An tAinm Briathra (Verbal noun) The verbal noun is used to refer to a continuous or progressive action eg eating, talking, writing. Verbal nouns end in -ing in English. Verbal nouns cannot be followed by the pronouns mé, tú, é, í, muid, sibh, iad. This difference in word order needs to be carefully noted by English speakers. Tá mé á rá
I’m saying it .
Tá mé ag rá é
This construction is very frequently used in speech. The ‘it’ in question is always the masculine singular form (and so a séimhiú is added):
....ing it / him
á+h
á (gan séimhiú)
....ing her
Doing it
á dhéanamh
ag déanamh é
Cleaning it
á ghlanadh
ag glanadh é
Walking it
á shiúl
ag siúl é
Kissing it (him)
á phógadh
ag pógadh é
á pógadh (kissing her)
Answering it (him)
á fhreagairt
ag freagairt é
á freagairt (answering her)
Pushing it (him)
á bhrú
ag brú é
á brú (pushing her)
Praising it (him)
á mholadh
ag moladh é
á moladh (praising her)
....ing me / you
do (gu*) mo / do (gu*) do
Knocking me Pulling you
do (gu*) mo leagadh do (gu*) do tharraingt
ag leagadh mé ag tarraingt tú
Blinding me Bringing you
do( gu*) mo chaochadh do (gu*) do thabhairt
ag caochadh mé ag tabhairt tú
Paying me Ordering you
do (gu*) m’íoc do (gu*) d’ordú
ag íoc mé ag ordú tú
Annoying me Inticing you
do (gu*) mo chrá do (gu*) do mhealladh
ag crá mé ag mealladh tú
In Conamara “do mo” is pronounced as “gu* mo” and “do do” is pronounced as “ gu *do” * Spoken Gaeilge in Conamara differs in some instances from the standard form. AbairLeat! highlights the most frequently used discrepancies.