An Modh Coinníollach (The Conditional Mood) is very straightforward and there’s no need to fear it. To form the conditional mood (technically conditional is not a tense but a mood (it’s actually not giving any temporal information)) in English we add ‘would’ or ‘could’ before the verb. However, in Irish, when creating the conditional we add different verbal endings depending on who we are talking about and the conjugation the verb is in. Firstly we’re looking at a few regular verbs.
An Chéad Réimniú (The First Conjugation)
For most verbs in An Chéad Réimniú, we use the base form (typically identical to the root of a verb) e.g. bris (to break) > bris-, dún (to close).
For verbs that end in ‘-(a)igh’, we remove this ending to find the form to which we add the appropriate endings to create the conditional.
Depending on whether it is broad or slender we add the following endings: -f(a)inn, -f(e)á, -f(e)adh, -f(a)imis, -f(e)adh, -f(a)idís. In the conditional, we lenite the initial letter of the verb (where possible) if it begins on a consonant and we add a d’ to verbs that begin with a vowel, like we do in the Past Tense.
Firstly let’s look at an example, dún (to close):
| Dhúnfainn | I would close |
| Dhúnfá | You would close |
| Dhúnfadh sé/sí | He/She would close |
| Dhúnfaimis | We would close |
| Dhúnfadh sibh | You [plural] would close |
| Dhúnfaidís | They would close |
And now let’s look at bris (to break):
| Bhrisfinn | I would break |
| Bhrisfeá | You would break |
| Bhrisfeadh sé/sí | He/She would break |
| Bhrisfimis | We would break |
| Bhrisfeadh sibh | You [plural] would break |
| Bhrisfidís | They would break |
An Dara Réimniú (The Second Conjugation)
For verbs in this group, we remove the -aigh or -igh endings from the base form of the verb e.g. ceannaigh (to buy) > ceann-, aimsigh (to discover) > aims.
We then add the appropriate verbal ending. Depending on whether the part of the base form that remains is broad or lender we add different endings.
If it is broad, we add -óinn, -ófá, -ódh, -óimis, -ódh, -óidís. If it is slender, we add -eoinn, -eofá, -eodh, -eoimis, -eodh, -eoidís.
Firstly let’s look at an example ceannaigh (to buy):
| Cheannóinn | I would buy |
| Cheannófá | You would buy |
| Cheannódh sé/sí | He/She would buy |
| Cheannóimis | We would buy |
| Cheannódh sibh | You [plural] would buy |
| Cheannóidís | They would buy |
Secondly let’s look at aimsigh (to discover). Not that it starts with a vowel, and thus is prefixed with a d’:
| D’aimseoinn | I would discover |
| D’aimseofá | You would discover |
| D’aimseodh sé/sí | He/She would discover |
| D’aimseoimis | We would discover |
| D’aimseodh sibh | You [plural] would discover |
| D’aimseoidís | They would discover |
Asking questions in the Modh Coiníollach
When asking questions and giving answers in the negative we use the particles ‘an’ and ‘ní’ respectively. These follow the same rules which we have seen in the Present Tense and the Future Tense. The word is eclipsed after ‘an’ where possible and it is lenited after ‘ní’ where possible.
Take a look at the table below for some examples:
| An bhféadfainn? | Would I be able to? (Could I?) |
| An gcuirfeadh sí ansin é? | Would she put it there? |
| An éistfeá leis? | Would you listen to him? |
| An míneoidís an fhadhb? | Would they explain the problem? |
| An ardódh sé an dallóg? | Would he raise the blind? |
Irregular Verbs
As mentioned these are all of the rules associated with regular verbs. Their regular verbs have different forms. Let’s look at two more examples, abair (to say) and bí (to be). Irregular verbs are some of the most used verbs in the Irish language. You just have to learn them!
Abair
| Déarfainn | I would say |
| Déarfá | You would say |
| Déarfadh sé/sí | He/She would say |
| Déarfaimis | We would say |
| Déarfadh sibh | You [Plural] would say |
| Déarfaidís | They would say |
Bí
| Bheinn | I would |
| Bheifeá | You would |
| Bheadh sé/sí | He/She would |
| Bheimis | We would |
| Bheadh sibh | You [Plural] would |
| Bheidís | They would |
I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth looking at Réimnigh.com for any verb endings. It’s a quick way to do it and you can sort dialectally as well.
And that’s the basics. Not so daunting and definitely not a monster.
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