Verbs beginning with a vowel in the past tense
- consonantA letter representing a speech sound made with the lips, tongue or throat (as opposed to vowels which are made with an open vocal passage). + séimhiú / aspirate / séimhiú In Irish, to aspirate / séimhiú is when the letter 'h' is placed after the first letter in a word.
- vowelA letter representing a speech sound made when breath flows freely out of the mouth. The letters a, e, i, o, u are vowels. + d’
- f + d’ + séimhiú / aspirate / séimhiú In Irish, to aspirate / séimhiú is when the letter 'h' is placed after the first letter in a word.
Rule 2
Let's look at examples of how the past tense works. Here are some verbA word used to describe an action or state of being. that begin with vowels.
| éirigh | to get up |
| amharc ar | to look at / watch |
| ól | to drink |
| éist | to listen |
| oscail | to open |
| éirigh |
| to get up |
| amharc ar |
| to look at / watch |
| ól |
| to drink |
| éist |
| to listen |
| oscail |
| to open |
To put these into the past tense, firstly put a d’ on the verb.
| éirigh | d’éirigh |
| amharc ar | d’amharc |
| ól | d’ól |
| éist | d’éist |
| oscail | d’oscail |
| éirigh |
| d’éirigh |
| amharc ar |
| d’amharc |
| ól |
| d’ól |
| éist |
| d’éist |
| oscail |
| d’oscail |
Next, add the person / nounThe name of a thing such as an object, a place or a person. Nouns are often described as naming words. after the verb.
| mé | I |
| tú | you |
| sé | he |
| sí | she |
| muid | we |
| sibh | you (plural) |
| siad | they |
| mé |
| I |
| tú |
| you |
| sé |
| he |
| sí |
| she |
| muid |
| we |
| sibh |
| you (plural) |
| siad |
| they |
Here are some examples.
| I got up | d’éirigh mé |
| he watched | d’amharc sé |
| Dad drank | d’ól Daidí |
| Olivia listened | d’éist Olivia |
| Áine opened | d’oscail Áine |
| I got up |
| d’éirigh mé |
| he watched |
| d’amharc sé |
| Dad drank |
| d’ól Daidí |
| Olivia listened |
| d’éist Olivia |
| Áine opened |
| d’oscail Áine |
Can you try to translate the following into Irish using Rule 2 / the vowel rule? If unsure, check the rule summary list at the top of the page.
Question
I played - (imir)
d’imir mé
Question
Siobhán ordered - (ordaigh)
d’ordaigh Siobhán
Question
he left - (imigh)
d’imigh sé
Question
they escaped - (éalaigh)
d’éalaigh siad
Question
the plane flew - (eitil)
d’eitil an t-eitleán
