There is no Irish for yes and no. That’s right, there are no all-purpose or generic words in Irish just to mean them. So how do we answer questions in the Irish language then? Well, instead we answer them positively or negatively where yes and no are implied. And to do that we need to focus on the verb in which the question was asked.
In this article, I’ll address two common mistakes: using tá / níl to mean all versions of ‘yes’ and answering ‘sea’ for ‘yeah’.
Firstly, as mentioned we need to use the verb so let’s focus on that. For example, in the present tense, check out the below:
| An dtuigeann tú? | Do you understand? |
| Tuigim | I understand (Implying ‘yes I understand’) |
| Ní thuigim | I don’t understand (Implying ‘no I don’t understand’) |
In the above example, ‘Tuig’ is the root of the verb ‘to understand / to comprehend’ and so we use the verb to express a positive / negative answer. Another example:
| An itheann tú bricfeasta gach lá? | Do you eat breakfast every day? |
| Ithim | I eat |
| Ní ithim | I don’t eat |
But what about ‘tá’ and ‘níl?
This is quite a common error where people presume ‘tá’ is used always for yes in Irish. This isn’t the case. Instead, it’s the answer to a very specific framing – again we look at the verb. This time, it’s ‘bí’ (to be).
An example of where you would use ‘tá’ to mean yes:
| An bhfuil tú ag dul amach? | Are you going out? |
| Tá mé | I am (implying, ‘Yes, I am’) |
| Níl mé | I am not (implying, ‘no I am not’) |
Does ‘sea’ mean yeah?
Another common mistake is that people often write sea to mean ‘yeah’ in Irish. While you will hear ‘sea’ used by native speakers which sounds like ‘yeah’, oftentimes it’s used as an interjection rather than an answer to a question. So when should you use it?
Sea comes from ‘is ea’ which means ‘it is’. So if you think about it that way, answering sea to mean yes to everything doesn’t really make sense. Below is how you would use it:
| An ea? | Is it? |
| Is ea (Sea) | Is it |
| Ní hea | It isn’t |
In the present tense, another way to ask a question is if you use the particle ‘an’ + a noun to which you can respond positively or negatively. Again, your response implies yes or no.
| An Éireannach thú? | Are you an Irish person? |
| Is Éireannach mé | I am an Irish person |
| Ní Éireannach mé | I am not an Irish person |
The above ties in with the Copula and the common ‘tá mé fear’ error. More on An Chopail here and more on common errors here. The above can be changed to the past tense (bhí, ní raibh, b’ea, níorbh ea) and of course to the future, conditional etc.
For looking a question forms, I highly recommend using Réimnigh.ie. You can use it to filter by dialect and see all of the forms. Otherwise, there is Verbix which is a verb conjugator but they don’t show questioning forms.
Do you not use at and moor to say- in the mosh coinneallach to say- would like to go to the shop or I would not go to the shop ms. Ar mhait leat dol go dti an siopa