The Copula – An Chopail

Tá mé fear. Tá mé múinteoir. These examples are by far the most common mistakes that I come across when interacting with learners. Understanding the copula is fundamental but so many of us either get it wrong or just don’t what it even means. So what is the copula? Simply put, a copular verb is a grammar term also known as a linking verb.

Two “To Be’s” (or not two be’s)

Irish has two verbs that correspond to the English to be:

• Bí (the present tense)
• And ‘the copula’ — is

Important to note though, that these verbs are NOT interchangeable. In Irish, the word ‘is’ is the only copula.

To solve the ‘Tá mé fear. Tá mé múinteoir’ issues we need to know that a) the word order of Irish and b) when referring to a state of feeling or being the form Tá is mostly used. For example:

However, when referring to something that one is, we use the copula. The simplest way to understand the distinction is to think of Tá as being used when referring to a state of feeling/being and Is as being used when you wish to state that one thing or person is equal to another.

In the examples above, ‘I am sick, ‘It is cold’ indicate states of feeling/being, while ‘I am a woman’ (Is bean mé), and ‘I am a doctor’ (Is doctúir mé), demonstrate that one thing/person is another.

Word Order

Simple sentences in Irish follow the Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) word order. This means that the verb comes first, followed by the doer of the action, followed by the object on which the action occurs. This is different to English or French which follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order. I have another piece on word order here.

We can add to these sentences by using adjectives, adverbs, time markers, place markers, etc., to provide additional detail.

Some verbs in Irish cannot have a direct object on which they act. The verb bí/to be is an example of this. Bí can have a subject, i.e. the person doing the ‘being’, but it cannot affect an object.

This is why we cannot say ‘tá sé fear’ or ‘Bhí Séamus peileadóir’.

Phrases using bí tend to be followed by adjectives, verbal nouns and adverbs which provide additional information about the subject e.g. Tá sé go maith/He is well and Bhí Séamus ag imirt peile/Séamus was playing football.

The Copula Word Order

A different word order is followed when we use the Copula. The copula has multiple functions but it is primarily used to classify objects or to equate objects to each other.

These above constructions begin with the copula, followed by information regarding the subject which is then followed by the subject (Is for the present/future tense and Ba for the past/conditional tense).

When we begin to construct more complex sentences, the word order naturally grows more complicated.

Without Direct Object
An bhféadfá dul chuig an siopa?

With Direct Object
Ar mhiste leat an fhuinneog a dhúnadh?

When there is no direct object, or when a verb cannot take a direct object, then the verbal noun is not mutated.

Notice in the examples below that prepositions are used to connect the verbal noun with the indirect object:

When a direct object is involved, it comes after the initial phrase, followed by the verbal noun. The verbal noun is connected to the object by the particle ‘a’, which applies a séimhiú to the initial letter of the verbal noun, where possible.

An ea? Is ea/Is it? It is

The present tense form of the copula is Is while the past tense and conditional form is Ba. The copula follows different rules than other verbs in Irish. The copula links the subject to a piece of information about that subject. We have seen this with nationalities, professions, and past times:

The copula can be constructed in two ways in Irish, depending on whether the noun is definite or indefinite. Nouns that have ‘an’ or ‘na’, equivalent to ‘the’ in English, in front of them, are definite, and so they are constructed differently with the copula.

Indefinite nouns with the copula

Indefinite nouns in English would have ‘a’ or ‘an’ in front of them, e.g. a woman, an orange, but there is no indefinite article in Irish. Nationalities and professions are “indefinite” because we say we are a particular nationality or a particular profession, rather than a specific one.

Answering yes/no questions

Irish has no specific words meaning yes or no so when answering yes-no questions in Irish, you have to repeat the verb of the question.

For example, in the present tense:

– An dtuigeann tú? (Do you understand?)
– Tuigim (I understand)
– Ní thuigim (I don’t understand)

‘Tuig’ is the root of the verb ‘to understand / to comprehend’. The Irish word order follows a verb-subject-object system.

Classification

In this case, when using the copula, to simply reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the questions above, we use the following phrases for classification:

An fear aclaí é?
Is ea. (Yes)
Ní hea. (No)

‘Is ea’ and ‘Ní hea’ are the ‘short answers’ for present tense questions with the copula that contain indefinite nouns.

In the past or conditional you’d say either b’ea or níorbh ea. Note: is ea and ní hea are also correct responses to questions that are constructed like an Seán ainm a athar? (Is Seán the name of his father).

We use different short answers when we use definite nouns with the copula. We can also use shortened forms of the questions:

Is fear láidir é Seán. Seán is a strong man.
An ea? Is he?
Is ea. Yes (‘he is’, is implied).

Ní daoine spórtúla iad. They are not sporty people.
Nach ea? Aren’t they?
Ní hea. No.

‘An ea’ and ‘Nach ea’ are only used for present tense questions with the copula that contain indefinite nouns. Regardless of the subject of the question, be it [mé], [tú], é, í, sibh, sinn /muid, or iad, the short answer given will always contain ‘ea’.

Below is more information that I’ve adapted from the Caighdeán Oifigiúil (2017).

The version of the copula used in the present tense is the same as that used in the future tense. Moreover, the version of the copula that is used in the past tense, the past habitual, and the conditional tense, are the same. Bear in mind, that if the predicate of the sentence is in the past tense, the past habitual tense or the conditional tense, the tense of the copula and the predicate do not necessarily have to agree with each other.

The Present Tense & The Future Tense

Before each consonant and vowel:

The Past Tense, the Past Habitual, and the Conditional Tense – Positive

Before a consonant or before fh + consonant:

Before a vowel or before fh + vowel:

The Past Tense, the Past Habitual, and the Conditional Tense – Negative and Positive / Negative Questions

Before a consonant or before fh + consonant:

Before a vowel or before fh + vowel:

The primary functions of the copula are –

(a) Classification of the subject:

(b) Identification of the subject:

(c) Qualification of the subject with a predicate adjective or with a phrase starting with a preposition:

(d) Qualification of a noun or clause with an adjective, or with a noun plus a prepositional pronoun:

(e) Qualification of a noun with a comparative adjective:

(f) Identifying the ownership or relationship between people using the preposition le:

(g) Qualification of a clause with an adjective:

(h) Emphasising part of the sentence:

(i) using it in sentences that express a comparison:

I know this article is already quite long so rather than continuing and getting more in the weeds, I recommend checking out the Celtic Languages post on ‘Guide to Irish to be, the substantive verb bí, tá & the copula is‘. Their post is far more in-depth with good colour-coded examples and explanations. And of course, you can head to the Caighdeán as well.

In general, I recommend a combination of resources for learning the copula and I hope to expand on this piece when I can.

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