Personal Pronouns in Irish

Overview

Personal pronouns are among the very first words you need when starting to learn Irish. At the A1 level, mastering these small but essential words will allow you to talk about yourself, other people, and start building sentences right away.

Irish has a straightforward set of personal pronouns: mé (I), tú (you), sé (he), sí (she), muid or sinn (we), sibh (you plural), and siad (they). One of the distinctive features of Irish is its set of emphatic forms — special suffixed versions of the pronouns used to add stress or contrast, such as mise, tusa, and seisean.

Unlike English, Irish pronouns interact heavily with verbs, prepositions, and mutations. You will encounter pronouns that merge with prepositions to create entirely new words (prepositional pronouns), which is a uniquely Irish pattern you will explore in later topics.

How It Works

Person	Basic Form	Emphatic Form	English
1st singular	mé	mise	I / me
2nd singular	tú	tusa	you
3rd singular (m)	sé	seisean	he / him
3rd singular (f)	sí	sise	she / her
1st plural	muid / sinn	muidne / sinne	we / us
2nd plural	sibh	sibhse	you (plural)
3rd plural	siad	siadsan	they / them

Key points:

• muid and sinn both mean "we" — muid is used after verbs in Connacht and Ulster, while sinn appears more in Munster and in certain fixed phrases
• Emphatic forms are used for contrast ("Mise, not you") or emphasis ("It was seisean who did it")
• Irish does not have a gender-neutral singular "they" — sé is masculine and sí is feminine
• There is no separate "it" pronoun — sé or sí is used depending on the grammatical gender of the noun being replaced

Examples in Context

Irish	English	Note
Is mise Seán.	I am Seán.	Emphatic — introducing yourself
Tá sí anseo.	She is here.	Basic pronoun with tá
An tusa atá ann?	Is it you?	Emphatic in a question
Tá sé go maith.	He is well.	Basic masculine pronoun
Chuaigh muid go dtí an siopa.	We went to the shop.	Using muid after a verb
Tá siad ag obair.	They are working.	Basic plural pronoun
Is sinne a rinne é.	It is we who did it.	Emphatic for emphasis
Chonaic sí tusa.	She saw you.	Emphatic on the object
Tá sibh go hálainn.	You (all) are beautiful.	Plural you
Sise a dúirt é.	She is the one who said it.	Emphatic for focus

Common Mistakes

Confusing sé and sí

• Wrong: Tá sé anseo (referring to a woman)
• Right: Tá sí anseo
• Why: Irish pronouns must match the gender of the person or noun. Use sé for masculine and sí for feminine.

Using emphatic forms in ordinary statements

• Awkward: Tá mise ag ithe (in a casual context)
• Natural: Tá mé ag ithe
• Why: Emphatic forms carry stress. Use them only when you want to emphasize or contrast. In neutral statements, use the basic form.

Forgetting that "it" uses sé or sí

• Wrong: Looking for a separate word for "it"
• Right: Tá sé mór (It is big — referring to a masculine noun like teach/house)
• Why: Irish has no dedicated "it" pronoun. Use sé for masculine nouns and sí for feminine nouns.

Practice Tips

1. Start by learning the six basic pronouns with the verb tá — say "Tá mé," "Tá tú," "Tá sé," and so on until the pattern feels natural.
2. Practice introducing yourself using the emphatic form: "Is mise [your name]." Then try emphasizing different people in simple sentences to get a feel for when emphatic forms sound right.

Related Concepts

• Tá - Present Tense — the first verb you will conjugate with these pronouns