This article uses the IPA to transcribe Irish. Readers familiar with other conventions may wish to see Help:IPA/Irish for a comparison of the IPA system with those used in learners' materials.
Nouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine; the Old Irish neuter gender no longer exists. While gender should be learned when the specific noun is learned, there are some guidelines that can be followed:
Generally, nouns in singular form ending with broad consonants are masculine, while those ending in a slender consonant are feminine.
There are some exceptions, mostly dealing with specific endings and suffixes; for example, words ending in -óir/-eoir and -ín (with a slender /ɾʲ/ and /nʲ/ respectively) are categorically masculine, while words ending in -óg/-eog (with a broad /ɡ/) are feminine. This leads to some unexpected gender assignments, such as gasóg "boy scout" being feminine, and cailín "girl" masculine (the diminutive -ín suffix is always masculine irrespective of the noun it applies to).
Object of the prepositionsgan "without", go dtí "(up) to" and mar "like, as".
gan an t-airgead "without the money"
go dtí an t-am "(up) to the time"
mar an chearc "like the hen"
Vocative
The vocative is used in direct address, and is always preceded by the particlea, which triggers lenition (the vocative particle is not pronounced before a vowel sound). The first declension is the only declension in which the vocative is distinct from the nominative.
Cá bhfuil tú, a mhic? "Where are you, son?"
A Sheáin, tar anseo! "Seán, come here!"
Genitive
The genitive indicates possession and material of composition:
hata an fhir "the man's hat"
clann na mná "the woman's children"
coinnleoirí an easpaig "the bishop's candelabras"
fáinne óir "a ring of gold, a golden ring"
bróga leathair "shoes of leather, leather shoes"
The object of a verbal noun also requires the genitive:
ag caitheamh airgid "(the act of) spending money"
The object of a compound preposition is in the genitive. Formally, these prepositions are actually prepositional phrases.
ar chúl an dorais "behind the door" (lit. "on the back of the door")
ar feadh míosa "one month long" (lit. "for the duration of one month")
ar son na hÉireann "for Ireland's sake"
Dative/Prepositional
The dative/prepositional is used as the object of most simple prepositions except gan and go dtí. In standard language, the dative is almost always identical to the nominative. Some dialects, however, have distinct standalone datives in the second and fifth declensions. In the standard language, only two words Éire ("Ireland") and fiche ("twenty") have distinct datives - Éirinn and fichid, respectively. They are also found in certain fixed phrases with nouns of the second declension, such as os cionn ("above", lit. "over head" – cionn is the old dative of ceann ("head")).
ag an athair "at the father"
as an teach "out of the house"
ar an arán "on the bread"
in oráiste "in an orange"
go hifreann "to hell"
leis an airgead "with the money"
ó Éirinn "from Ireland"
Declension
There are five recognized declensions in Irish. The makeup of the declensions depends on three factors:
the gender of the noun
the formation of the genitive singular
relation of genitive singular to nominative plural
The following chart describes the characteristics of each declension class:
Nom. sing. ends with:
Gen. sing. ends with:
Gender
First declension
Broad consonant
Slender consonant
Masculine
Second declension
Broad or slender consonant
-e/-í
Feminine with rare exceptions
Third declension
Slender or broad consonant
-a
Masculine or feminine
Fourth declension
Vowel or -ín
(no change)
Masculine or feminine
Fifth declension
Vowel or slender consonant
Broad consonant
Mostly feminine
First
The first declension is made up of masculine nouns. The nominative singular ends in a broad consonant, which is made slender in the genitive singular. The most common formation of the plural has the opposite pattern: the nominative ends in a slender consonant, the genitive in a broad consonant (these plurals are known as weak plurals in comparison with strong plurals which maintain identical endings for all cases in the plural). The dative is identical to the nominative in both numbers, although an obsolete dative plural in -aibh is still sometimes encountered in old-fashioned literary style.
bád "boat"
Singular
Plural
Nominative
bád/bˠaːd̪ˠ/
báid/bˠaːdʲ/
Vocative
a bháid/əwaːdʲ/
a bháda/əwaːd̪ˠə/
Genitive
báid/bˠaːdʲ/
bád/bˠaːd̪ˠ/
Dative
bád/bˠaːd̪ˠ/
báid (obsoletebádaibh)
When /x/ in the gen. sing. and nom. pl. of a polysyllabic word is made slender, it also becomes voiced, thus:
/x/ > /ç/ > /j/. The resulting /əj/ is written -⟨(a)igh⟩ and is pronounced /iː/, /ə/, or /əɟ/, depending on dialect.
marcach "a horseman"
Singular
Plural
Nominative
marcach/mˠaɾˠkəx/
marcaigh/mˠaɾˠkəj/
Vocative
a mharcaigh
/əwaɾˠkəj/
a mharcacha/əwaɾˠkəxə/
Genitive
marcaigh
/mˠaɾˠkəj/
marcach/mˠaɾˠkəx/
Dative
marcach
/mˠaɾˠkəx/
marcaigh (obsoletemarcachaibh)
Some nouns undergo a vowel change before the slender consonant of the genitive singular/nominative plural:
ball, baill - an (internal) organ, component part
bonn, boinn - a sole, coin
ceann, cinn - a head
fear, fir - a man
iasc, éisc - a fish
mac, mic/mˠak,mʲɪc/ - a son (note: the first consonant is made slender in the gen.sg./nom.pl. as well)
poll, poill - a hole
Many words of this declension form the plural with one of the endings -(a)í, -ta, -tha, -anna. These are known as "strong plural" endings, which means the plural is identical in all cases in the standard language. Some examples:
aonach, gen. sg. aonaigh, pl. aontaí - a fair
bealach, gen. sg. bealaigh, pl. bealaí - a way
carr/kaːɾˠ/, gen. sg. cairr/kaːɾˠ/, pl. carranna/kaɾˠən̪ˠə/ - a car
glór, gen. sg. glóir, pl. glórtha - a voice
leanbh, gen. sg. linbh, pl. leanaí - a child
néal, gen. sg. néil, pl. néalta - a cloud
rós, gen. sg. róis, pl. rósanna - a rose
samhradh, gen. sg. samhraidh, pl. samhraí - a summer
scéal, gen. sg. scéil, pl. scéalta - a story
toradh, gen. sg. toraidh, pl. torthaí - fruit
Some nouns have a weak plural (a plural where the genitive is different from the nominative, and is identical to the form of the nominative singular) in -a:
ceart, gen. sg. cirt, nom. pl. cearta, gen. pl. ceart - a right
cleas, gen. sg. clis, nom. pl. cleasa, gen. pl. cleas - a trick
úll, gen. sg. úill, nom. pl. úlla, gen. pl. úll - an apple
Other strong plural formations are found in:
bóthar, bóthair; bóithre - road
breitheamh, breithimh; breithiúna - judge
briathar, briathair; briathra - verb
cloigeann, cloiginn; cloigne - skull
doras, dorais; doirse - door
ollamh, ollaimh; ollúna - professor
solas, solais; soilse - light
Second
The second declension is made up of mostly feminine nouns, and features a nominative singular form that can end in either a broad or a slender consonant. The genitive singular ends in a slender consonant followed by -e. The most common plural form has a broad consonant followed by -a in the nominative, and a broad consonant alone in the genitive. The vocative has the same endings as the nominative, as does the dative in standard language.
bróg "shoe"
Singular
Plural
Nominative
bróg/bˠɾˠoːɡ/
bróga/ˈbˠɾˠoːɡə/
Vocative
a bhróg/əwɾˠoːɡ/
a bhróga/əˈwɾˠoːɡə/
Genitive
bróige/ˈbˠɾˠoːɟə/
bróg/bˠɾˠoːɡ/
Dative
bróg/bˠɾˠoːɡ/ (obsolete/dialectalbróig)
bróga/ˈbˠɾˠoːɡə/ (obsoletebrógaibh)
deoir "tear"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Dative
deoir/dʲoːɾʲ/
deora/ˈdʲoːɾˠə/
Vocative
a dheoir/əjoːɾʲ/
a dheora/əˈjoːɾˠə/
Genitive
deoire/ˈdʲoːɾʲə/
deor/dʲoːɾˠ/
In Connacht Irish and Waterford Irish it is often the case that all nouns of the second declension in the nom. sg. end with a slender consonant (e.g. bróig "a shoe").
In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant alone (in effect the dative sg. is formed by dropping the -e from the genitive sg.), e.g. i mo bhróig "in my shoe" (historically, nominative forms like bróig are descended from the old dative).
When /x/ in the gen. sing. is made slender, it is also voiced, so /x/ > /ç/ > /j/. /əjə/ becomes /iː/, and is written -(a)í.
girseach "little girl"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Std. dative
girseach/ˈɟɪɾˠʃəx/
girseacha/ˈɟɪɾˠʃəxə/
Vocative
a ghirseach/əˈjɪɾˠʃəx/
a ghirseacha/əˈjɪɾˠʃəxə/
Genitive
girsí/ˈɟɪɾˠʃiː/
girseach/ˈɟɪɾˠʃəx/
Nonstandard Dative
girsigh/ˈɟɪɾˠʃiː/ (obsolete/dialectal)
girseachaibh/ˈɟɪɾˠʃəxəvʲ/ (obsolete)
Many words in this declension form a strong plural with one of the endings -t(h)a,-te, -(e)acha or -eanna:
The third declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by the genitive singular in -a. The majority of nouns in this class form the plural in -(a)í. The final consonant of the stem may be broad or slender: it retains its quality in the plural, but is always broad in the genitive singular.
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative
broad or slender cons.
-(a)í
Genitive
broad cons. + -a
-(a)í
bádóir (m.) "boatsman"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Dative
bádóir/ˈbˠaːd̪ˠoːɾʲ/
bádóirí/ˈbˠaːd̪ˠoːɾʲiː/
Vocative
a bhádóir/əˈwaːd̪ˠoːɾʲ/
a bhádóirí/əˈwaːd̪ˠoːɾʲiː/
Genitive
bádóra/ˈbˠaːd̪ˠoːɾˠə/
bádóirí/ˈbˠaːd̪ˠoːɾʲiː/
rás (m.) "race"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Dative
rás/ɾˠaːsˠ/
rásaí/ˈɾˠaːsˠiː/
Vocative
a rás/əɾˠaːsˠ/
a rásaí/əˈɾˠaːsˠiː/
Genitive
rása/ˈɾˠaːsˠə/
rásaí/ˈɾˠaːsˠiː/
Feminine nouns in -áint or -úint lose their ⟨t⟩ in the gen. sg.; those in -irt have -⟨th⟩- instead of -⟨t⟩- in the gen. sg.
bagairt, bagartha, bagairtí (f.) "threat"
canúint, canúna, canúintí (f.) "dialect"
Many words in this declension form the plural with one of the endings -anna or -acha:
am, ama, amanna (m.) "time"
anam, anama, anamacha (m.) "soul"
droim, droma, dromanna (m.) "back"
loch, locha, lochanna (m.) "lake"
troid, troda, troideanna (f.) "fight, struggle"
Some words in Munster Irish also have a separate dative form:
The fourth declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by a genitive singular that is identical in form to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The singular may end in a vowel or a consonant (usually the diminutive suffix -ín). The most common plural ending is -(a)í.
Singular
Plural
All cases
Vowel or consonant (usually -ín)
-(a)í
balla (m.) "wall"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Genitive/Dative
balla/ˈbˠal̪ˠə/
ballaí/ˈbˠal̪ˠiː/
Vocative
a bhalla/əˈwal̪ˠə/
a bhallaí/əˈwal̪ˠiː/
comhairle (f.) "(piece of) advice"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Genitive/Dative
comhairle/ˈkoːɾˠl̠ʲə/
comhairlí/ˈkoːɾˠl̠ʲiː/
Vocative
a chomhairle/əˈxoːɾˠl̠ʲə/
a chomhairlí/əˈxoːɾˠl̠ʲiː/
cailín (m.) "girl"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Genitive/Dative
cailín/ˈkalʲiːnʲ/
cailíní/ˈkalʲiːnʲiː/
Vocative
a chailín/əˈxalʲiːnʲ/
a chailíní/əˈxalʲiːnʲiː/
Many words of this declension form the plural with the following endings -tha/-t(h)e, -((e)a)nna or -((e)a)cha:
ainmhí; ainmhithe (m.) "animal"
aturnae; aturnaetha (m.) "attorney"
baile; bailte (m.) "village"
bus; busanna (m.) "bus"
cliamhain; cliamhaineacha (m.) "son-in-law"
cneá; cneácha (f.) "wound, sore"
cnó; cnónna (m.) "nut"
cró; cróite (m.) "outhouse; eye of a needle"
dlí; dlíthe (m.) "law"
dosaen; dosaenacha (m.) "dozen"
ga; gathanna (m.) "ray, radius"
gé; géanna (f.) "goose"
léine; léine, léinte (f.) "shirt"
rá; ráite (m.) "saying"
rí; ríthe (m.) "king"
sloinne; sloinnte (m.) "last name"
teanga; teangacha (f.) "language, tongue"
tine; tinte (f.) "fire"
Other strong plural formations are found in:
ainm; ainmneacha (m.) "name"
airí; airíona (m.) "characteristic, symptom"
aithne; aitheanta (f.) "commandment"
bruach; bruacha (m.) "bank (of river etc.)"
cine; ciníocha (m.) "race, tribe"
duine; daoine (m.) "person, human being"
gabha; gaibhne (m.) "blacksmith"
gnó; gnóthaí (m.) "business"
oíche; oícheanta (f.) "night"
One noun in this class has a weak plural:
bó, bó; ba, bó (f.) - cow
Fifth
The fifth declension is made up mostly of feminine nouns and is characterized by a genitive singular that ends in a broad consonant that has been added to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The most common plural is strong, formed by adding -a to the genitive singular.
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative
Vowel or slender consonant
Gen. sg. + -a
Genitive
broad consonant
Gen. sg. + -a
pearsa "person"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Dative
pearsa/ˈpʲaɾˠsˠə/
pearsana/ˈpʲaɾˠsˠən̪ˠə/
Vocative
a phearsa/əˈfʲaɾˠsˠə/
a phearsana/əˈfʲaɾˠsˠən̪ˠə/
Genitive
pearsan/ˈpʲaɾˠsˠən̪ˠ/
pearsana/ˈpʲaɾˠsˠən̪ˠə/
cathair "city"
Singular
Plural
Nominative/Dative
cathair/ˈkahəɾʲ/
cathracha/ˈkaɾˠəxə/
Vocative
a chathair/əˈxahəɾʲ/
a chathracha/əˈxaɾˠəxə/
Genitive
cathrach/ˈkaɾˠəx/
cathracha/ˈkaɾˠəxə/
In some Munster Irish varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant (in effect the dative sg. is formed by palatalizing the genitive sg.), for example, do phearsain "to a person", ón gcathraigh "from the city". The word Éire ("Ireland") retains the distinct dative form Éirinn in the standard language.
Some words form the genitive singular by changing the final consonant of the nominative singular to broad. The plural is then strong -eacha.
Some nouns have weak plurals; here the genitive singular and genitive plural have the same form:
caora, caorach; caoirigh, caorach - sheep
lacha, lachan; lachain, lachan - duck
Verbal nouns
The most productive verbal nouns end with -(e)adh (1st conjugation) or -(i)ú (2nd conjugation). These originally belonged to the third declension, but synchronically are best regarded as separate declensions.
The 1st conjugation verbal noun in -(e)adh has a genitive singular in -te/-ta and a plural in -t(a)í.
briseadh, briste; bristí "breaking"
moladh, molta; moltaí "praising; recommendation"
The 2nd conjugation verbal noun in -(i)ú has a genitive singular in -(a)ithe and a plural in -(u)ithe. These endings are pronounced the same regardless of the spelling distinction.
The definite article has two forms in Irish: an and na. Their distribution depends on number, case, and gender, and they trigger mutation partly on the basis of the initial sound of the following word. Each entry of the table gives an example of one noun starting with a consonant and one with a vowel.
Singular
Plural
Masculine
Feminine
both genders
Nominative
an cat an t-éan
an bhróg an eaglais
(do) na cait (leis) na héin
Dative (i)
den chat san éan
don bhróg den eaglais
Dative (ii)
ag an gcat ag an éan
faoin mbróg tríd an eaglais
Genitive
an chait an éin
na bróige na heaglaise
na gcat
na n-éan
Dative (i) is used with all prepositions in Ulster usage; in Munster and the standard language it is used only with den "from the", don "to the", and sa(n) "in the" but there are also Munster dialects in which only sa(n) triggers lenition and den and don eclipse, as with every other article-preposition compound. In Connacht sa(n) eclipses whereas den and don lenite. Dative (ii) is used outside Ulster with other prepositions.
The article never mutates a following ⟨d⟩ or ⟨t⟩ in the singular, and ⟨s⟩ is lenited to ⟨ts⟩ (pronounced [t̪ˠ,tʲ]) rather than the usual ⟨sh⟩. ⟨s⟩ furthermore lenites in both dative (i) and (ii) in the singular with feminine nouns but does not lenite at all with masculine nouns.
It does, however, eclipse ⟨t⟩ and ⟨d⟩ in Munster dialects and forms like "ag an ndoras" instead of the usual pattern "ag an doras", which is used in all other dialects, do occur.
There is no indefinite article in Irish, so depending on context cat can mean "cat" or "a cat".
Adjectives
Almost all adjectives in Irish can be used either predicatively or attributively. A predicative adjective is one that forms a part of the predicate, like red in the sentence The car is red. An attributive adjective directly modifies a noun, as in the red car.
A predicate adjective in Irish does not inflect:
Tá an fear sin beag. "That man is small."
Tá na fir sin beag. "Those men are small."
Tá an bhean seo beag. "This woman is small."
Tá na mná seo beag. "These women are small."
A predicate adjective expressing a value judgment is often preceded by the particle go. This particle attaches ⟨h⟩ to a following vowel.
Tá mé go maith. "I'm fine" (lit. "I am good.")
Tá an scéal go holc. "The story is bad."
Bhí an aimsir go hálainn. "The weather was beautiful."
In Ulster, go is not generally used in these cases.
An attributive adjective mostly follows the noun and is inflected:
an fear beag "the small man"
an fhir bhig "of the small man" (genitive)
There are four classes of declension of adjectives in Irish, which correspond to the first four declensions of nouns:
Nom. sg. ends with:
Gen. sg. masc. ends with:
Gen. sg. fem. ends with:
1st decl.
broad cons.
slender consonant
slender consonant + -e
2nd decl.
slender cons.
slender consonant
slender consonant + -e
3rd decl.
slender cons. (mostly -úil)
slender consonant
broad consonant + -a
4th decl.
vowel
= nom. sg.
= nom. sg.
First declension
bocht "poor"
Masc. sg.
Fem. sg.
Plural
Nominative
bocht
bhocht
b(h)ochta
Genitive
bhoicht
boichte
bocht(a)
bacach "lame"
Masc. sg.
Fem. sg.
Plural
Nominative
bacach
bhacach
b(h)acacha
Genitive
bhacaigh
bacaí
bacach(a)
Second declension
ciúin "quiet"
Masc. sg.
Fem. sg.
Plural
Nominative
ciúin
chiúin
c(h)iúine
Genitive
chiúin
ciúine
ciúin(e)
Third declension
misniúil "brave"
Masc. sg.
Fem. sg.
Plural
Nominative
misniúil
mhisniúil
m(h)isniúla
Genitive
mhisniúil
misniúla
misniúil, -úla
cóir "just"
Masc. Sg.
Fem. Sg.
Plural
Nominative
cóir
chóir
c(h)óra
Genitive
chóir
córa
cóir, córa
Fourth declension
This declension does not inflect, but it does mutate.
crua "hard"
Masc. sg.
Fem. sg.
Plural
Nominative
crua
chrua
c(h)rua
Genitive
chrua
crua
crua
Irregular adjectives
Masc. sg. nom. & gen.
Fem. sg. nom.
Fem. sg. gen.
Pl. nom./gen.
Gloss
álainn
álainn
áille
áille
"beautiful"
breá
bhreá
breátha
b(h)reátha
"fine"
deacair
dheacair
deacra
d(h)eacra
"difficult"
gearr
ghearr
giorra
g(h)earra
"short"
socair
shocair
socra
s(h)ocra
"still"
tapaidh
thapaidh
thapaí
t(h)apaí
"fast"
te
the
te
t(h)eo
"hot"
tirim
thirim
tirime
t(h)iorma
"dry"
Notes
The nominative plural undergoes lenition only if the noun ends with a slender consonant: cait bhacacha "lame cats". Otherwise, the adjective in the nominative plural does not lenite: táilliúirí bacacha "lame tailors".
The long form of the genitive plural (e.g. bochta, bacacha, ciúine) is used when the noun has a strong plural, e.g. máithreacha bacacha "of lame mothers". The short form (e.g. bocht, bacach, ciúin) is used when the noun has a weak plural, e.g. cat bacach "of lame cats".
The dative has the same form as the nominative.
The vocative has the same form as the nominative except in the masculine singular of the 1st/2nd declension, where it has the same form as the genitive.
Comparative
Irish adjectives have a comparative form equivalent to the comparative and superlative in English. The comparative does not undergo inflexion and is the same as the feminine singular genitive in regular and many irregular adjectives.
Regular formation
Base form
Comparative form
Gloss
álainn
áille
"beautiful/more beautiful"
bacach
bacaí
"lame/lamer"
bocht
boichte
"poor/poorer"
ciúin
ciúine
"quiet/quieter"
cóir
córa
"just/more just"
crua
crua
"hard/harder"
deacair
deacra
"difficult/more difficult"
gearr
giorra
"short/shorter"
misniúil
misniúla
"brave/braver"
socair
socra
"still/stiller"
tapaidh
tapaí
"fast/faster"
tirim
tirime
"dry/drier"
Irregular forms
Base form
Comparative form
Gloss
beag
lú
"small/smaller"
breá
breátha
"fine/finer"
dócha
dóichí
"possible/more possible"
fada
faide
"long/longer"
fogus
foisce
"near/nearer"
furasta
fusa
"easy/easier"
iomaí
lia
"many/more"
ionúin
ansa
"beloved, dear/more beloved, dearer"
maith
fearr
"good/better"
olc
measa
"bad/worse"
te
teo
"hot/hotter"
tréan
tréineortreise
"strong/stronger"
mór
mó
"big/bigger"
Syntax of comparison
There are two constructions to express the comparative:
1) Copula + comparative form + subject + ná ("than") + predicate. The preterite of the copula causes lenition, while the present tense does not.
Ba thréine Cáit ná Cathal. "Cáit was stronger than Cathal."
Is airde Seán ná mise. "Seán is bigger than me."
B'óige an madra ná an cat. "The dog was younger than the cat."
Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste. "Broken Irish is better than clever English."
2) níos/ní ba/ní b’ + comparative + ná + predicate. Níos is used if the sentence is in the present or future tense.
Ní ba/ní b’, which triggers lenition, is used if the sentence is in the past tense. Ní b’ is used before words starting with vowels and ní ba before those starting with consonants.
Tá an ghrian níos gile ná an ghealach. "The sun is brighter than the moon."
Beidh Peadar níos saibhre ná a athair. "Peadar will be richer than his father."
D'éirigh Peadar ní ba shaibhre ná a athair. "Peadar became richer than his father."
Bhí Seán ní b’airde ná mise. "Seán was bigger than me."
A superlative is expressed as a relative clause: noun + is/ba/ab + comparative form.
an cailín is tréine "the strongest girl" (lit. "the girl who is the strongest")
an cailín ba thréine "the strongest girl" (lit. "the girl who was/would be the strongest")
an buachaill is óige "the youngest boy" (lit. "the boy who is the youngest")
an buachaill ab óige "the youngest boy" (lit. "the boy who was/would be the youngest")
References
Christian Brothers (1994). New Irish Grammar. Dublin: C. J. Fallon.
Gramadach na Gaeilge agus litriú na Gaeilge: An Caighdeán Oifigiúil. Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair. 1994.
Alexey Shibakov (2017). Irish Word Forms / Irische Wortformen (Book I&II). Berlin: epubli.
