Irish verbs: First Conjugation
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Indicative Mood
Present Indicative
The basic affix for the present indicative is -ann, with its slender form -eann. It is attached to the verb stem, and represents the form used, in the standard language, for the second person singular/plural and the third person/singular and plural. With these forms, the subject pronouns must be used:
glanann tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad you.sg/you.pl/they clean, he/she/it cleans
briseann tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad you.sg/you.pl/they break, he/she/it breaks
The first person singular and the first person plural have distinct forms. The singular has -aim or -im, while the plural has -aimid or -imid:
glanaim I clean
brisim I break
glanaimid we clean
brisimid we break
The autonomous form is -t(e)ar:
glantar it is cleaned, one cleans
bristear it is broken, one breaks
The Munster Dialect
An important thing to consider is the existence of synthetic (affixed) forms in the Munster dialect, which conserves older forms. It is something that a learner should be aware of.
The second person singular and the third person plural have individual affixes:
-(a)ir
glanair you.sg clean
brisir you.sg break
-(a)id
glanaid they clean
brisid they break
Also, the first person plural affix here has a long vowel:
-(a)imíd
glanaimíd we clean
brisimíd we break
Future Indicative
The basic affix for the future indicative is -faidh, with its slender form -fidh. It is attached to the verb stem, and represents the form used, in the standard language, for the first person singular, second person singular/plural and the third person/singular and plural. With these forms, the subject pronouns must be used:
glanfaidh mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad I/you.sg/he/she/it/you.pl/they will clean
brisfidh mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad I/you.sg/he/she/it/you.pl/they will break
Unlike the present, only the first person plural has a distinct form, -faimid or -fimid:
glanfaimid we will clean
brisfimid we will break
The autonomous form is -f(e)ar:
glanfar it will be cleaned, one will clean
brisfear it will be broken, one will break
The Munster Dialect
The first person singular, second person singular and the third person plural have individual affixes:
-f(e)ad
glanfad I will clean
brisfead I will break
-f(a)ir
glanfair you.sg will clean
brisfir you.sg will break
-f(a)id
glanfaid they will clean
brisfid they will break
Again, as in the present, the first person plural affix has a long vowel:
-f(a)imíd
glanfaimíd we will clean
brisfimíd we will break
Imperfect Indicative
The imperfect is one of the two past tenses in Irish. This tense also features lenition (which changes the initial consonant). Historically (and in some older texts), this change was due to the presence of a particle, do, placed before the imperfect (and past) tenses. Before most verbs, the particle is no longer used.
The third person singular and second person plural share an affix, -(e)adh:
(do) ghlanadh sé/sí/sibh you.pl were cleaning, he/she/it was cleaning
(do) bhriseadh sé/sí/sibh you.pl were breaking, he/she/it was breaking
All other persons have distinct forms:
(do) ghlanainn I was cleaning
(do) ghlantá you.sg were cleaning
(do) ghlanaimis we were cleaning
(do) ghlanaidís they were cleaning
(do) bhrisinn I was breaking
(do) bhristeá you.sg were breaking
(do) bhrisimis we were breaking
(do) bhrisidís they were breaking
The autonomous form is -t(a)í. This form is also lenited:
(do) ghlantaí it was being cleaned, one was cleaning
(do) bhristí it was being broken, one was breaking
Remember that particle do. Before vowels, and verbs beginning with /f/, do becomes d', which must be used, even though do isn't:
d'ólainn I was drinking
d'óltá you.sg were drinking
d'óladh sé/sí he/she/it was drinking
d'ólaimis we were drinking
d'óladh sibh you.pl were drinking
d'ólaidís they were drinking
d'fheicinn I was seeing
d'fheicteá you.sg were seeing
d'fheiceadh sé/sí he/she/it was seeing
d'fheicimis we were seeing
d'fheiceadh sibh you.pl were seeing
d'fheicidís they were seeing
The Munster Dialect
The second person singular aspirates the /t/ of the affix:
-th(e)á
(do) ghlanthá you.sg were cleaning
(do) bhristheá you.sg were breaking
The first person plural affix has a long vowel:
-(a)imís
(do) ghlanaimís we were cleaning
(do) bhrisimís we were breaking
Past Indicative
The past is the other past tense in Irish. Like the imperfect, this tense also features lenition (which changes the initial consonant). Historically (and in some older texts), this change was due to the presence of a particle, do, placed before the past (and imperfect) tenses. Before most verbs, the particle is no longer used.
All singular persons, and the second and third persons plural, take no affix, i.e. they use the bare stem:
(do) ghlan mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they cleaned
(do) bhris mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they broke
Only the first person plural has a separate affix in -(e)amar:
(do) ghlanamar we cleaned
(do) bhriseamar we broke
The autonomous form is -(e)adh. Unlike the imperfect, or the rest of the past tense, this form is not lenited:
glaneadh it was cleaned, one cleaned
briseadh it was broken, one broke
Particle do, which before vowels and verbs beginning with /f/ becomes d', must be used here as well:
d'ól mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they drank
d'ólamar we drank
[feic "to see" is irregular in the past. For irregular verbs, click here.]
The Munster Dialect
In the Munster dialect, only the third person singular is the bare stem (with lenition); all other forms are synthetic:
(do) ghlanas I cleaned
(do) ghlanais you.sg cleaned
(do) ghlanabhair you.pl cleaned
(do) ghlanadar they cleaned
(do) bhriseas I broke
(do) bhrisis you.sg broke
(do) bhriseabhair you.pl broke
(do) bhriseadar they broke
The first person plural attenuates the final /r/:
(do) ghlanamair we cleaned
(do) bhriseamair we broke
Conditional Mood
The conditional mood indicates an act that is dependent/conditional on another act. In form, it mimics the imperfect indicative, including lenition and use of d' before vowels/f.
The third person singular and second person plural share an affix, -f(e)adh:
(do) ghlanfadh sé/sí/sibh you.pl/he/she/it would clean
(do) bhrisfeadh sé/sí/sibh you.pl/he/she/it would break
All other persons have distinct forms:
(do) ghlanfainn I would clean
(do) ghlanfá you.sg would clean
(do) ghlanfaimis we would clean
(do) ghlanfaidís they would clean
(do) bhrisfinn I would break
(do) bhrisfeá you.sg would break
(do) bhrisfimis we would break
(do) bhrisfidís they would break
d'ólfainn I was drinking
d'óltá you.sg were drinking
etc...
d'fheicfinn I would see
d'fheicfeá you.sg would see
etc...
The autonomous form is -f(a)í. This form is also lenited:
(do) ghlanfaí it would be cleaned, one would clean
(do) bhrisfí it would be broken, one would break
d'ólfaí he/she/it would be drunk, one would drink
d'fheicfí it would be seen, one would see
The Munster Dialect
The first person plural affix has a long vowel:
-f(a)imís
(do) ghlanfaimís we would clean
(do) bhrisfimís we would break
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is the mood that expresses desire and counterfactual situations.
Present Subjunctive
The basic affix for the present subjunctive is /@/, which is written -a for broad verbs, and -e for slender verbs. It is attached to the verb stem, and is used for all but the first person plural.
The subjunctive is used mainly with particle go, which causes eclipsis, and with particle a, which causes lenition:
(go) nglana mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad (that) I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they clean
(a) ghlana mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad ibid.
(go) mbrise mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad (that) I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they break
(a) bhrise mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad ibid.
[NB: The examples below will use "go + eclipsis".]
Only the first person singular has a distinct form here, as -(a)imid:
(go) nglanaimid (that) we clean
(go) mbrisimid (that) we break
The autonomous form is -t(e)ar, just as in the present indicative:
(go) nglantar (that) it be cleaned, (that) one clean
(go) mbristear (that) it be broken, (that) one break
Note verbs that begin with a vowel:
(go) n-óla mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad (that) I/you.sg/you.pl/he/she/it/they drink
(go) n-ólaimid (that) we drink
(go) n-óltar (that) it be cleaned, (that) one drink
and...
(a) h-óla mé/tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad ibid.
(a) h-ólaimid ibid.
(a) h-óltar ibid.
The Munster Dialect
The Munster present subjunctive is the eclipsed form of the second person singular, first person plural present and third person plural.
The third person singular and second person plural, which is the same as the standard language:
(go) nglanair (that) you.sg clean
(go) nglana sé/sí/sibh (that) he/she/it/you.pl clean
(go) nglanaimíd (that) we clean
(go) nglanaid (that) they clean
(go) mbrisis (that) you.sg break
(go) mbrise sé/sí/sibh (that) he/she/it/you.pl break
(go) mbrisimíd (that) we break
(go) mbrisid (that) they break
The first person singular has its own affix, in /d/:
(go) nglanad (that) I clean
(go) mbrisead (that) I break
Past Subjunctive
The past subjunctive is the same as the imperfect forms above, only subject to changes conditioned on go and a:
(go) nglanainn (that) I cleaned
(go) nglantá (that) you.sg cleaned
[Munster (go) nglanthá]
(go) nglanadh sé/sí (that) he/she/it cleaned
(go) nglanaimis (that) we cleaned
[Munster (go) nglanaimís]
(go) nglanadh sibh (that) you.pl cleaned
(go) nglanaidís (that) they cleaned
Autonomous (go) nglantaí (that) it were cleaned, (that) one cleaned
(go) mbrisinn (that) I broke
(go) mbristeá (that) you.sg broke
[Munster (go) mbristheá]
(go) mbriseadh sé/sí (that) he/she/it broke
(go) mbrisimis (that) we broke
[Munster (go) mbrisimís]
(go) mbriseadh sibh (that) you.pl broke
(go) mbrisidís (that) they broke
Autonomous (go) mbristí (that) it were broken, (that) one broke
Imperative Mood
The imperative mood is the mood of command. Unlike other languages, there are six forms in Irish, two "true" form (second person singular and plural) and four supplemental forms (first and third persons singular and plural).
The second person singular form is the bare stem:
Glan tú! Clean (thou)!
Bris tú Break (thou)!
The second plural form adds -(a)igí to the bare stem:
Glanaigí sibh! Clean (ye)!
Brisigí sibh Break (ye)!
The other forms, except the first person singular, are borrowed from the past subjunctive:
Glanadh sé/sí! Let him/her/it clean!
Glanaimis! Let's clean! (Let us clean!)
[Munster Glanaimís!]
Glanaidís Let them clean!
Autonomous Glantaí! Let it be cleaned, Let one clean!
Briseadh sé/sí! Let him/her/it break!
Brisimis! Let's break! (Let us break!)
[Munster Brisimís!]
Brisidís Let them break!
Autonomous Bristí! Let it be broken, Let one break!
The first person singular borrowed from the present indicative:
Glanaim! Let me clean!
Brisim! Let me break!
