Basic Question Words in Irish

Overview

Question words let you ask open-ended questions — who, what, where, when, why, and how. In Irish, these words each have their own patterns and mutation effects, but at the A1 level you can start by memorizing the most common question phrases as fixed units and understanding the answers you will hear.

Irish question words include cad/céard (what), cé (who), cá/cén áit (where), cathain (when), conas (how), cén fáth (why), and cé mhéad (how much/many). Some of these trigger special forms of the verb — for example, cá triggers eclipsis, which is why you say "Cá bhfuil?" rather than "Cá fuil?"

These question words combine naturally with the verb forms and prepositional pronouns you have already learned, making them a practical way to bring your Irish into real conversation.

How It Works

Question Word	Meaning	Example
Cad / Céard	What	Cad atá ann? (What is it?)
Cé	Who	Cé hé sin? (Who is that?)
Cá / Cén áit	Where	Cá bhfuil an siopa? (Where is the shop?)
Cathain	When	Cathain a thagann sé? (When does he come?)
Conas	How	Conas atá tú? (How are you?)
Cén fáth	Why	Cén fáth a ndearna tú é? (Why did you do it?)
Cé mhéad	How much/many	Cé mhéad a chosnaíonn sé? (How much does it cost?)
Cén	Which/What	Cén t-am é? (What time is it?)

Examples in Context

Irish	English	Note
Cad atá ann?	What is it?	Basic what-question
Cé hé sin?	Who is that?	hé used with masculine
Cá bhfuil an siopa?	Where is the shop?	Cá + eclipsis
Cé mhéad a chosnaíonn sé?	How much does it cost?	Shopping context
Conas atá tú?	How are you?	Most common question
Cathain a thagann an bus?	When does the bus come?	Time question
Cén fáth a bhfuil tú anseo?	Why are you here?	Reason question
Cén t-am é?	What time is it?	Cén + noun
Cé a rinne é?	Who did it?	Subject question
Cad a dúirt sé?	What did he say?	Past tense question

Common Mistakes

Forgetting eclipsis after cá

• Wrong: Cá fuil tú?
• Right: Cá bhfuil tú?
• Why: Cá triggers eclipsis on the following verb. The f of fuil becomes bhf.

Confusing cad and cén

• Wrong: Cad t-am é?
• Right: Cén t-am é?
• Why: Cén (which/what) is used before nouns. Cad is used before verbs or on its own.

Using English word order in questions

• Wrong: Cá an siopa bhfuil?
• Right: Cá bhfuil an siopa?
• Why: The verb comes immediately after the question word in Irish, followed by the subject/object.

Practice Tips

1. Learn one question word per day and practice asking five questions with it. Start with cá bhfuil (where is) since it is the most immediately useful for getting around.
2. Practice question-and-answer pairs: "Cá bhfuil an leithreas?" — "Tá sé ansin." Having both the question and answer ready builds conversational confidence.

Related Concepts

• Negation and Questions — the yes/no question system that complements these open-ended questions