Irregular Verbs in Irish

Overview

Irish has eleven irregular verbs, and they are among the most frequently used verbs in the language. Unlike regular verbs, which follow predictable conjugation patterns, these verbs have unique stems that change across tenses. The good news is that there are only eleven of them, so once you learn them, you have mastered one of the trickiest parts of Irish grammar.

The eleven irregular verbs are: bí (be), abair (say), beir (catch/give birth), clois/cluin (hear), déan (do/make), faigh (get), feic (see), ith (eat), tabhair (give), tar (come), and téigh (go). You will use these verbs constantly in everyday conversation, so investing time in memorizing their forms pays off quickly.

Each irregular verb has its own set of stems for the past, present, future, and conditional tenses. The negative and question particles also interact differently with some of these verbs — faigh, for instance, uses ní bhfuair in the negative past rather than the expected níor form.

How It Works

The 11 Irregular Verbs — Key Forms

Verb	Past	Future	English
bí	bhí	beidh	be
abair	dúirt	déarfaidh	say
beir	rug	béarfaidh	catch
clois	chuala	cloisfidh	hear
déan	rinne	déanfaidh	do/make
faigh	fuair	gheobhaidh	get
feic	chonaic	feicfidh	see
ith	d'ith	íosfaidh	eat
tabhair	thug	tabharfaidh	give
tar	tháinig	tiocfaidh	come
téigh	chuaigh	rachaidh	go

Negative Past Forms

Verb	Negative Past	English
bí	ní raibh	was not
abair	ní dúirt	did not say
déan	ní dhearna	did not do
faigh	ní bhfuair	did not get
feic	ní fhaca	did not see
tar	ní tháinig	did not come
téigh	ní dheachaigh	did not go

Question Past Forms

Verb	Question Past	English
bí	an raibh?	was?
abair	an ndúirt?	did...say?
déan	an ndearna?	did...do?
faigh	an bhfuair?	did...get?
feic	an bhfaca?	did...see?
tar	ar tháinig?	did...come?
téigh	an ndeachaigh?	did...go?

Examples in Context

Irish	English	Note
Chuaigh mé go dtí an siopa.	I went to the shop.	téigh → chuaigh
Fuair sí litir.	She got a letter.	faigh → fuair
Ní dúirt sé tada.	He didn't say anything.	abair → dúirt
Chonaic muid an scannán.	We saw the film.	feic → chonaic
Rinne sí an obair.	She did the work.	déan → rinne
Tháinig siad abhaile go luath.	They came home early.	tar → tháinig
Thug mé leabhar di.	I gave her a book.	tabhair → thug
Chuala mé an ceol.	I heard the music.	clois → chuala
An bhfaca tú é?	Did you see him?	feic → faca (question)
Ní bhfuair mé freagra.	I didn't get an answer.	faigh: special negative

Common Mistakes

Applying regular past tense rules to irregulars

• Wrong: D'fhaigh mé (treating faigh as regular)
• Right: Fuair mé.
• Why: Irregular verbs have unique past stems that do not follow the regular lenition pattern.

Using "níor" with verbs that take different negative particles

• Wrong: Níor fuair mé
• Right: Ní bhfuair mé.
• Why: Some irregular verbs like faigh and feic use ní + eclipsis in the negative past, not níor + lenition.

Confusing the past and present stems

• Wrong: Rinne mé é gach lá (for habitual present)
• Right: Déanaim é gach lá.
• Why: Rinne is the past stem. The habitual present uses the root déan: déanaim.

Usage Notes

The verb faigh is particularly tricky because it is the only verb where the negative and question forms in the past use eclipsis instead of lenition. In Ulster Irish, you may hear chan fhaca instead of ní fhaca for "did not see," reflecting dialectal variation in how negation works with irregular verbs.

Practice Tips

1. Create a reference card with all eleven irregular verbs showing their past, future, and conditional forms. Review it daily until the forms come naturally.
2. Write one sentence in the past tense for each irregular verb every day, rotating through all eleven over the course of a week.

Related Concepts

• Past Tense — the regular past tense patterns that irregular verbs deviate from