Core Grammar of Irish: Mutations and the Copula

Four features of Irish grammar

Irish grammar has a few features that English does not, and this module focuses on the ones that carry the accuracy marks. First, Irish has no word for a or an: madra on its own means a dog, and only an is added for the, giving an madra, the dog. Second, the start of a word can change, a feature called a mutation. Seimhiu softens the first sound and is shown by adding an h, while uru places a new letter in front that takes over the sound. Third, Irish has two verbs for to be: the copula is for saying what something is, and the substantive verb ta for how or where something is. Fourth, Irish has no verb for to have. Instead it uses a preposition, so ta madra agam means I have a dog, and it says literally there is a dog at me. Learn these four features and most of the grammar follows.

Irish grammar words

Learn what each of these means before you use it.

Seimhiu against uru

Irish has two initial mutations. The difference is what the change looks like and which words cause it.

How to read a changed word

When the start of an Irish word looks odd, do not panic: work out which mutation has happened and why. If you see an extra h just after the first letter, that is the softening one, and it usually follows a small word like mo, meaning my, or do, meaning your. If you see an extra consonant stuck on the front, that is the one that eclipses, and it often follows a word like i, meaning in. Ask two questions of any changed word: which mutation is this, and which small word in front of it caused it. Naming the trigger is what turns a lucky guess into a secure mark.

Match the Irish word

No word for a or an

Irish has no word for a or an. If an madra means the dog, what does madra mean on its own?

• a dog, because a bare noun already means a or an
• the dog, the same as an madra
• dogs, always in the plural
• no dog at all

True about Irish

Select the TWO statements that are true about Irish grammar.

• Irish has no verb for to have and uses a preposition instead
• The copula is is used to say what something is
• Irish has a separate word for a and an
• The copula and the substantive verb mean exactly the same thing

Build the sentence

Build the Irish for I have a dog. Remember that Irish has no verb for to have, so it says there is a dog at me, using the substantive verb and a prepositional pronoun.

Complete the Irish grammar

Irish has no word for a or an, so madra by itself means _____ dog, and only an is added for the. To say what something is, such as a job, Irish uses the copula _____. To say how or where something is, Irish uses the verb _____. Irish has no verb for to have, so I have a dog is tá madra _____.

Match the prepositional pronoun

Order the sentence

Put these three words in order to say I have a dog in Irish.

• Tá
• madra
• agam

A short answer, marked

Question: write two or three sentences in Irish about yourself. Model answer: Is dochtúir mé. Tá madra agam. Tá mé i gCorcaigh. Look at what earns the marks. The first uses the copula is to say what you are, a doctor. The second uses a prepositional pronoun, agam, because Irish has no verb for to have. The third shows uru, because Corcaigh becomes gCorcaigh after i, meaning in. Three short accurate sentences beat one long one with mistakes, because accuracy is what is assessed.

Spot the grammar error

Three of these sentences use correct Irish grammar. Select the ONE that does not.

• Is dochtúir mé.
• Tá agam madra.
• Tá madra agam.
• Tá mé i gCorcaigh.

Get the grammar right

You are writing a few sentences in Irish. Work through the choices.

• You want to say I have a dog. Irish has no verb for to have, so what do you use?
• You want to say the dog rather than a dog. What do you add?
• You see the word bhád with an extra h near the start. Which mutation is this, and what might have caused it?
• You want to say I am a doctor, stating what you are. Which verb do you use?