Exam Prep Flashcards
Specific things to review
Irish Word Order
Vern-Subject-Object (VSO)
[Scíobhann sé litir : Writes he letter]
Séimhiú
adding an ‘h’ after the first letter
[p, t, c, b, d, g, f –> ph, th, ch, bh, dh, gh, fh, sh, mh]
Letters that get a Séimhiú
p, t, c, b, d, g, f
[ph, th, ch, bh, dh, gh, fh]
Urú
Adding a letter at the beginning of a word
[p, t, c, b, d, g, f = bp, dt, gc, mb, nd, ng, bhf]
Letters that get an Urú
p=bp
t=dt
c=gc
b=mb
d=nd
g=ng
f=bhf
[only the first letter is pronounced]
Vocative Case
Addressing people directly by name or title. Changes male Gaelic-type names by adding an <i> before the final consonant</i>
‘Hello, Séamus’ in the vocative case =
Dia duit, a Shéamais
‘I’ first person, singular
mé
‘you’ second person, singular
tú
‘he’ third person, masculine, singular
sé
‘she’ third person, feminine, singular
sí
‘we’ first person, plural
muid / sinn
‘you all’ second person, plural
sibh
‘them’ third person, plural
siad
Slender Vowel
e, i
Broad Vowel
a, u, o
Slender with Slender, Broad with Broad
Pairing consonant sounds to the vowels they are placed by. Consonants next to <e, i> are slender and those next to <a, u, o> and broad
‘my’ first person, singular
mo[séimhiú]
‘your’ second person, singular
do[séimhiú]
‘his’ third person, masculine, singular
a[séimhiú]
‘her’ third person, feminine, singular
a
[does not create a modification]
‘our’ first person, plural
ár[urú]
‘your’ second person, plural
bhur[urú]
‘their’ third person, plural
a[urú]
plural possessive nouns all cause:
Urú
[plural and urú sound similar]
nearly all singular possessive nouns cause:
Séimhiú
[S, Singular, Séimhiú]
The one singular possessive noun that does NOT cause a séimhiú:
feminine, third person, singular: ‘a’
‘me’ first person, singular pronoun
mé
‘you’ second person, singular pronoun
tú
‘him’ third person, masculine, singular pronoun
é
‘her’ third person, feminine, singular pronoun
í
‘us’ first person, plural pronoun
muid
‘you all’ second person, plural pronoun
sibh
‘them’ third person, plural pronoun
iad
Is ea
It is
Ní hea
It isn’t
emphatic pronoun, 1st person singular
mise
emphatic pronoun, 2nd person singular
tusa
emphatic pronoun, 3rd person singular, masculine
eisean
emphatic pronoun, 3rd person singular, feminine
ise
emphatic pronoun, 1st person, plural
muidne, sinne
emphatic pronoun, 2nd person, plural
sibhse
emphatic pronoun, 3rd person, plural
iadsan
Irish doesn’t have the verb ‘to have’ instead it is phrased as:
___ is at ___.
x is at me = I have x = Tá x agam.
ag, 1st person singular “at me”
agam
ag, 2nd person singular “at you”
agat
ag, 3rd person singular, masculine, “at him”
aige
ag, 3rd person singular, feminine, “at her”
aici
ag, 1st person plural, “at us”
againn
ag, 2nd person plural, “at you all”
agaibh
ag, 3rd person plural “at them”
acu
le, 1st person singular, “with me”
liom
le, 2nd person singular, “with you”
leat
le, 3rd person singular, masculine, “with him”
leis
le, 3rd person singular, feminine, “with her”
léi
le, 1st person plural, “with us”
linn
le, 2nd person plural, “with you all”
libh
le, 3rd person plural, “with them”
leo
Weak plurals
Either slenderize the final consonant or add -a. Changes happen within the word and the word stays about the same size.
[amhrán ‘song’ –> amhráin ‘songs’]
Strong plurals
Add extra syllable(s) such as -(e)anna, -(a)i, -(a)ithe.
[rang ‘class’ –> ranganna ‘classes’]
‘an’ is the singular definite article “the.” the plural of ‘an’ is
Na
[an rang vs. na ranganna]
Present tense, first conjugation qualifiers
1) one syllable, 2) end in -áil, 3) end in -áin, -óil, and -úir
Present tense, second conjugation qualifiers
1) multiple syllables, 2) ending in -(a)igh, -(a)il, -(a)ir, and -(a)is
Present tense, first conjugation formation pattern
Root: Sábháil ‘save’
1st sg: root + -(a)im [sábhálaim; ‘I save’]
1st pl: root + -(a)imid [sábhálaimid; ‘we save’]
2nd/3rd sg/pl: root + -(a)íonn + pronoun [sábhálann tú; ‘you save’]
Present tense, second conjugation formation pattern
1st sg: root + -(a)im
1st pl: root + -(a)ímid
2nd/3rd sg/pl: root + -(a)íonn + pronoun
[ceannaigh ‘buy’ - ceannaím ‘I buy’, ceannaímid ‘we buy’]
{foghlaim ‘learn’ - foghlaimím ‘I learn’, foghlaimímid ‘we learn’}
using bí to express:
something which is habitually or continuously the case
forms of bí
bím, bímid, bíonn tú/sé/sí/sibh/siad
[eg. Bím ann = I’m there all the time]
I am [often/always] writing
Bím ag scríobh
Forming the past tense
Apply séimhiú to any consonant-initial root and add pronoun
[cheannaigh siad - ‘they bought’]
Prefix d’ to any vowel initial root and add pronoun
[d’inis mé - ‘I told’]
Prefix d’ to any fh initial root and add pronoun
[d’fhoghlaim sí = ‘she learned’]
Past tense interrogative and negative particles:
ar[séimhiú]
níor[séimhiú]
Ar cheannaigh tú leabhar? [Did you buy a book? with past tense interrogative particle ‘ar’] response:
Cheannaigh [did buy]
OR
Níor cheannaigh [did not buy]
An attributive adjective:
directly modifies a noun, e.g. fear maith ‘a good man.’ these come after the noun
A predicative adjective:
is linked with a verb to the noun it describes, e.g. Is maith an fear é ‘he is a good man’
Use níos before the comparative for a basic sense of ‘more’ or ‘-er’
Use ná like ‘than’
Tá an bord seo níos airde ná an ceann sin.
“This table is taller than that one”
Use is before the comparative for the sense ‘most’
an bord is airde
‘the highest table’
Positive adjectives with the preposition ‘le’ to express how you feel about something
is maith liom é : ‘i like it’
is fearr liom é sin : ‘i prefer that’
Positive adjectives:
maith ; good ~ like
breá ; fine, grand ~ really like
aoibhinn ; lovely ~ love, adore
Negative adjectives:
olc ; bad, evil ~ dislike
oth ; regret(ted) ~ regret
fuath ; hat(r)ed ~ hate
féidir
possible
is féidir liom/leat/leis/etc = ‘I/you/he/etc can’
Nominative feminine singular adjectives:
Séimhiú
bean mhaith ‘good woman’
Nominative masculine singular adjectives:
no change
Nominative feminine plural adjectives:
add vowel (a or e)
mná maithe ‘good women’
Nominative masculine plural adjectives:
Add vowel (a or e) + Séimhiú after slender consonants
tithe maithe ‘good houses’
fir mhaithe ‘ good men’
Genitive feminine singular adjectives:
add vowel (a or e)
mná maithe ‘of a good woman’
Genitive masculine singular adjectives:
Séimhiú
fir mhaith ‘of a good man’
Genitive plural adjectives (both feminine and masculine):
Strong plural nouns: Add vowel (a or e)
na dtithe maithe ‘of the good houses’
Weak plural nouns: No change
na mban maith ‘of the good women’
For verbal adjectives (past participles): verbs ending in -ch, -d, -l, -n, -s get
-ta/-te
e.g. deán –> deánta
(do –> done)
For verbal adjectives (past participles): verbs ending in -b(h), -g, -c, -m(h), -p, -r get:
-tha/-thé
e.g. íoc –> íoctha
(pay –> paid)
For verbal adjectives (past participles): verbs ending in -bh/-mh + -tha is now written as:
-fa
in order to simplify reading.
e.g. scríobhtha –> scríofa
Perfect participles can be expressed by
using the verbal adjectives with the ‘have’ construction bí + ag
e.g; Tá sé scríofa agam: “I have written it”
Bhí sé scríofa agam: “I had written it”
to construct an adverb:
form verb with the particle ‘go’
maith - good / go maith - well
éifeachtach - effective / go héifeachtach - effectively
Verbal adjective prefixe Do[séimhiú]
Difficult, impossible
e.g; dodhéanta - difficult/impossible to do.
dofheicthe - invisible, unseeable
Verbal adjective prefix So[séimhiú]
Easily, readily
e.g; sodhéanta - easily done
sofheicthe - visible, able to be seen easily
Verbal adjective prefix In[séimhiú]
-able
e.g; indéanta - doable, feasible
infheicthe - seeable, viewable
Forming future tense with first conjugation verbs
add -f(a)idh, matching whether the final consonant of the verb is slender or broad + pronoun
Scríobh - scríobhfaidh mé (I will write)
Léigh - léifidh tú (you will read)
Forming future tense with second conjugation verbs
add -eoidh/-óidh + pronoun
Cosain - cosnóidh mé (I will protect)
Inis - inseoidh tú (You will tell)
to express ‘to’ the construct is:
[target noun/verb] a [verbal noun]
e.g.
Tá mé chun rud éigint a dhéanamh - I am going to do something (~something to do)
Tá sí chun deoch a fháil - she is going to get a drink (~a drink to get)
Scríobhfaidh mé chucu chun eolas a fháil - I will write to them to get information (~info to get)
Subordinate complementizer “that”
go[urú] - the copula /is/ uses gur
Sílim go bhfuil sé chun imeacht - “I think /that/ he’s going to leave”
Sílim gur (go+is) math léi seacláid - “I think /that/ she likes chocolate”
Subordinate complementizer “that/which/who”
a
Dependent version = a[séimhiú]: has the same subject as the main clause
e.g; an fear a chanann amhráin - “the man who sings songs”
Independent version = a[urú]: has a different subject to the matrix clause
e.g; an fear a gcanann a mhac amhráin - “the man whose son sings songs”
Negative version of ‘Go relative’:
nach[urú]
Sílim nach bhfuil sé chun imeacht - “I think that he isn’t going to leave”
Negative version of ‘direct A relative’:
nach[urú]
an fear nach gcanann amhráin - “the man who doesn’t sing songs”
Negative version of ‘indirect A relative’:
nach[urú]
An fear nach gcanann a mhac amhráin - “the man whose son doesn’t sing songs”
Negative version of ‘Is relative’:
nach
Sílim nach maith leo a chéile - “I think that they don’t like each other”
Expressing need or obligation
Bí + ar, for verbs = Tá orm aiste a scríobh - “I have to write an essay”
Caithfidh + subject pronoun, for verbs = Csithfidh mé fáil amach - “I have to find out”
Is gá + do + v.n, for verbs = Is gá dom imeacht - “I need to leave”
Bí + de dhíth, (ar), for nouns = Tá cuidiú de dhith (orm) - “help is necessary” / “I need help”
