Irish only has a handful of irregular verbs, so breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, as with most languages, it's the commonly used verbs that 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:
The irregular verbs use the same endings as the regular verbs.
Only the stem changes.
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 ndeir tú? | Deirim / Ní deirim |
past | An ndúirt tú? | Dúirt / Ní dúirt |
future | An ndéarfaidh tú? | Déarfaidh / Ní déarfaidh |
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 bhfaighidh 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 rachaidh tú? | Rachaidh / Ní rachaidh |
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 |
audio
When I was learning these responses, I found it helpful to record these exercises on tape, so I could respond as if I were in conversation.
If you would like to practice this, feel free to use these audio files.
I tried to tone down my Ulster dialect a bit, but if your dialect is different, you may find my pronunciation confusing.
NOTE: I am not a native speaker; I am not a teacher; I am not fluent.
present tense (mp3)
past tense (mp3)
future tense (mp3)
Note: I originally published this article on E2.