Oftentimes when studying I had to search for what certain words meant because I hadn’t learned/understood them as a child. This is a work in progress on a grammar glossary for explaining English and Irish terms that I hope will be useful to you too.
I have entry titles in both languages because English is my first language I find it easier to learn the basic concepts in English first. But I have also added entries with Irish language titles because you will hear those terms a lot when discussing Irish grammar online and in books etc.
These entries are not meant to be super in-depth in explanation but corrections are welcome.
An Aidiacht Shealbhach (The possessive adjective)
The Possessive Adjective is the possessive pronouns, such as, ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘her’, and ‘his’, etc. In Irish, their use incurs different changes to the nouns which follow them. You can read more about the possessive here.
Adjective (aidiacht)
Words that describe nouns. An attribute of a noun. In English, an example is “a small man”. In a similar vein, in Irish, you could say, “fear beag“.
Adverbs (dobhriathar)
An adverb is a word that can modify or describe a verb, adjective, another adverb, OR an entire sentence. They can be used to show how something happens (manner), to what extent it happens (degree), where (the place) and when (the time). Examples of adverbs in English are very, quite and now. Examples of Irish adverbs are go maith and ar maidin.
Ainmfhocal Cinnte (definite noun)
Ainmfhocal cinnte is any definite noun (phrase), it can be Séamas (referring to a person, not a name), Baile Átha Cliath (both proper nouns, ainmneacha dílse), but also an cat, mo mháthair, (an) ainm a bhí air, bád an iascaire, tigh Shéamais.
Ainmfhocal Dílis (proper noun)
Ainm dílis is a proper name therefore ainmfhocal dílis a noun that is in itself definite (with no article, possessive, etc.)
An Aimsir Chaite (The Past Tense)
Aspiration
Adding a séimhiú to something.
Baininscneach (Feminine)
This usually refers to feminine nouns.
Béaloideas
Folklore. This can include stories, poems, superstitions, cures, riddles, proverbs, and sayings.
Briathar (Verb)
A verb is a word and is used to describe an action, state or occurrence. An example in English would be Seán builds a house / Siobhán is thinking about her life. In Irish examples include things like Cheannaigh (I bought) mé arán.
Briathra Neamhrialta (Irregular Verbs)
There are 11 irregular verbs in Irish. These are: Abair (to say), Beir (to catch/hold), Bí (to be), Clois (to hear), Déan (to do/make), Faigh (to get), Feic (to see), Ith (to eat), Tabhair (to give), Tar (to come), and Téigh (to go).
Briathra Rialta (Regular Verbs)
Caol (Slender)
This refers to the slender vowels e and i.
The Comparative
In English comparatives almost always end in the suffix ‘-er’ e.g. bigger, smaller, taller, older. Thankfully Irish has a system that’s not that difficult to learn. Instead of adding a suffix after the word, you simply add a short word before the adjective, níos. More on the Comparative here.
Comhfhocal (Compound word)
This is a word made up of two or more parts put together. Examples include:
Mí + ceart = mícheart (incorrect / wrong)
Oll + margadh = ollmhargadh (supermarket)
Droch + nós = drochnós (bad habit)
Compound words can also be two nouns coming together e.g. sráidbhaile. More on that here.
The Conditional (An Modh Coinníollach)
To form the conditional tense 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. More on An Modh Coinníollach here.
Consan (Consonant)
The modern Irish consonants are b, c, d, f, g, l, m, n, p, r, s, and t. Consonants are either broad or slender, depending upon the closest vowel.
Consan Caol (Slender consonant)
This is a consonant which is preceded by a slender vowel (e or i). Examples of this include: litir/letter, báid/boats, teaghlaigh/families.
Dative Case
In grammar, the dative case is used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action. In Irish, it’s worth noting that in most cases the dative form is identical to the dictionary entry (of course there are exceptions). Several exceptions exist, and so here are the remaining dative forms in standard Irish: cluais (cluas), cois (cos), bois (bos), bróig (bróg), láimh (lámh) and Éirinn (Éire).
The dative case is also seen in certain fixed phrases that are rarely seen outside of those phrases. One such example is os cionn (cionn is the dative form of ceann). The dative is used as the object of most simple prepositions except gan and go dtí.
Declension
A declension is essentially a grouping of nouns that tend to form the plural and genitive according to a common pattern. Irish declensions are important for understanding how nouns change in context, especially when forming plurals and using different cases. More on declensions here.
Definite Article
This refers to the (in English), or in Irish, an or na.
Diphthong
Pronounced as dif·thong. A sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another (as in coin, loud, and side). There are two in Irish both written and pronounced: ia and ao.
Written ao is pronounced as an open e like the vowel in English (RP pronunciation) ‘mare’ and ‘hair’
Before a slender consonant, it is a long ‘i’ as in ‘see’ e.g. ‘taoibh’
Emphatic Suffixes
When looking at cases where one person is being emphasised in relation to another, it is indicated by the use of an emphatic suffix e.g. mo cheannsa, agamsa, do mhálsa. More on Emphatic Suffixes in Irish here.
Firinscneach (Masculine)
This usually refers to things like a masculine noun (ainmfhocal firinscneach).
Forainm (Pronoun)
The Irish pronouns are mé (I/me), tú (you), sé (he/it), sí (she/it), muid/sinn (we), sibh (you [plural]), and siad (they).
Forainm Réamhfhoclach (Prepositional Pronoun)
This is a form of the preposition that is linked to a pronoun, such as, agam (ag + mé), ort(ar + tú), and leis (le + sé), etc. [Plural: Forainmneacha Réamhfhoclacha]
Gaeltacht
The areas within Ireland where Irish is the community and day-to-day language are known as An Ghaeltacht. These areas are most prominent on the west coast for example in Donegal, Galway, and Kerry. There are smaller Gaeltacht communities in Co. Cork, Co. Waterford, Co. Mayo and Co. Meath.
Guta (Vowel)
We use a, e, i, o, u, á, é, í, ó, ú. We call a, o, and u the ‘broad vowels.’ We call e and i the ‘slender vowels.’ All Irish vowels can be short or long. The short vowels are written a, o, u, e, and i. The long vowels are written á, ó, ú, é, and í. The accent mark is called ‘fada’ (long) or ‘síneadh fada’ (long stretching). Please read about the síneadh fada here.
The Imperative (An Modh Ordaitheach)
The imperative is used when giving a direction, an order or telling someone to do something. More on the Imperative here.
Iolra (Plural)
Leathan (Broad)
In Irish, this often refers to the broad vowels a, o and u or the broad consonants.
Palatal consonants (Slender)
Consonants are described as broad or slender depending on the vowels (a, o, or u) they’re next to in a word. Palatal consonants are a way of describing where the tongue is positioned in the mouth when speaking. The palatal consonants are articulated when the tongue is raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Slender consonants in Irish are usually higher-pitched than English consonants.
slender strong B – beo ‘alive’
slender weak B – bheo ‘alive’ (lenited/softened)
Séimhiú (Lenition)
In certain circumstances words may be lenited, usually meaning that a ‘h’ is added after the first consonant. This softens the sound of the word. It is important to note that the letters h, l, n, and r, can never be lenited and that in some cases, the letters d and t cannot be lenited either. The letter ‘t’ coming before an ‘s’ is also an example of a séimhiú.
Syncopation
This means removing one or more vowels or a syllable from the middle of a word e.g. Freagair > Freagraím.
Réamhfhocal (Preposition)
There are two types of réamhfhocal in Irish – réamhfhocail shimplí/simple prepositions and réamhfhocail chomhshuite/complex prepositions.
Réamhfhocal Comhshuite: (Compound Preposition)
This type of preposition usually constitutes a simple preposition and a noun, adjective, or adverb coming together to form a compound preposition. Examples in English include: along, around, inside, etc. The genitive case usually follows compound prepositions in Irish.
Réamhfhocal Simplí (Simple Preposition)
Simple prepositions are usually small words that link nouns to the rest of the sentence. Examples in Irish include: ar (on), ag (at), le (with). When teamed with the singular definite article, “an”, they usually add an urú to the following word or a séimhiú in the Ulster dialect.
Réimniú (Conjugation)
A conjugation is an example of a verb group, or a category into which a verb falls. In Irish there are two such verb groups, An Chéad Réimniú/The First Conjugation and An Dara Réimniú/The Second Conjugation.
Síneadh Fada
Acute Accent. This is used to elongate the sound of a vowel. Read more about the síneadh fada and its usages here.
Syncope
The contraction of a word by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in the reduction of never to ne’er. This is the loss of most interior vowels. For example in Irish the word for “dictionary” is foclóir. Foclóir is literally “order” and was created by combining focal + -óir. Focal has undergone syncope.
Tuiseal Ginideach (Genitive Case)
Uatha (Singular)
Uimhreacha Pearsanta (Personal Numbers)
These are the numbers we use when counting people.
Urú (Eclipses)
In certain circumstances, the first letter of a word may be eclipsed by another letter. The sound of this new letter eclipses the original sound. The plural is “Uruithe”. The urú can be seen after the preposition and the article for example ar an mbád (on the boat) faoin gcathaoir (under the chair), leis an bhfear (with the man).
Note: Ulster Irish take a séimhiú rather than an urú e.g. ar an bhád, faoin chathaoir, leis an fhear.
Velar consonants (broad)
Consonants are described as broad or slender depending on the vowels they’re next to in a word. Velars are articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth). Broad consonants in Irish are usually lower-pitched than English consonants.
Examples include:
broad strong B – bó ‘cow’
broad weak B – (a) bhó ‘his cow’
VSO Word Order Verb-Subject-Object.
In Irish, the verb comes first, followed by the subject, and then the object. For example:
D’ith Síle seacláid (Síle ate chocolate)
D’ith (Verb) Síle (Subject) seacláid (Object)
Literally, “Ate Síle Chocolate”.
More on Irish word order here.
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