Past tense

Do you know how to use the past tense in Irish? Learn some helpful words and phrases and test yourself on others you may already know!

The past tense is known in Irish as an aimsir chaite. It describes an event that has already happened.

Some examples in English include I went, Seán ate, they drove, you walked etc.

There are three rules to follow when changing verbs to reflect the past tense.

• When the verb begins with a consonant, lenite or add a séimhiú to the word. This means adding a h after the first letter in the verb. For example, the verb ceannaigh (buy) becomes cheannaigh

• When the verb begins with a vowel, put a d' before the verb. For example, the verb oscail (open) becomes d'oscail

• When the verb begins with an f, you do both of these things, by placing a d’before the verb and leniting the first consonant in the verb, which in this case is always f. For example, the verb fág (leave) becomes d'fhág.

However…

You can't add a séimhiú to verbs that begin with the letters l, n, r and sc, sm, sp or st. You also can't add a séimhiú to any word that begins with a vowel.

Once you have changed the verb into the past tense, add the pronoun (or name) after the verb. This is who or what that did the action.

Learn more about adding a séimhiú to words in this guide.

Regular verbs starting with consonants

glan (clean)

cuir (put)

críochnaigh (finish)

bris (break)

druid (close)

becomes ghlan

becomes chuir

becomes chríochnaigh

becomes bhris

becomes dhruid

Ghlan mé mo sheomra.I cleaned my room.

Chuir sé a ghúthan ina phóca.He put his phone in his pocket.

Chríochnaigh sí a hobair bhaile.She finished her homework.

Bhris sibh an ríomhaire.You (pl) broke the computer.

Dhruid Aoife an doras.Aoife closed the door.

Regular verbs starting with vowels

éirigh (rise, get up)

amharc ar (look at)

ól (drink)

éist (listen)

oscail (open)

becomes d'éirigh

becomes d'amharcar

becomes d'ól

becomes d'éist

becomes d'oscail

D'éirigh mé ar a seacht a chlog.I got up at 7 o'clock.

D'amharc sé ar an teilifís.He watched the TV.

D'ol sí as gloine.She drank from a glass.

D'éist siad leis an raidió.They listened to the radio.

D'oscail Peadar a mhála.Peadar opened his bag.

Regular verbs beginning with f

fág (leave)

freastail (attend, serve)

foghlaim (learn)

becomes d'fhág

becomes d'fhreastail

becomes d'fhoghlaim

D'fhág mé scoil ar leath i ndiadh a trí.I left school at half past three.

D'fhreastail siad ar choláiste eile.They attended another college.

D'fhoghlaim Caitríona rudaí ina rang.Caitriona learnt things in her class.

Negative and question forms

Use the negative form when saying you didn't do something.

For example, I went becomes I did not go in the negative.

To put a verb in the negative form in the past tense in Irish, you do two things:

• Add níor before the verb
• Add a séimhiú (h) to the verb if it begins with a consonant, but don't do this to vowels

Remember, don't add d' to verbs beginning with vowels or f when using níor.

You use the question form when you want to ask if someone did something.

For example, you went becomes did you go? in the question form.

Asking questions is similar to using the negative form. To put a verb in the question form in the past tense in Irish, you do two things:

• Add ar before the verb
• Aspirate or add a séimhiú (h) to the verb if it begins with a consonant - but don't do this to vowels

Remember, don't add d' to verbs beginning with vowels or f when using ar.

Irregular verbs

There are eleven irregular verbs in Irish. These verbs are called irregular because they do not always follow all the rules of the past tense, or rules of other tenses.

Some of them also do not use níor and ar in their negative and question forms, and instead use ní and an.

They are the most commonly used verbs and it is important to know them.

The table below shows these verbs in the positive, negative and question forms.