Easy Irish Sentence Structure: 3 Basic Concepts

Original Post: https://ling-app.com/ga/irish-sentence-structure/

Do you have enough vocabulary in the Irish language but always mess up the Irish sentence structure? Are you always confused about where to put the verb and subject and start using the English sentence structure and Irish vocabulary to make Irish sentences? The temptation can be hard to get rid of. If that’s the case with you, then worry no more! In today’s post, we will walk you through the basic grammatical points you need to learn to start creating meaningful sentences. If you are up for that, then let the learning begin!

Syntax In The Irish Language

Irish is one of the renowned Celtic languages which is mainly spoken in Ireland but also in other regions like England. The Irish language uses various prepositional pronouns which is a similarity shared by other Celtic languages. Those other Celtic languages include Welsh, Cornish, and Manx, etc. Irish verbs are different from English verbs in many ways.

Most of the European languages have the similar syntax in their writing however, Irish syntax is somewhat different from the other languages. The reason behind this is that the Irish syntax uses a unique sentence order i.e. verb subject-object order.

Word Order

Irish grammar has a specific sentence structure. Syntax word order in Irish is different from other languages. There are a lot of examples provided in this blog for you to get a better understanding of the word order in Irish. It is important to ace the word order to start delving deep into Irish.

The basic Irish Sentence structure consists of the VSO order. This order is found in many languages including the Spanish language. V refers to the Verb, S refers to the Subject, while O refers to the Object (Verb Subject Object). This is different from many other languages including English which follows an SVO order.

For instance, “Chuaigh mé go dtí an tospidéal” is the Irish translation of an English sentence i.e “I went to the Hospital”. In this example, “Chuaigh” (go) is the verb (past tense), “mé” (I) is the subject, and “an tospidéal” (the hospital) is the object. Also, “go dtí” is an Irish preposition that translates to “to” in the English language.

Another example is “D’ith mé úll” which is the Irish translation of an English sentence i.e “I ate the apple”. In this example, “D’ith” (eat) is the verb (past tense), “mé” (I) is the subject, and “úll” (apple) is the object.

VSO order is a basic order which does not include the other parts of speech like nouns etc. The complete normal word order in Irish is “preverbal particle, verb, subject, direct object or predicate adjective, indirect object, location descriptor, manner descriptor, time descriptor”

There are three types of simple tenses: present tense, past tense, and future tense. The forms of verbs used in each tense are different. To make these sentences you can learn the ways mentioned below using Irish Verbs and Vocabulary using numbers, colors, vegetables and animal names, etc.

Present Tense

Using the same verb subject-object order we can make a sentence of simple present tense “Tá mé i mo chónaí i mo theach” which translates to “I live in my house”.

Some examples of the present tense sentence structures are provided in the table below:

Past Tense

The Irish sentence structure in the past tense is the same however, it uses the past tense form of the verb. There are several rules to transform a verb into the past tense. Three main rules to change a verb into its past tense are;

Rule #01

For all the verbs starting with the consonants (besides f, l, n, r, sc, sm, sp, and st), the letter “h” is added after the consonants. This process is called to aspirate/ séimhiú the verb. For instance, the verb for to walk “siúl” becomes “sHiúl” in the past tense. Another example is to sit “suigh” which becomes “sHuigh”.

The verbs which start with the consonants that are exceptions stay the same even in the past tense. They are not changed. For instance, “las” (light) stays the same even in the past tense.

Rule #02

If the verb starts with a vowel then a “d’” is added before the vowel in the verb. For instance, the verb to recognize “aithnich” becomes “d’aithnich”. Another word is “Ól” which becomes “d’ól”

Rule #03

The word starting with the letter “f” is followed by a “d’h”. For instance; the verb to hide “falaichhas” in the past tense “dh’fhalaich”. Adding h to the alphabets changes their sounds as well.

Some examples of the past tense sentence structures are provided in the table below:

The Future Tense

The Irish sentence structure in the future tense is the same however, it uses the future tense form of the verb. There are several rules based on the type of vowel used to transform a verb into the future tense. Two main rules to change a verb into its past tense are;

Rule #01

If the verb has slender vowels (e, i) in it then, the root word is followed by “idh”. For instance, the word “bris” has a slender vowel “i” in it therefore it is followed by “idh” and becomes “brisidh”

Rule #02

If the verb has broad vowels (a, o, u) in it then, the root word is followed by “aidh”. For instance, the word “òl” has a broad vowel “ò” in it therefore it is followed by “aidh” and becomes “òlaidh”.

Some examples of the future tense sentence structures are provided in the table below:

Copula

Copula refers to the words and phrases which provide a connection between a subject and a subject complement. This usually means that one word is the main subject while the other word is the complement. One of the most common words for indicating the copula in English is the verb “to be”.

For instance, in the sentence “She is my mother”, the word “she” is the main subject while the phrase “my mother” is its subject compliment. And since the verb “to be” (is) is connecting the two, it acts as a copula.

In Irish Sentence Structure, the sentence structure for the sentences which connect the subject with its subject complement is different from the normal Irish sentence structure VCS, where V refers to the Verb, C refers to the Complement, while S refers to the Subject

For instance, in the sentence “Is dalta mé” (I am a student) “is” (am) is the Verb/Copula. The word “dalta” (student) is the Subject complement, and “mé” (I) is the subject.

The copula is not as simple as that and we will be uploading another blog on all the rules related to copula but one tip is that a definite noun should never be placed before a copula directly, instead “é , í or iad” should be added.

Speak Irish Today!

One tip of getting fluent in any language is to start thinking in that specific language. The same is the case with the Irish language. When you are trying to speak Irish, try to have the proper sentence structure in Irish. If you would try to get the vocabulary organized in the English sentence structure order and later in the Irish sentence structure, then there would be a filter in your thought process. To enhance your thought process, it is suggested that you start to think in the Irish language and practice making sentences using the Irish sentence structure. That way your spoken Irish language will significantly improve as well.

Learning Tip For Beginners In Irish

For all my champs learning the Irish language, the cookie of the day for you is to keep an Irish pocket-size dictionary with you. Such a habit will not only make you explore more words in the Irish language, but also develop your habit of reading.

An alternative for this is to download a dictionary on your phone and look up any nouns, adjectives, or other words immediately. Such dictionaries can not only enhance your vocabulary but also provide you with countless examples to help you improve your grammar. However, a printed dictionary would still be preferred.

If Irish is not your first language and you are interested in learning more about Irish, then make sure to visit Ling app by Simya Solutions. This platform brings you blogs and outstanding free language courses developed by real native speakers and professionals. Try it out today!