Irish Language Blog
Menu
Search

Archive for 'Grammar'

To be in Irish Posted by on Nov 30, 2021

Expressing the verb to be in Irish isn’t as straightforward as English – since there are two ways that are completely different and non-interchangeable. The two Irish forms are bí, known traditionally as the ” substantive verb”, and the copula, is. Bí Bí is also frequently referred to as tá (its present tense form). It…

Continue Reading

An aimsir chaite – The past tense Posted by on May 20, 2021

An aimsir chaite – The past tense The past tense is used to denote a single event in the past. In English, we typically add ‘ed’ to the end of the verb to form the past. In Irish it is also formed from the verb stem alone, with some additions. When the verb begins with…

Continue Reading

An Aimsir Láithreach – The Present Tense Posted by on Apr 22, 2021

An Aimsir Láithreach – The Present Tense  When conjugating Irish verbs in the present tense, there are two categories: “1st conjugation” and “2nd conjugation” verbs. 1st conjugation verbs have one syllable and 2nd conjugation verbs have two or more syllables. It’s important to remember this because they have different conjugations. Also, it is important to remember…

Continue Reading