common irish phrases

Most Common Irish Verbs

(Last Updated On: January 18, 2022)

Common Irish Verbs 

Visiting foreign countries and interacting with people out there is so much fun. So, have you ever planned to Ireland sometimes, interacting with locals in Dublin and wondering how to communicate with them? Well, most of the locals can speak the English language, but if you try to speak the Irish language they highly appreciate it. However, it would be very embarrassing if you use the wrong words or grammar in front of their locals. So, save yourself from all the embarrassment and avoid mistakes. Start studying the basics of the language, the grammatical rules in terms of using verbs, and different Irish phrases.

Well, the Irish language is so much unique and resilient. It has been preserved through centuries of adversity. Over 33 million Americans have Irish ancestry, whether you are one of them or not studying the language will make you fall in love with it. However, the language is both interesting and complex, but you need to understand every aspect of it, to express yourself; it will make you feel connected to everyone else.

In this article, we will discuss some common Irish verbs that Irish people use in everyday life conversation and how it works. Mastering different forms of verbs in the target language help a lot to learn. Before moving forward directly to the verbs let’s just have a quick overview of the Irish language.

Irish Language-Overview

Irish language, also known as Erse or Gaelic is a member of the Celtic language from the Goidelic group, spoken in Ireland. It is one of the official languages of the Republic of Ireland. Students learn Irish in public schools as it’s mandatory for some jobs out there.

In terms of grammar, the Irish still use a case system, just like Latin and German. It’s called an accusative system because it shows different functions for nouns, pronouns, and Irish proverbs. In the case of grammatical verbs, there are three main verb tenses given be below:

most common irish verbs
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Past Tense (Aimsir Chaite):  when signifying the event that happened in the past.

Present Tense (Aimsir Laithreach): when describing something that is happening at present.

Future (Aimsir Fhaistineach): for the event that hasn’t happened yet.

For example, if you have a word like “wash”, the root word for it in Irish is ‘nigh’ and this is how it works:

  • In past, it’s ‘Nigh me’
  • At present it’s Ním
  • And in future tense its Nífidh mé

See how words are formed. We know it is quite difficult for beginners to compare to the basic question words and Irish slang words. In order to learn Irish more quickly and structure your sentences in the future, memorizing the most common Irish verbs would be an ideal choice.

Most common Irish verbs

Here are some of the common verbs and their translation that Irish people used in their day-to-day conversation. It will help you a lot to communicate with their locals.

Irish Verbs

Translation

a fhógairt To announce
Beir To take
Cabhraigh To help
Cuir To put
Déan To do or to make
éist To listen
Faigh To get
Féach To look
glan To clean
Úsáid To use

These are some of the common Irish verbs; there are a lot of more. Start with these, practice and memorize them, and then move forwards to more verbs. And then see how quickly you will learn the language.

Irregular Verbs in the Irish language

Those we have discussed above are the regular verbs let’s have a look at some irregular verbs.

In contrast to the English language which has 200 irregular verbs and roughly 880 in Spanish, we can’t deny the fact that the Irish language is much simpler than both languages because it only has 11. So, it is much easier for anyone to do it. Before we jump right into them, let’s take some time to understand what an irregular conjugation verb is and how it functions.

Well, irregular verbs are words that do not follow the basic rules or patterns when changing tenses. For instance, In English, we learn that the most basic rule is to just add -ed, -ing, -ied, or -tense suffixes to verbs to create different forms of the verb. However, some irregular verbs that do not follow these rules are:

  • Go become went, in the past tense. Similarly,
  • Get as got
  • Eat as ate
  • Fun as ran
  • Find as found, when changing the tense in past.

Some of the common irregular Irish verbs include Abair, which means ‘sing’; beir means to ‘catch’; clois means to ‘hear’ and faigh means to get. You can check out the whole list of 11 irregular verbs on the internet and how they are converted into other tenses. Are you looking for a Certified translation of university application?

Other than regular or irregular verbs, Irish verbs are also divided based on dependency. These are dependent forms of the verb, used after the particles, while the independent forms of the verb when no particle is preceding the verb.

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Common Irish Phrases

As English is the second official language of Ireland, Irish people have quite a unique relationship with it. So when you hear common Irish sayings, you start wondering what these people are talking about, right? Here are some of the most common Irish phrases, Irish slang words, and their translations:

1) Sleeven 

It is a common Irish phrase, used for sly or underhanded person.

2) Happy Out

It means content in your surroundings

3) Fluthered

 You might have heard it in pubs or bars, it means ‘very very drunk’.

4) Quare

In Irish people use awful to emphasize or it means ‘very’. For example “the weather was awful good”

5) Quare 

It is also another phrase from very, which is derived from the word queer.

6) Any Use? 

The phrase is used to as someone, ‘was it good’

7) Your “oul fella” and your “oul wan”

In Irish these phrases are used to refer to ‘your father’ and ‘your mother’ respectively.

8) Donkey years 

This term refers to ‘awful lot of years’.

9) Cute Hoor

Cute hoor refers to the person, ‘ who quietly engineers things to their own advantage’. For example, this girl is a real cute hoor.  

10) Eejit 

Eejit means, “Complete fool”, it refers to the person who does something silly. For example, Alex is such as eejit.

Learning Irish Language Better

As you read the best information of Irish verbs, sayings, slangs, phrases and how they function. So if you finally made up your mind to start practicing Irish today and wondering where to start, let us help you. Some several websites and platforms are offering to teach you Irish in the best possible way. Some of them are,

Ling Application 

This application will help you to learn any language quickly because it offers an easy way for people who don’t know anything about languages to start. With no need to spend too much time or effort, learners can find comprehensive courses designed by experienced linguists from all over the world. You can learn any particular language, such as Irish English or Scottish English.

Memrise 

It is another platform for learning languages. Millions of people are learning languages for free on Memrise. You can enroll yourself and start practicing Irish today. It is fast and mind-bogglingly effective.

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