position and take the genitive form of the noun.
npl – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the nominative plural form
nsg – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the nominative singular form of a noun
or adjective. example: boat
object form of a pronoun – the form of a pronoun which is used as the object of a verb.
example: me instead of I
object of the preposition - the person, place, or thing being placed in

relationship/position by the preposition (next to a car, to him, around the block, for me,
in his house, with us, before 7PM, etc.)

11
object of the verb – Irish doesn’t use an indirect object of the verb. See direct object of
the verb.
of a noun or adjective. example: boats
particles – an and its variations (before a verb), ní and its variations (before a verb), má
(‘if’), and dá (‘if)
passive voice – see autonomous form of the verb
Past Subjunctive Mood (wishing mood) examples: (I wish that) I had taken it, (I wish
that) You had taken it, (I wish that) He / She / It had taken it, etc. Also: If I had taken
it, If you had taken it, If He / She / It had taken it, etc.
past subjunctive: (I wish) that I had been ..., (I wish) that I had taken ..., (I wish) that
I had gone ...
Past Tense examples: I took it, You took it, He / She / It took it, etc.
past tense examples: I was, I took, I went
person – As in English, grammatical “persons” in Irish are 1st person singular, 2nd person
singular, 3rd person singular, 1st person plural, 2nd person plural, and 3rd person plural.
For example, I and me are 1st person singular pronouns. Síle, he, she, and it are 3rd
person singular words. ‘They’ is a 3rd person plural pronoun. Síle and Tomás, when
expressed together, are a 3rd person plural combination of nouns. When speaking to
one person, “you” (tú in Irish) is a second person singular pronoun. When speaking to
more than one person, “you” (sibh in Irish) is a second person plural pronoun.
plural – the forms (spellings) of various forms of speech (nouns, adjectives, pronouns,
prepositions, articles, etc.) which refer to more than one item or individual
plural noun – a noun which refers to more than one item or individual (boys, the Kellys,
rocks, etc.)
Positive statement examples: I take it, You took it, He / She / It will take it, etc. this is
a positive statement because it doesn’t have a negative or interrogatory particle.
Positive statements take the independent form of the verb (i.e., independent of a
negative or interrogatory particle).
possessive adjective / possessive pronoun: my, your (singular), his/her, its, our, your
(plural), their
preposition - describes the relationship (position) in time or space between persons,

places, or things. For example, over, under, around, through, on, from, at, behind,
before, etc.

12
present subjunctive (wishing mood): (I wish) that I might be ..., (I wish) that I might
take ..., (I wish) that I might go ...)
Present Subjunctive Mood (wishing mood) examples: (I wish that) I might take it, (I
wish that) You might take it, (I wish that) He / She / It might take it, etc.
present tense examples: I am, I take, I go.
Present Tense examples: I take it, You take it, He / She / It takes it, etc. in the present.
pronoun - a word used in place of the specific name of a noun: I, you, he, she, it, we,
youse, they, etc.
pronouns used as objects (of the verb/sentence) – She kissed me, You kissed him, He
kissed her, etc.)
pronouns used as subjects (of the verb/sentence) – She kissed me, You kissed him, He
kissed her, etc.)
proper noun - the special name of a specific person, place, or thing (John, East Islip,
Mount St. Helens)
regular verb - a verb which always uses the same root for conjugation (I walk, I walked,
I will walk, I used to walk, I would / should / could walk, etc.)
root – This is the root of the verb which you use to conjugate the verb’s tenses and
moods. In Irish, it’s the second person singular imperative.
saorbhriathar (free verb) – see autonomous form of the verb
séimhiú – ‘gentling’ - weakening the sound a consonant makes according to certain

spelling and grammatical rules. It is spelled by putting a buailte (‘hit’, a dot) directly
above a consonant or an ‘h’ after a consonant with resulting change in pronunciation.
This occurs as a result of specific rules, which you will eventually learn. It is also called
aspiration and lenition.
síneadh fada – ‘long stretching’ - the accent mark on a vowel indicating that the sound
of the vowel is long
singular - the forms (spellings) of various forms of speech (nouns, adjectives, pronouns,
prepositions, articles, etc.) which refer to a single item or individual
singular noun – a noun which refers to a single item or individual (boy, John, rock, etc.)
slender consonant – consonant for which the closest vowel is a slender vowel
slender vowels – e, i

13
Standard Sentence Structure – This is the sentence structure typically used for Irish
sentences which are not Classification Sentences or Identification Sentences. It can be
varied for emphasis, by poetic license, or whim.
strong plural – A noun with a strong plural has a genitive plural form which juts out from
its root (i.e., from its nominative singular form). This is important because adjectives
will try to mimic the form of the noun. If an adjective is modifying a noun with a strong
plural, then the adjective will use a strong plural form. (example: bána instead of bán,
both meaning ‘white’) For full comprehension, see also ‘weak plural’.
Sub-Information – This is only used in identification sentences. It is the pronoun which

comes before the Information, it is only used to further qualify Information in the 3 rd
person, and it must be used to qualify such 3rd person Information. Example: Jerry is
he, the teacher. Here, “He” is the sub-information. Example: Jerry and Síle are they,
the teachers. Here, “they” is the Sub-Information.
subject - the person, place, or thing doing the action
subject form of a pronoun – the form of a pronoun which can be used as the subject of a
Standard Sentence. example: I instead of me.
Sub-Subject – In both classification and identification sentences, this is the pronoun

which comes before the subject and further qualifies the subject of the sentence. Its
use is optional. Example: He, Jerry, is a man. Here, “He” is the Sub-Subject.
Example: We, Jerry and Síle, are the people who went to Boston. Here, “We” is the
Sub-Subject.
that / that not examples: I say that he is here, You said that he is not here, He / She /
It will say that the sky is blue, etc. Phrases using ‘that’ or ‘that not’ take the dependent
form of the verb.
transitive verb – v.t. – a verb which has a direct object. Examples: Kiss him; Fix that;
Sail the boat; Ride the waves, See her; etc.
v. – am abbreviation used for ‘verb’
v.i. – an abbreviation used for ‘intransitive verb’
v.t. – an abbreviation used for ‘transitive verb’
verb - action words (run, eat, sleep, work, walk, etc.) and the verb 'to be'
Verbal Noun – This is the word in Irish which can be used as either a gerund (example:
walking) or as an infinitive (example: to walk). For example, take the verbal noun cur.
Add do or its variation a (both meaning ‘to’) to create the infinitive: do chur or a chur

14
(‘to put’). Add ag (‘at’) to create the gerund: ag cur (“at putting”. I’m a’puttin’ it over
there.).
verbal noun – This is the word in Irish which can be used as either a gerund (example:
walking) or as an infinitive (example: to walk). For example, take the verbal noun cur.
Add do or its variation a (both meaning ‘to’) to create the infinitive: do chur or a chur
(‘to put’). Add ag (‘at’) to create the gerund: ag cur (“at putting”. I’m a’puttin’ it over
there.).
vocative form – the form (spelling) of a person’s name used when you are addressing
that person
vowels – the Irish vowels are a, o, u, e, i. We don’t use y.
weak plural – A noun with a weak plural has a genitive plural form which does not jut
out from its root (i.e., from its nominative singular form). Instead, its genitive plural
form is the same as its nominative singular form. This is important because adjectives
will try to mimic the form of the noun. If an adjective is modifying a noun with a weak
plural, then the adjective will use a weak plural form. (example: bán, ‘white’, to modify
both the nominative singular and genitive plural forms of the noun) For full
comprehension, see also ‘strong plural’.

15
3. CONAS SÍNTÍ FADA A DHÉANAMH

3. HOW TO MAKE FADAS
1. to make fadas and other special symbols (in Windows).
In WORD:
If you press Ctrl and the single italic to the left of Enter, the next letter
you type will have the fada: á é í ó ú.
Put another way:

Set your keyboard to us-international
Type an apostrophe – nothing happens but if you type apostrophe followed by the letter
you get á é í ó ú Á É Í Ó Ú
If you type quotation marks – nothing but quotes followed by o you get the German
umlaut ö
If you type either apostrophe or quotes then space you will get the actual character .
2. using ASCII codes
On a US-English PC: hold down the <Alt> key and type one of the following
numbers on the numeric keypad of your keyboard ( with NumLock on ).
After you type the number, let go of the <Alt> key
á 160
ó 162
ú 163
é 130
í 161
Á 0193
Ó 0211
Ú 0218
É 144
Í 0205
3. on an Apple Mac
Press <option> and the vowel you want the accent on, simultaneously.
4. Use the software called 'EasyReader'

16
4. FORAINMNEACHA / PRONOUNS

17
5. RÉAMHFHOCAIL / PREPOSITIONS

18
6. AIDIACHTAÍ SEALBHACHA / POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

19
7. SÉIMHIÚ
7. ASPIRATION a.k.a. LENITION
Before the 1960s, aspiration (aka, lenition) was symbolized by putting a dot over the
consonant. Since the 1960s, it's been symbolized by putting an h after the consonant.
Séimhiú (‘gentling’), also known as Aspiration and Lenition, changes the way the
consonant is pronounced. There are a number of reasons why you aspirate / lenite the
first consonant of a word. Learn a few of the most common reasons for now.
Singular Possessive
mo mhac my son
do phoitín your poteen
a charbhad his chariot
but
a caipín her cap
Negative
Ní aspirates initial consonants of succeeding verbs. Níor and Níorbh aspirate the
following consonant of verbs, nouns, you name it.
Ní ghlanaim. I clean not.

Níor ghlan mé. I cleaned not. ("I didn't clean.")
Níorbh ealaíontóir mé. I wasn't an artist.
Adjective Preceding The Noun
sean-bhean old woman

droch-phingin bad penny
Use of Certain Prepositions Without the Article 'An' ('the'). For example:
ar chaipín on a cap
de charr from a car
ó sholas from a light
Some prepositions don’t aspirate. For example, i ('in') causes eclipsis. Your dictionary
(and also the Christian Brothers grammar) will tell you which prepositions do what.
Certain consonants can’t be aspirated: l, n, and r. In these pages, when I talk about
certain rules causing aspiration on the succeeding consonant, these consonants are
excepted because they can’t be aspirated no matter what.

20
8. URÚ
8. ECLIPSIS
1. Introduction
Eclipsis is putting a consonant in front of the beginning of a word. You say the first
consonant (the ‘eclipsing’ consonant’) but not the second consonant, which has now
been 'eclipsed.' There are a number of reasons why you eclipse the beginning of a
word. Learn a few for now.
2. Some words which cause eclipsis
Cá - causes eclipsis on a succeeding verb. For example:

Cónaíonn tú. You live.
Cá gcónaíonnn tú? Where live you? (Where do you live?)
Plural Possessives:
ár mbróga our shoes bróga = shoes
bhur gcaipíní your caps caipíní = caps
a n-úlla their apples úlla = apples
Interrogatory “An” (“An” before a verb means “here comes a question”):

Itheann tú. You eat.
An n-itheann tú anseo? Eat you here? (Do you eat here?)
Relative “go” (that) and “nach” (that not):

Pósfaidh mé. I will marry.
Sílim go bpósfaidh mé. I think that I will marry.
Sílim nach bpósfaidh mé. I think that I will not marry.
Use of Prepositions With the Article 'An' ('the'):

an bord the table
ar an mbord on the table
Preposition “i” (“in”) without the article “an” (“the”):

gloine glass
i ngloine in a glass
Use of ‘muna’ / ‘mura’ (if not)

Muna / Mura bhfuil tú ag teacht ... (If you are not coming ...)
Use of ‘sula’ (before)

Téann tú. You go.
Sula dtéann tú ... Before you go ...

21
3. Which letters eclipse which other letters?
If I have to eclipse something because of the above rules,
b is eclipsed by m
c is eclipsed by g
d is eclipsed by n
f is eclipsed by bh
g is eclipsed by n
p is eclipsed by b
t is eclipsed by d
all vowels are eclipsed by n
l, m, n, r, and s no longer receive eclipses.
Put another way, these are the consonants I use to eclipse other letters:
m is used to eclipse b
g “”” c
n “”” d
bh “”” f
n “”” g
b “”” p
d “”” t
n “”” all vowels
4. Exceptions
Also:
i suíochán in a seat
Cá léim sé? Where jumped he? (Where’d he jump?)
ar an mullach on the summit

22
9. AN TREOIRLÍNE D,N,T,L,S
9. THE D,N,T,L,S GUIDELINE
At Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín (The Gerry Tobin Irish Language School), we call this
the “dentals” rule, even though it doesn’t actually refer to the formal linguistic concept
of “dentals”. Here’s what this guideline says:
If you would normally want to aspirate or eclipse the initial consonant of a word
according to the rules of aspiration or eclipsis, but the beginning of that word begins
with any one of d,n,t,l,s, and the word before it ends in any one of d,n,t,l,s, then you
can decide not to aspirate or eclipse that initial consonant.
For example:
sean-teach / old house. Normally, when you put the adjective sean in front of a noun,
you would aspirate the initial consonant of that noun. But, as we see here, sean ends in
n and teach begins with t, which are part of the set of d,n,t,l,s group of letters.
Therefore, it is extremely common (in fact, overwhelmingly more common) not to
aspirate the initial t of teach in the sean-teach combination.
ag an doras / at the door. Normally, a simple preposition (like ag) plus the singular
article ‘the’ (an) plus a noun would normally cause eclipsis of that noun. However,
because an ends in n and doras begins with d, it is extremely common (in fact,
overwhelmingly more common) not to eclipse the initial d of doras in the “ag an doras”
prepositional phrase.

23
10. NA PAIRTEAGAIL – AN, NÍ, MÁ, DÁ

10. THE PARTICLES - AN, NÍ, MÁ, DÁ
AN – “LOOK OUT, HERE COMES A QUESTION”
When ‘an’ comes before a noun, it means ‘the’. But when it comes before a verb, it
means “Look out, here comes a question.”
Example: An bhfuil tú ag teacht? – “Question: Are you at coming?” (Are you coming?)
As you see, it causes eclipsis on the succeeding verb. But its variant ‘Ar’ (used for the
past tense and conditional mood) causes aspiration.
Example: Ar chuir tú ansin é? - “Question: “You put it there?”
We don’t even need the question marks because we already have ‘An’ or ‘Ar’ up front.
NÍ - NOT
When Ní is put in front of a verb, it causes aspiration on a succeeding consonant. In

front of a noun? No.
When its variants ‘níor’, ‘níorbh’, ‘nár’, and ‘nárbh’ are put in front of a word (verb or
noun), they cause aspiration on a succeeding consonant.
When Ná is put in front of a verb, it basically means ‘Do not’. It puts an ‘h’ in front of a
succeeding vowel.
Examples:
Ní chuirim ansin é. – I not put it there. (I don’t put it there.)
Ná cuir ansin é! – Not put it there! (Don’t put it there!)
MÁ – IF
This word for ‘If’ can be used with all the tenses but not with the Conditional Mood. It
aspirates a succeeding consonant.
Má chuireann tú ansin é, beidh fearg orm. If you put it there, anger will be on me. (I’ll
be mad.) (Present Tense and Future Tense)
Chuirinn pingin insan mbosca má bhinn ansin. I used to put a penny in the box if I used
to be there. (Past Habitual Tense and Past Habitual Tense)

24
DÁ – IF
‘Dá’ eclipses the succeeding word. Dá is used with the Conditional Mood and with the
Past Subjective (which has the same spelling as the Habitual Past). Dá + the
Conditional Mood indicates an unfulfilled condition in the present or future. Dá + the
Past Subjective indicates an unfulfilled condition in the past.
Dá mbinn ansin, chuirfinn pingin insteach insan mbosca. If I had been there, I would /
could have put a penny in the box. (Past Subjunctive and Conditional Mood)
Dá mbeinn ansin, chuirfinn pingin insteach insan mbosca. If I would / should / could be
there, I would / should / could put a penny in the box. (Conditional Mood and
Conditional Mood)

25
11. NA DOBHRIATHAIR CHEISTEACHA / THE INTERROGATORY ADVERBS

26
12. DÉANMHAIS ABAIRTÍ

12. STRUCTURES OF SENTENCES
As you’ll see in more detail in the next 3 sections, we use 3 sentence structures in Irish:
A. the “Standard” Sentence Structure (word order)
particle (if needed) or interrogatory adverb (if needed) + verb + subject + basket for
everything else (if needed) + direct object of the verb (if needed)
example:
Ar bhuail sé go maith ar an bpáirc an liathróid?
B. the classification sentence structure (word order)
particle (if needed) or interrogatory adverb (if needed) + verb + information + sub-
subject (if desired) + subject + additional information (if desired)
example:
Arbh fhear é an duine a bhí anseo?
C. the identification sentence structure (word order)
particle (if needed) or interrogatory adverb (if needed) + verb + sub-information (if 3rd
person) + information + sub-subject (if desired) + subject + additional information (if
desired)
example:
Arbh é an fear a bhí anseo é Gearóid nó an raibh Gearóid as baile?

27
13. AN BRIATHAR
13. THE VERB
It is extremely important for you to know the following.
A. the root of the Irish verb
The root of the Irish verb is the second person singular imperative. That’s when you’re
being imperial, telling someone what to do. The word “You” is understood. Examples:
(You,) Run!
(You,) Eat!
(You,) Drink!
(You,) Sleep!
(You,) Go!
(You,) Buy!
etc.
We use this root to conjugate the verb.
B. Regular Verbs vs. Irregular Verbs
A Regular Verb uses its root to conjugate all its tenses and moods, making minor and
totally predictable changes to its beginning and end in order to change its meaning. For
example:
Cuir! – Put! (2nd person singular imperative = the root)

Cuirim – I put (present tense)
Chuir mé – I put (past tense)
Cuirfidh mé – I will put (future tense)
An Irregular Verb uses its root most of the time when conjugating its tenses and moods,
but sometimes abandons it. For example:
Bí! - Be! (2nd person singular imperative = the root)

Bí go maith – Be good!
Táim – I am (present tense – the root has been abandoned)
Bhí mé – I was (past tense – the root is back)
Beidh mé – I will be (future tense – the root has been abandoned again)
We have thousands of Regular Verbs in Irish and only 11 Irregular Verbs.

28
14. AN BRIATHAR RIALTA ‘BRIS’ / THE REGULAR VERB ‘BRIS’

29
15. An Briathar Rialta ‘Tóg’ / The Regular Verb ‘Tóg’

30
16. AN BRIATHAR NEAMHRIALTA ‘BÍ’ / THE IRREGULAR VERB ‘BÍ’

31
17. AN t-AINMFHOCAL AGUS A THUISIL

17. THE NOUN AND ITS CASES
The ways we use nouns, the situations in which we use them, are called "cases". The
Nominative Case and the Genitive Case are the most important in Irish. The Irish cases
are as follows:
The nominative "case". This is when a noun is the subject of a sentence. For example:
Tá an bád ansin. / The boat is there. Here, bád is said to be in the nominative case.
The genitive "case". This is used when we want to say "of X", where X is the noun.
Unlike languages like French, Spanish, and English, we rarely use a separate word like
“de” (from / of) in order to say “of”. Instead, in Irish, the concept of “of” is built right
into the spelling of the noun’s genitive. Therefore, the genitive case is constantly used
in Irish, making it extremely important. For example:
Tá seol báid ansin. / A sail of a boat is there. Seol báid means "sail of boat" or, as we
would say in English, "a sail of a boat". Notice the spelling change in báid. Here, báid
means 'of boat' or 'of a boat'.
The accusative "case". This is when the noun is the object of a verb. For example:
Bhuail an tonn an bád. / The wave hit the boat. Here, bád is in the accusative case.
Notice that it has the same spelling as the nominative case.
The dative "case". This is when a noun is the object of a preposition. For example:
Tá an fear ar an mbád / The man is on the boat. Here, bád is in the dative case. These
days, with the exception of only a couple of words out of our huge Irish vocabulary, a
noun in the dative case has the same spelling as a noun in the nominative case.
The vocative "case". This is always used whenever we address someone in person
(orally) or in print (in writing). For example:
A bháid, cá bhfuil tú? / O boat, where are you? Notice that we've added the word "A"
for "O" and we've changed the spelling of bád. The Irish vocative case is a survival of
the ancient Indo-European vocative case which you may have seen in reading the Illiad,
the Odyssey, or church liturgy.

32
18. AINMFHOCAIL AGUS A n-AIDIACHTAÍ

18. NOUNS AND THEIR ADJECTIVES
A. Position
In general, adjectives follow the nouns they modify. Exceptions include possessive
adjectives, as we’ve already seen, and the following:
sean - (old)
droch- (bad)
Examples:
sean-phingin / old penny

droch-dhuine / bad person
As we see, when two words are put together in Irish in order to form a single word or a
word-combination, the initial consonant of the second word receives séimhiú (aspiration
a.k.a. lenition).
Nouns can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural, nominative case and genitive
case, and more (accusative case, dative case, and vocative case).
Nouns in their nominative form can be used as the subjects of sentences. Nouns in their
genitive form mean ‘of X’, with X being the noun. For example, ceol means ‘music’. Its
genitive form is ceoil, which means ‘of music’.
B. Agreement
As in other languages, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify.
Examples:
nominative and accusative masculine singular:

madra mór / dog big (‘a big dog’)
an madra mór / the dog big (‘the big dog’)
nominative and accusative feminine singular:

bróg bheag / shoe small (‘a small shoe’)
an bhróg bheag / the shoe small (‘the small shoe’)
Here we see that an adjective modifying a nominative or accusative feminine singular

noun receives séimhiú on its initial consonant.
nominative and accusative masculine plural

madraí móra / dogs big (‘big dogs’)

33
nominative and accusative feminine plural

bróga móra / shoes big (‘big shoes’)
Here we see that an adjective modifying a nominative plural noun which has a strong
ending (-í and –a in these examples), whether masculine or feminine, will change to
reflect that it is plural by adding -a.
Adjectives also agree with nouns in the genitive, dative, and vocative cases. You’ll learn
how over time.

34
19. ‘SEO’ AGUS ‘SIN’

19. ‘THIS’ AND ‘THAT’
Most Irish adjectives follow the noun they modify. The demonstrative adjectives Seo
and Sin are no exception. Seo means ‘this’ and Sin means ‘that’.
Examples:
an madra seo
the house this (‘this house’)
an teach sin
the house that (‘that house’)
an madra beag seo

the dog small this (‘this small dog’)
an teach beag sin

the house small that (‘that small house’)

35
20. AN CAIRT DÍOCHLAONTA AGUS A TÁBHACHT

20. THE DECLENSION CHART AND ITS IMPORTANCE
Just as your dictionary only provides the root of each verb as an entry, your dictionary
typically provides only the nominative singular of each noun as an entry, relying on you
to know how to change it in order to create its genitive singular, nominative plural, and
genitive plural. The key to knowing how to change it is the declension chart, an
example of which follows in the next section.
Changing a noun from its nominative singular into its other forms (genitive singular,
nominative plural, and genitive plural) is called “declining the noun”.
There are 5 groups of nouns which “decline” in 5 different ways. These 5 groups are
called “declensions”.
The declension chart is organized by declension. With some exceptions, once you know
how to decline a noun of a given declension, you basically know how to decline all the
nouns which belong to that declension. So if, for example, your dictionary tells you a
noun belongs to the 2nd declension, you can look at the declension chart and figure out
how to decline it, i.e., how to create its genitive singular, nominative plural, and genitive
plural forms.
The declension chart (and your dictionary) will typically include these abbreviations
which demonstrate declination (declining, changing):
nsg – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the nominative singular form of a noun
or adjective. example: boat
npl – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the nominative plural form
gs – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the genitive singular form of a noun or
adjective. example: of a boat
gpl – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the genitive plural form of a noun or
adjective. example: of boats
A declension chart (and your dictionary) will also typically abbreviate the names of the 5
declensions as follows:
m1 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the masculine 1st Declension
f2 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 2nd Declension
f3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 3rd Declension
m3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the masculine 3rd Declension

36
The 5th declension doesn’t decline (change) as regularly as the other four. The editors of
most dictionaries feel that the 5th declension has too many exceptions. Therefore, most
dictionaries will leave this declension off their declension chart and instead provide its
entire declination (nsg, gsg, npl, and gpl) in the entry for that noun.
A typical declension chart is provided in the next section.

37
21. CAIRT DÍOCHLAONTA SAMPLACH

21. A TYPICAL DECLENSION CHART
Here’s a typical declension chart from the Foclóir Scoile Irish Dictionary with additions to
demonstrate how this was changed by the government in 1958.
000

38
22. ACHOIMRE AGUS DEIREADH

22. SUMMARY AND END
Go raibh sé seo cabhrach.

I hope this is helpful.
Tá bunsraith mhaith agat anois chun Gaeilge a fhoghlaim.

You now have a good foundation by which to learn Irish.
Bain sult as ár dteanga agus a bhfoghlaim linn.

Enjoy our language and learning it with us.

39
AGUISÍN A – OGHAM
APPENDIX A – OGHAM

40
AGUISÍN B – AIBÍTIR GHAELACH

APPENDIX B – THE GAELIC ALPHABET

41
AGUISÍN C – AIBÍTIR GHAELACH – SAMPLA

APPENDIX C – GAELIC ALPHABET – EXAMPLE
a b c d e f g h i l m n o p r S,s t u
a b c d e f g h i l m n o p r S,s t u
ḃċḋḟġṁṗṠṡṫ
ḃ=bh, ċ=ch, ḋ=dh, ḟ=fh, ġ=gh, ṁ=mh, ṗ=ph, ṡ=sh, ṫ=th
1. Dia ḋaoiḃ, a ċairde.

Dia dhaoibh, a chairde. / God to you (plural), O friends.
2. Cén ċaoi ḃfuil siḃ?

Cén chaoi bhfuil tú? / Which way are you (sing.)?
3. Conas atá siḃ?

Conas atá sibh? / How are you (plural)?
4. Cad é mar tá siḃ?

Cad é mar tá sibh? / What is as you (plural) are?
5. An bhfuil siḃ go maiṫ?

An bhfuil sibh go maith? Are you (plural) well?
6. Le gach dea-ġuí,
Le gach dea-ghuí, / With every good prayer,
7. Gearóid
Gearóid

Coursepack GOC6

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Coursepack GOC6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

Coursepack for the course at Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín and

RÉAMHRANG - AG TOSÚ A FHOGHLAIM

CLÁR ÁBHAIR / TABLE OF CONTENTS

II. Téarmanna Ghramadúla / Grammatical Terms (Review as needed.)

02. Sainmhínithe Eagartha in Ord Aibítreach / Definitions in Alphabetical Order. p. 5

III. An Bunsraith / The Foundation

03. Conas Síntí Fada a Dhéanamh / How to Make Fadas. p. 15

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

1. FÁTH, CUSPÓIRÍ, AGUS ÁBHAIR FHOGHLAMTHA AN CHÚRSA SEO

B. This Course’s Reason for Being

Here’s why this course exists.

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

Oxford Pocket Irish Dictionary

Foclóir Scoile English-Irish / Irish-English Dictionary (publisher: An Gúm)

Easy Reference Irish-English English-Irish Dictionary (Roberts Rinehart

3. (free) for listening comprehension, pronunciation, and expansion of your

E. Additional Resources (all free)

Just for fun, consider exploring these.

Nuacht TG4 (news on TG4) with transcription at http://vifax.maynoothuniversity.ié

Google's machine translator (which can't be trusted): http://translate.google.com/

Abair.ie (a speech generator!!!): http://www.abair.tcd.ié

Mozilla Firefox as Gaeilge (in Irish): http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/

Teilifís na Gaeilge Bealach 4 = TG4 (Irish TV!!!): www.tg4.ie

Raidió na Gaeltachta: http://www.rte.iérnag/

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

Raidió Life: http://www.raidionalife.ié

Raidió RíRá: http://www.rrr.ié

YouTube keywords: Coláiste Lurgan: www.youtube.com

F. Some of our Tradition (all free)

CELT - Corpus of Electronic Texts: http://www.ucc.iécelt/

An Bíobla Naofa (the Holy Bible): http://www.anbioblanaofa.org/en/pdf

Béaloideas / Folklore - Edison wax cylinders: http://www.bealbeo.ié

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

2. SAINMHÍNITHE EAGARTHA IN ORD AIBÍTREACH

a – an abbreviation typically used to indicate an adjective

a1 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 1st Declension of adjectives

a2 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 2nd Declension of adjectives

a3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the 3rd Declension of adjectives

Additional Information – In both classification and identification sentences, this is any

aspiration – another name for séimhiú, which see

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

common noun - any person, place, or thing (a man, a hometown, a volcano)

Conditional Mood examples: If a certain condition is fulfilled, I would/should/could take

consonants – the Irish consonants are b, c, d, f, g, l, m, n, p, r, s, t. h is used for

declension – a group of nouns or adjectives. Irish has 5 declensions (groups) of nouns

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

definite article – an (used before a noun) - 'the' as in “the rock”

f2 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 2nd Declension

f3 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 3rd Declension

f4 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 4th Declension

f5 – the abbreviation typically used to indicate the feminine 5th Declension

fada – short name for the síneadh fada, which see

free verb (saorbhriathar) – see autonomous form of the verb

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

future tense examples: I will be, I will take, I will go

Gerund examples: taking, putting, being

habitual past tense examples: I used to be, I used to take, I used to go

Copyright (c) 2018 by Gerald A. John Kelly. All Rights Reserved.

Imperative Mood examples: Take it! (singular). Take it! (plural)

Infinitive examples: to take, to put, to be

Information – This is used in both classification and identification sentences. In

lenition – another name for séimhiú, which see