Irregular Verbs in Irish

In Brief

Irish has 11 verbs whose most important tense forms cannot be predicted completely from the regular rules: bí, abair, beir, clois, déan, faigh, feic, ith, tabhair, tar, and téigh. Learn each verb as a small set of forms, especially its positive past, negative or question past, and future: for example, chonaic / ní fhaca / feicfidh (“saw / did not see / will see”).

Overview

The Irish name briathra neamhrialta means “irregular verbs.” A verb is irregular when some of its forms use a changed stem (the main part carrying its meaning) or behave differently from the usual pattern. English does this too: go becomes went, not goed. Irish irregularity can affect not only the positive statement but also the form used after a question or negative particle.

These verbs appear constantly in everyday Irish. They express basic ideas such as being, saying, doing, getting, seeing, eating, giving, coming, and going. At A2, the immediate goal is to recognise and use straightforward past and future sentences: Tháinig sí (“She came”) and Tiocfaidh sí (“She will come”). You do not need to memorise every advanced form at once.

The main challenge for an English-speaking learner is that Irish often changes the beginning of a verb after a small word such as ní (“not”) or an (the question particle). In addition, several irregular verbs have a special dependent form—a form used after certain particles. That is why learning only chonaic for “saw” is not enough: “did not see” is ní fhaca, not níor chonaic.

How It Works

The 11 verbs

Dictionary form	Core meaning	Present form	Positive past	Future form
bí	be	tá	bhí	beidh
abair	say	deir	dúirt	déarfaidh
beir	catch, bear	beireann	rug	béarfaidh
clois	hear	cloiseann	chuala	cloisfidh
déan	do, make	déanann	rinne	déanfaidh
faigh	get, find	faigheann	fuair	gheobhaidh
feic	see	feiceann	chonaic	feicfidh
ith	eat	itheann	d’ith	íosfaidh
tabhair	give, bring	tugann	thug	tabharfaidh
tar	come	tagann	tháinig	tiocfaidh
téigh	go	téann	chuaigh	rachaidh

The present forms in this table normally describe a habit or repeated event: Tagann sé anseo gach lá means “He comes here every day.” Bí is exceptional even within this group: tá generally describes a current state, while habitual “be” uses forms such as bíonn.

Person is usually shown by a pronoun

For the basic forms taught here, the verb normally stays the same and a subject pronoun shows who performs the action. A subject is simply the person or thing doing or experiencing what the verb describes.

Irish	English
Chonaic mé	I saw
Chonaic tú	you saw
Chonaic sé / sí	he / she saw
Chonaic muid	we saw
Chonaic sibh	you (plural) saw
Chonaic siad	they saw

This is easier than the English contrast I am, you are, she is: in a simple Irish past statement, one form can be followed by different pronouns. Other grammatical forms exist, but this pronoun-based pattern gives beginners a reliable starting point.

Statements, negatives, and questions

Irish does not form ordinary past questions with an equivalent of English did. Instead, a particle comes before the verb. Regular past verbs generally use níor for a negative and ar for a question, often with lenition (a change usually written by adding h after the first consonant). Some irregular verbs follow that pattern; others use special dependent forms.

Verb	Positive past	Negative past	Past question
bí	bhí	ní raibh	an raibh?
abair	dúirt	ní dúirt	an ndúirt?
beir	rug	níor rug	ar rug?
clois	chuala	níor chuala	ar chuala?
déan	rinne	ní dhearna	an ndearna?
faigh	fuair	ní bhfuair	an bhfuair?
feic	chonaic	ní fhaca	an bhfaca?
ith	d’ith	níor ith	ar ith?
tabhair	thug	níor thug	ar thug?
tar	tháinig	níor tháinig	ar tháinig?
téigh	chuaigh	ní dheachaigh	an ndeachaigh?

There are two useful learning groups:

• beir, clois, ith, tabhair, and tar use the familiar past particles níor and ar.
• bí, abair, déan, faigh, feic, and téigh have especially important dependent patterns with ní and an. Several also change their stem: rinne → dhearna, chonaic → fhaca, and chuaigh → dheachaigh.

For a yes-or-no answer, Irish commonly repeats the verb rather than using separate words directly equivalent to yes and no:

• An bhfaca tú é? — Chonaic. / Ní fhaca. (“Did you see it? — Yes. / No.”)
• An ndeachaigh sí abhaile? — Chuaigh. / Ní dheachaigh. (“Did she go home? — Yes. / No.”)

Future statements, negatives, and questions

Most future questions use an, which causes eclipsis (a change that places another consonant before the original one), while negatives use ní, usually with lenition where possible.

Verb	Positive future	Negative future	Future question
bí	beidh	ní bheidh	an mbeidh?
abair	déarfaidh	ní déarfaidh	an ndéarfaidh?
beir	béarfaidh	ní bhéarfaidh	an mbéarfaidh?
clois	cloisfidh	ní chloisfidh	an gcloisfidh?
déan	déanfaidh	ní dhéanfaidh	an ndéanfaidh?
faigh	gheobhaidh	ní bhfaighidh	an bhfaighidh?
feic	feicfidh	ní fheicfidh	an bhfeicfidh?
ith	íosfaidh	ní íosfaidh	an íosfaidh?
tabhair	tabharfaidh	ní thabharfaidh	an dtabharfaidh?
tar	tiocfaidh	ní thiocfaidh	an dtiocfaidh?
téigh	rachaidh	ní rachaidh	an rachaidh?

Faigh deserves special attention. Its positive future is gheobhaidh, but after ní or an the stem is faigh-: ní bhfaighidh, an bhfaighidh? Learn these three forms together.

A compact beginner pattern

Build sentences in three pieces:

1. choose the correct verb form;
2. add the subject;
3. add the rest of the message.

For example:

• past statement: Fuair + mé + ríomhphost (“I got an email”);
• past negative: Ní bhfuair + mé + ríomhphost (“I did not get an email”);
• future question: An bhfaighidh + tú + ríomhphost? (“Will you get an email?”).

Unlike English, Irish does not insert did or will as a separate helper here. The tense is already expressed by the verb form.

Examples in Context

Irish	English	Note
Chuaigh mé go dtí an siopa.	I went to the shop.	Positive past of téigh
Fuair sí litir.	She got a letter.	Positive past of faigh
Ní dúirt sé tada.	He did not say anything.	Negative past of abair
Chonaic muid an scannán.	We saw the film.	Positive past of feic
An bhfaca tú mo chuid eochracha?	Did you see my keys?	Dependent past faca after an
Ní dhearna siad an obair inné.	They did not do the work yesterday.	Dependent past of déan
Ar chuala sibh an nuacht?	Did you hear the news?	clois uses ar in the past
Tháinig an bus ar a hocht.	The bus came at eight.	Positive past of tar
Ní raibh mé sa bhaile.	I was not at home.	Negative past of bí
Tabharfaidh mé an leabhar duit amárach.	I will give you the book tomorrow.	Future of tabhair
An mbeidh tú anseo anocht?	Will you be here tonight?	Future question with bí
Gheobhaidh siad an toradh Dé Luain.	They will get the result on Monday.	Positive future of faigh
Ní bhfaighidh sé freagra inniu.	He will not get an answer today.	Dependent future stem of faigh
Tiocfaidh sí linn níos déanaí.	She will come with us later.	Future of tar
Íosfaidh na páistí tar éis na scoile.	The children will eat after school.	Future of ith

Common Mistakes

Keeping the positive stem in a negative

• Wrong: Níor chonaic mé é.
• Right: Ní fhaca mé é.
• Why: The positive past of feic is chonaic, but after the negative particle it uses the dependent form faca, with lenition: fhaca.

Adding English-style helper verbs

• Wrong: Déan chuaigh tú? for “Did you go?”
• Right: An ndeachaigh tú?
• Why: Irish forms this past question with the particle an and the dependent form deachaigh. It does not copy English did + go.

Using the positive future of faigh after a particle

• Wrong: Ní gheobhaidh mé é.
• Right: Ní bhfaighidh mé é.
• Why: Gheobhaidh is the independent positive form. After ní, use the dependent stem faigh-, with the required initial change.

Treating bí like an ordinary verb

• Wrong: An bhí tú ann?
• Right: An raibh tú ann?
• Why: A past question uses raibh, not the positive form bhí. Similarly, the negative is ní raibh.

Applying níor/ar to every irregular past form

• Wrong: Ar rinne sí é?
• Right: An ndearna sí é?
• Why: Some verbs use níor/ar, but déan uses the dependent past dearna after ní/an. Memorise the whole question frame, not only the verb’s positive form.

Confusing tar and téigh

• Wrong: Chuaigh sé anseo ar maidin when the intended viewpoint is “He came here this morning.”
• Right: Tháinig sé anseo ar maidin.
• Why: Téigh/chuaigh means “go/went,” movement away or to another destination; tar/tháinig means “come/came,” movement toward the relevant place or person. The distinction usually matches English go versus come.

Usage Notes

Tabhair covers both “give” and, in suitable contexts, “bring.” Tabhair dom é means “Give it to me,” while Tabharfaidh mé liom é can mean “I will bring/take it with me.” Let the surrounding prepositions and context guide the English translation rather than expecting a one-to-one match.

Déan likewise covers both “do” and “make”: rinne mé an obair (“I did the work”) but rinne sí cáca (“she made a cake”). English chooses two verbs where Irish commonly uses one.

You may encounter regional and conversational variants in speech and writing. For example, Irish has more than one commonly used way to express “we,” and the supplied examples use muid. At this stage, aim to understand the standard forms in the tables while becoming comfortable with the variety used by the speakers you listen to. Do not treat every unfamiliar spoken pronunciation as a different tense.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A2, but they explain forms you will meet later.

The present of bí: tá and bíonn

Irish distinguishes a current state from a habitual or recurring one. Tá sí sa chaifé anois means “She is in the café now,” while Bíonn sí sa chaifé gach maidin means “She is usually/invariably in the café every morning.” English uses is in both sentences, so English-speaking learners need to pay attention to whether the meaning is “now” or “regularly.” The corresponding negative habitual form is ní bhíonn.

Relative and subordinate forms

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or describes someone or something, as in “the book that I saw.” Some irregular verbs show dependent forms after particles and conjunctions beyond the basic ní and an taught here. For instance, an fear a chonaic mé means “the man whom I saw,” while other clause types can require forms related to faca. These patterns are best learned with relative clauses and reported or subordinate structures rather than added to the A2 table as isolated exceptions.

Verbal nouns and commands

The verbal noun is a verb-related form used in structures such as “at doing” or after certain other verbs. Irregular finite forms do not mean every related form has the same changed stem: compare ag déanamh (“doing/making”), ag teacht (“coming”), and ag dul (“going”). Common command forms also include abair! (“say!”), tar! (“come!”), téigh! (“go!”), and tabhair! (“give!”). Learn these as their own patterns; do not try to derive them from dúirt, tháinig, chuaigh, or thug.

Meaning depends on construction

Some verbs broaden their meaning in fixed expressions. Faigh may mean “get,” “find,” or “obtain”; beir ar can mean “catch” or “seize”; and déan appears in many expressions where English chooses a more specific verb. At higher levels, collect the entire phrase—including its preposition—rather than memorising an English gloss alone.

Practice Tips

1. Learn in three-form sets. Put chonaic — ní fhaca — an bhfaca? or rinne — ní dhearna — an ndearna? on one card. This trains the independent and dependent forms together.
2. Run one sentence through time and polarity. Start with Fuair mé litir, then change it to Ní bhfuair mé litir, An bhfuair tú litir?, and Gheobhaidh mé litir amárach. Say each version aloud.
3. Prioritise the highest-frequency verbs. First make automatic the past and future of bí, déan, faigh, feic, tar, and téigh. Add the remaining verbs in small groups, while listening for them in natural Irish.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Past Tense — introduces the regular past-tense particles and initial changes that make the irregular patterns easier to understand.