Briathra Gaeilge is a Verb Subject Object (VSO) language D’ith an buachaill úll (ate boy apple) the verb is at the very beginning of a sentence. English on the other hand is a Subject Verb Object language i.e. The boy ate an apple.
Gaeilge has three verb groups Group 1 - Regular verbs with one syllable roots, i.e. bris, glan, caith, pioc, ól. Group 2 - Regular verbs with roots of more than one syllable, i.e. ceannaigh, bailigh, inis, freagair. Group 3 - Irregular verbs. Gaeilge has 11 irregular verbs: Abair, beir, bí, clois, déan, faigh, feic, ith, tabhair, tar, téigh.
The three main difficulties encountered by English speakers when coming to terms with verbs as used in Gaeilge are:
1. 2.
There isn’t an equivalent to the yes / no answer as is in English. Instead the verb is always repeated in the answer.
Initial consonants are changed according to the tense and whether answers are positive or negative. Séimhiú - where a h is added after the initial consonant changing the sound Urú - where the sound of the initial consonant changes by placing another letter before it:
3.
Gaeilge has two forms of the verb “to be” which can be represented as follows An bhfuil sé fuar? Is it cold? An scannán é? Is it a film?
Tá / Níl It is / It isn’t Is ea / Ní hea It is / It isn’t
Séimhiú / Urú Gaeilge is a Celtic language. One of the features of Celtic languages is that changes can occur at both the beginning and at the end of words (and even sometimes in the middle!) Changes to the beginning of words always relate to the preceding word or term. These changes are a hugely important feature of the language, and are used extremely frequently. Indeed, it is impossible to speak fluently without being able to master these changes. Séimhiú A séimhiú (or lenition in English) only affects certain consonants. It consists of adding the letter h after the initial consonant. The following consonants are affected: m > mh p > ph s > sh t > th
b > bh c > ch d > dh f > fh g > gh
The letters h, n, l and r remain unchanged, as do the vowels.
Urú An urú (or eclipsis in English) affects both vowels and consonants. It consists of adding an extra letter before the first letter of the word. This new letter is pronounced instead of the original first letter. Only the following consonants are affected: m before b
--> mb
n before g
-->
ng
g before c
-->
gc
b before p
-->
bp
n before d
-->
nd
d before t
--> dt
bh before f
-->
bhf
Eclipsis affects all the vowels in the same way: a > n-a e > n-e i > n-i
o > n-o u > n-u
Note: in certain cases, the letter ‘t’ can appear before words beginning with vowels or the letter s, and ‘h’ can appear before words beginning with nouns. These are not eclipsis. Finally, if a word begins with a letter not affected by séimhiú/urú, this word will remain unchanged – séimhiú/urú only affect the letters above.
Briathra aonsiollacha - Group 1 verbs Group 1 Regular verbs with one-syllable roots, i.e. bris, glan, caith, pioc, ól A séimhiú (h) is added when • asking a question in the past tense • giving a positive answer in the past tense • giving a negative answer in all tenses An urú is added (b>mb, c>gc, d>nd, f>bhf, g>ng, p>bp, t>dt.) when • asking a question in the present and future tenses
Verb Endings The verb endings change according to tense used and whether the last vowel is either slender (i,e,í,é) or broad (a,o,u,á,ó,ú) ...(e)ann is added in the present tense • bris - briseann • dún – dúnann
if the final vowel in the verb is slender the verb takes a slender ending. if the final vowel in the verb is broad the verb takes a broad ending.
...f(a)idh is added in the future tense • caith - caithfidh • glan – glanfaidh
if the final vowel in the verb is slender the verb takes a slender ending. if the final vowel in the verb is broad the verb takes a broad ending.
Indirect speech Past tense: gur + (h) / nár + (h)
Dúirt sé gur chaith / dúirt sé nár chaith
Present tense: go + urú / nach + urú
Dúirt sé go gcaitheann / dúirt se nach gcaitheann
Future tense: go + urú / nach + urú
Dúirt sé go gcaithfidh / dúirt sé nach gcaithfidh
These points may initially seem daunting but will become second nature after successfully completing the tasks and exercises.
Briathra aonsiollacha - Cleachtadh 1 Béic
Ar bhéic ....? An mbéiceann ...? An mbéicfidh ....?
Bhéic ... / Níor bhéic ... Béiceann ... / Ní bhéiceann ... Béicfidh ... / Ní bhéicfidh ...
Caith
Ar chaith ....? An gcaitheann....? An gcaithfidh ....?
Chaith .... / Níor chaith .... Caitheann ... / Ní chaitheann ... Caithfidh ... / Ní chaithfidh....
Dóirt
Ar dhóirt ....? An ndóirteann ...? An ndóirtfidh....?
Dhóirt ... / Níor dhóirt.... Dóirteann ... / Ní dhóirteann ... Dóirtfidh... / Ní dhóirtfidh ....
Fáisc
Ar fháisc ...? An bhfáisceann...? An bhfáiscfidh...?
D’fháisc ... / Níor fháisc.... Fáisceann ... / Ní fháisceann ... Fáiscfidh .. / Ní fháiscfidh...
Gléas Ar ghléas ....? An ngléasann ...? An ngléasfaidh ...?
Ghléas ... / Níor ghléas.... Gléasann ... / Ní ghléasann ... Gléasfaidh ... / Ní ghléasfaidh....
Pioc Ar phioc ...? An bpiocann ...? An bpiocfaidh ...?
Phioc ... / Níor phioc ... Piocann ... / Ní phiocann ... Piocfaidh ... / Ní phiocfaidh ....
Briathra aonsiollacha - Cleachtadh 2 Brúigh
Ar bhrúigh ....? An mbrúnn ...? An mbrúfaidh ....?
Bhrúigh ... / Níor bhrúigh ... Brúnn ... / Ní bhrúnn ... Brúfaidh ... / Ní bhrúfaidh ...
Caoin
Ar chaoin ....? An gcaoineann....? An gcaoinfidh ....?
Chaoin .... / Níor chaoin .... Caoineann ... / Ní chaoineann ... Caoinfidh ... / Ní chaoinfidh....
Dreap
Ar dhreap ....? An ndreapann ...? An ndreapfaidh....?
Dhreap... / Níor dhreap .... Dreapann ... / Ní dhreapann ... Dreapfaidh... / Ní dhraepfaidh ....
Fill
Ar fhill ...? An bhfilleann...? An bhfillfidh...?
D’fhill ... / Níor fhill ... Filleann ... / Ní fhilleann ... Fillfidh .. / Ní fhillfidh...
Goid Ar ghoid ....? An ngoideann ...? An ngoidfidh ...?
Ghoid ... / Níor ghoid .... Goideann ... / Ní ghoideann ... Goidfidh ... / Ní ghoidfidh....
Preab Ar phreab ...? An bpreabann ...? An bpeabfaidh ...?
Pheab ... / Níor phreab ... Preabann ... / Ní phreabann ... Preabfaidh ... / Ní phreabfaidh ....