Basic Adjectives in Irish

Overview

Adjectives in Irish follow a pattern that is quite different from English. The most important rule to remember at the A1 level is that adjectives come after the noun, not before it. Where English says "a big house," Irish says "teach mór" — literally "house big."

Beyond word order, Irish adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. This means the adjective changes form depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural. The most common change is lenition: adjectives following a feminine singular noun are lenited.

These agreement patterns are directly connected to the noun gender system you are already learning. Once you are comfortable recognizing masculine and feminine nouns, adjective agreement becomes a natural extension of that knowledge.

How It Works

Basic position and agreement

Context	Rule	Example
After masculine noun	No change	fear mór (a big man)
After feminine noun	Lenition	bean mhór (a big woman)
After plural noun	Plural ending (-a/-e)	fir mhóra (big men)
With an + adjective	Same agreement	an fear mór / an bhean mhór

Common A1 adjectives

Irish	English	Irish	English
mór	big	beag	small
maith	good	dona	bad
fada	long	gearr	short
te	hot	fuar	cold
deas	nice	óg	young
sean	old	nua	new
ard	tall	íseal	low

Note: The adjective sean (old) is an exception — it comes before the noun and causes lenition: seanbhean (old woman), seanfhear (old man).

Examples in Context

Irish	English	Note
fear mór	a big man	Masculine — no change
bean mhór	a big woman	Feminine — lenition
leabhar maith	a good book	Masculine — no change
oíche mhaith	a good night	Feminine — lenition
fir mhóra	big men	Plural — lenition + -a ending
teach nua	a new house	Masculine — no change
scoil bheag	a small school	Feminine — lenition
an cailín deas	the nice girl	With article
seanfhear	an old man	Sean before noun + lenition
lá fada	a long day	Masculine — no change

Common Mistakes

Placing the adjective before the noun

• Wrong: mór teach
• Right: teach mór
• Why: In Irish, adjectives follow the noun. The only common exception is sean (old).

Forgetting to lenite after feminine nouns

• Wrong: bean mór
• Right: bean mhór
• Why: A feminine singular noun triggers lenition on the following adjective.

Not changing the adjective for plural

• Wrong: fir mór
• Right: fir mhóra
• Why: Plural nouns require a plural form of the adjective. Many adjectives add -a or -e in the plural, and they are also lenited.

Practice Tips

1. Take ten common nouns (five masculine, five feminine) and pair each with the adjectives mór, beag, and maith. Write out all the combinations to practice the lenition pattern.
2. Describe objects around you in Irish: "bord mór" (big table), "cathaoir bheag" (small chair). This real-world practice helps the adjective-after-noun order feel natural.

Related Concepts

• Colours — colour adjectives follow the same agreement rules
• Describing People — using adjectives in context to describe appearance
• Comparatives and Superlatives — how to say "bigger," "best," etc.