Irish Word Order: Verb First, Explained with Examples

In English, the subject comes first: I drink tea. In ordinary Irish sentences with a verb, the verb comes first. That one change shapes most of the sentences you will build.

This guide covers the basic order, the two verbs for "to be", where adjectives go, and how questions and negatives work. Every Irish example has its English meaning and comes from a dictionary or the blas. Irish course.

Irish word order at a glance

Rule 1: The verb comes first

Irish is usually called a VSO language. VSO stands for verb, subject, object. In ordinary sentences with a verb, the verb opens the sentence. The person doing the action comes next. Everything else follows. The copula is has its own order, covered in Rule 2.

• Ólann sé tae: He drinks tea (drinks he tea)
• Chuaigh mé go Gaillimh: I went to Galway (went I to Galway)

The past tense keeps the same order. Only the form of the verb changes.

• D'ól sé braon tae: He drank a drop of tea (drank he a drop of tea)
• Bhí an teach fós fuar: The house was still cold (was the house still cold)

Sometimes the verb and the subject join into one word. Tuigim means "I understand". The ending -im does the job of "I". You will see both styles side by side: ólann tú (you drink) and ólaim (I drink).

Rule 2: Two verbs for "to be": tá and is

English uses one verb, "to be", for meanings that Irish splits between tá and the copula is. Use tá to say how or where something is. Use is to say what or who something is.

Tá for states and places:

• Tá mé fuar: I'm cold
• Tá sé tuirseach: He's tired
• Tá sí sa bhaile: She is at home

Is for identity, and for likes:

• Is múinteoir mé: I am a teacher
• Is múinteoir eolaíochta é: He's a science teacher
• Is maith liom tae láidir: I like strong tea (is good with-me strong tea)

Look at the order with is. The copula comes first, then the noun, then the pronoun: Is múinteoir mé. Learners often reach for tá here, but "I am a teacher" needs is.

Rule 3: Adjectives come after the noun

In English the adjective comes first: a big crowd. In Irish it usually comes second: slua mór, word by word "crowd big".

• slua mór: a big crowd
• fadhb bheag: a small problem
• deatach dubh: black smoke
• deoch fhuar: a cold drink

Look at bheag and fhuar. Those adjectives changed. After a feminine singular noun in its basic form, the adjective takes séimhiú (an h after the first consonant). Fadhb and deoch are feminine, so beag becomes bheag and fuar becomes fhuar. Deatach and slua are masculine, so their adjectives stay the same. The genitive case works differently and is beyond this guide.

Rule 4: Questions and negatives start with a particle

In ordinary sentences with a verb, Irish does not flip the word order to ask a question. It adds a small word, called a particle, in front of the verb. The rest of the sentence stays in verb-first order. Questions with the copula is follow their own pattern.

These particles can also change the start of the verb. An adds urú (eclipsis): tuigeann becomes dtuigeann. Ní adds séimhiú: tuigim becomes thuigim. A verb that starts with a vowel can stay the same: ól is unchanged after ar and níor. That is why word order and mutations are learned together.

The verb tá has its own question and negative forms: An bhfuil...? and Níl.

• An bhfuil do thuismitheoirí go maith?: Are your parents well?
• Níl mé go maith: I am not well

Irish has no single word for yes or no. You answer with the verb. To An bhfuil tú go maith? (Are you well?) you answer Tá (yes) or Níl (no).

Three common mistakes

• Starting with the subject. "He drinks tea" is Ólann sé tae, with the verb first.
• Using tá for identity. "I am a teacher" is Is múinteoir mé, a sentence with is.
• Putting the adjective first. "A big crowd" is slua mór, with the adjective second.

Where to go next

Word order is the frame. Verbs, mutations and prepositional pronouns fill it in.

• Irish grammar for beginners: the wider overview, in the order to learn it.
• Irish verb conjugation guide: every tense, with tables.
• Irish mutation tables: which words trigger séimhiú and urú.
• Irish prepositional pronoun tables: agam, liom, orm and the rest.

Look up the words from this guide:

Practise word order with blas.

blas. teaches Irish with grammar lessons, mutation drills, graded reading and listening audio. Verb-first order and tá versus is both have their own lessons. A free account can start one new unit a day on iOS, Android and the web.