Briathra mírialta – Group 3 verbs – Irregular verbs Gaeilge has 11 irregular verbs. Abair, beir, bí, clois, déan, faigh, feic, ith, tabhair, tar, téigh. They also happen to be the most commonly used verbs so they cannot be ignored. The verbs are irregular because different roots are used to form different tenses
Clois
chuala
cloiseann
cloisfidh
Feic
chonaic
feiceann
feicfidh
Abair
dúirt
deireann
déarfaidh
Beir
rug
beireann
béarfaidh
Bí
bhí
tá / bíonn
beidh
Téigh
chuaigh
téann
rachaidh
Tar
tháinig
tagann
tiocfaidh
Dean
rinne
déanann
déanfaidh
Faigh
fuair
faigheann
gheobhaidh
Ith
d’ith
itheann
íosfaidh
Tabhair
thug
tugann
tabharfaidh
To further complicate matters the following cases have two disctint verb forms . 1) The “Dependent Form” is preceded by a preverbal particle i.e An / Ní / Sula / Mura etc. 2) The “Independent Form” is used when the verb is not subject to a preverbal particle.
In the past tense: Bí: Déan: Feic: Téigh:
An raibh ...? An ndearna ....? An bhfaca...? An ndeachaigh...?
Bhí / Ní raibh Rinne / Ní dhearna Chonaic / Ní fhaca Chuaigh / Ní dheachaigh
In the present tense: Bí:
An bhfuil ...?
Tá / Níl (Ní fhuil)
In the future tense: Faigh:
An bhfaighidh ....?
Gheobhaidh / Ní bhfaighidh