Negative and question forms in the present tense

Negative

To put a into the negative in the present tense, put ní before the verb and / séimhiú the verb.

ní + séimhiú / aspiration

	Positive		Negative
I put	cuirim	I do not put	ní chuirim
she buys	ceannaíonn sí	she does not buy	ní cheannaíonn sí
he waits	fanann sé	he does not wait	ní fhanann sé
they tell	insíonn siad	they do not tell	ní insíonn siad*

Positive

Negative

I put

cuirim

I do not put

ní chuirim

she buys

ceannaíonn sí

she does not buy

ní cheannaíonn sí

he waits

fanann sé

he does not wait

ní fhanann sé

they tell

insíonn siad

they do not tell

ní insíonn siad*

*A cannot be aspirated / séimhiú.

Can you try to put the following into the negative form?

Here is an example to get you started:

ní + dean + mé = ní dhéanaim

Question

ní + fill + mé

Question

ní + fan + Odhrán

Question

ní + ordaigh + sí

Question

ní + gortaigh + siad

Question

ní + codail + sibh

Question

ní + imir + Ciarraí

Question Form

To put a verb into the question form in Irish, put an before the verb and eclipse / urú the verb.

an + urú / eclipse

Here is an example of an eclipse / urú:

Baile Átha Cliath but i mBaile Átha Cliath

Not all letters can take an eclipse / urú. If the letter is not in the rule, don’t make any changes.

Here is the rule to know how to eclipse / urú.

Put:

m before b	eg i mbaile
g before c	eg i gCiarraí
n before d	eg i nDoire
bh before f	eg i bhfuinneog
n before g	eg i nGaillimh
b before p	eg bPáras
d before t	eg i dtábla

m before b

eg i mbaile

g before c

eg i gCiarraí

n before d

eg i nDoire

bh before f

eg i bhfuinneog

n before g

eg i nGaillimh

b before p

eg bPáras

d before t

eg i dtábla

A good way to remember how to eclipse / urú is with this rhyme:

mb - many boys

gc - go camping

nd - near Derry

bhf - but have found

ng - no girls

bp - but peaceful

dt - dudes there

Let’s have a look at how to change a positive into a question form using the urú / eclipse rule.

an + urú / eclipse

	Positive		Negative
I put	cuirim	do I put?	an gcuirim?
you drink	ólann tú	do you drink?	an ólann* tú?
he waits	fanann sé	does he wait?	an bhfanann sé?
she does	déanann sí	does she do?	an ndéanann sí?
we win	baineann muid	do we win?	an mbaineann muid?

Positive

Negative

I put

cuirim

do I put?

an gcuirim?

you drink

ólann tú

do you drink?

an ólann* tú?

he waits

fanann sé

does he wait?

an bhfanann sé?

she does

déanann sí

does she do?

an ndéanann sí?

we win

baineann muid

do we win?

an mbaineann muid?

*A vowel is not in the rhyme and so cannot be eclipsed / urú.

Can you try to put the following into the question form?

Question

an + sroichim

Question

an + glanann muid

Question

an + cuidíonn sí

Question

an + díolann siad

Question

an + fágann tú

Question

an + buaileann sé

Question

an + druideann sibh

Question

an + pógann sé

Question

an + titeann siad

Question

an + osclaíonn sí

Present tenseNegative and question forms in the present tense