Lesson Two

Regular Verbs

 

This section covers a sample of basic action words. It shows endings for different points of view and gives an alternative to the very common verb Tá.

notes/summaries

Regular Verbs
Notes on Myles Dillon: Chapter 2
page 3 of 12
These summaries are from notebooks I created in 1999 for my website on xoom.com. They are revised and reposted here, in hope that they will continue be useful.
the verb
V

erbs, or words expressing action, have four qualities:

Mood tells how the action is conceived. There are four moods: imperative, indicative, conditional, and subjunctive. This lesson is only concerned with the indicative mood, which describes statements and questions of fact.

Tense tells when the action takes place. There are five tenses: present, imperfect, past, future and conditional.

Person tells who is being spoken about: 1. me 2. you 3. she or he.

Number tells how many: singular or plural.

In addition, verbs, have two classes similar to declensions for nouns. These
two verb classes are called conjugations. The conjugation is determined by
the form of the third person future. Verbs of the first conjugation have the ending -f(a)idh. Verbs of the second conjugation end in -eoidh or -óidh. This lesson is only concerned with verbs of the first conjugation.

The stem of the verb may end in either a broad or slender consonant. The endings denote the qualities of tense, person, and number.
Most verbs are regular. Tá is an expected exception.

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paradigms

To illustrate

present

sg. 1. -(a)im pl. 1. -(a)imíd
2. -(a)ir 2. -(e)ann
3. -(e)ann 3. -(a)id

past

sg. 1. -(e)as pl. 1. -(e)amair
2. -(a)is 2. -(e)abhair
3. ------ 3. -(e)adar

Do not forget to make endings match the stems according to their broad/slender vowels. The vowel of the ending has the sound of the unstressed vowel /ə/.

You, she/he, you-all, they forms have a secondary form for use with the pronoun. This form is what is used for a noun. This form is -ann in the present tense.

dúnann tú dúnann sí
dúnann sibh dúnann siad

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buail- and dÚn-
the first conjugation is applied to buail- and dún- like this:

present

sg. 1. dúnaim pl. 1. dúnaimíd
2. dúnair / dúnann tú 2. dúnann sibh
3. dúnann sí/sé 3. dúnaid

past

sg. 1. do dhúnas pl. 1. do dhúnamair
2. do dhúnais 2. do dhúnabhair/ dhún sibh
3. do dhún sí/sé 3. do dhúnadar

present

sg. 1. buailim pl. 1. buailimíd
2. buailir / buaileann tú 2. buaileann sibh
3. buaileann sí/sé 3. buailid

past

sg. 1. do bhuaileas pl. 1. do bhuaileamair
2. do bhuailis 2. do bhuaileabhair/ bhuail sibh
3. do bhuail sí/sé 3. do bhuaileadar

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the PARTICLE DO
Past, imperfect, conditional tenses take the particle do.
Do is sometimes dropped before a consonant but only in conversation and never before a vowel. Do is often contracted to d' before a vowel or silent fh.

do bhuail sé d'ól sé d'fhéach sé

do lenites the verb, even when dropped or clipped.

dún- + -(a)im = dúnaim dún- + -(e)as = do dhúnas
buail- + -(aim) = buailim buail- + -(e)as = do bhuaileas

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questions
To use the verb in a question, use the particle an.
To use the veb in a negation, use the particle ní.
In the past tense an becomes ar, and ní becomes níor.
Ar and níor are substituted for do.

An eclipses the verb in questions. Ní, níor, and ar lenite the verb.

buailim ní bhuailim an mbuailim? níor bhauileas ar bhuaileas?

dúnaim ní dhúnaim an ndúnaim? níor dhúnas ar dhúnas?

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