Verb Review
Conditional Vs. Past Habitual #2: Irregulars
In our last handout on these tenses (again, I won't bother with that "mood" nonsense for the
conditional), we looked at the basic pattern for Type I and II regular verbs. Now we'll take a quick look
at the irregular verbs.
What Makes a Verb Irregular?
It basically comes down to the stem of the verb. In a regular verb, the stem or root (fréamh) is
consistent throughout:
Verb
Present
Past Habitual
Future
Conditional
Past
bris
briseann sé
bhriseadh sé
brisfaidh sé
bhrisfeadh sé
bhris sé
ceannaigh
ceannaíonn sé
cheannaíodh sé
ceannóidh sé
cheannódh sé
cheannaigh sé
In an irregular verb, the heart of the verb form, the stem, changes, in some tense. Different irregular
verbs change in different tenses, and the most extreme, if you will, have dependent forms. (In passing,
note that only irregular verbs have dependent forms.)
Also note that all irregular verbs are treated as Type I verbs.
The Verb Table
Here's the pattern for the 11 irregular verbs (counting déan, which is not irregular in Munster). Items
marked with an asterisk * also have dependent forms in that tense. Notable stem aberrations – that is,
where the stem in a particular tense is different from the imperative/root form of the verb -- are
highlighted.
Verb
Present
Past Habitual
Future
Conditional
Past
clois
cloiseann sé
chloiseadh sé
cloisfidh sé
chloisfeadh sé
chuala sé
feic
feiceann sé
d'fheiceadh sé
feicfidh sé
d'fheicfeadh sé
chonaic* sé
déan
déanann sé
dhéanadh
déanfaidh sé
dhéanfadh sé
rinne* sé
beir
beireann sé
bheireadh sé
béarfaidh sé
bhéarfadh sé
rug sé
abair
deir sé
deireadh sé
déarfaidh sé
déarfadh sé
dúirt sé
ith
itheann sé
d'itheadh sé
íosfaidh sé
d'íosfadh sé
d'ith sé
faigh
faigheann sé
d'fhaigheadh sé
gheobhaidh* sé
gheobhadh* sé
fuair sé
tar
tagann sé
thagadh sé
tiocfaidh sé
thiocfadh sé
tháinig sé
téigh
téann sé
théadh sé
rachaidh sé
rachadh sé
chuaigh* sé
tabhair
tugann sé
thugadh sé
tabharfaidh sé
thabharfadh sé
thug sé
bí
bíonn sé
bhíodh sé
beidh sé
bheadh sé
bhí*
We don't care about verbs (for this activity) that are only irregular in the past tense. For the rest of
them, here are some observations:
 Notice that the two habitual tenses use the same stems, and the conditional and future use the
same stems.
 The green-highlighted beir and abair (deir) have a spelling change, broadening the consonant and
lengthening the vowel in the future/conditional. So does tabhair.

Now, don't tell anyone I typed this out loud, and please eat this handout after you read it, but if
you can hear that sound change in most people's speech, you're a better man than I am,
Gunga Din. So if you can remember the spelling change, that's good, but as far as speaking
these two verbs, if you say them with the same stem throughout, you'll certainly be
understood. Or you might work on this fine distinction later, in your speech, but I don't consider
it crucial, a position that I am fairly sure would get me to the woodshed with many
instructors/authorities.

Just in passing, I didn't highlight stem changes for abair because it is the stem that is out of
sorts, in a way (although at one time people said things like abraíonn). But note that abair/deir
is unusual in that the initial d is not lenited in any tense.
 The bottom half of the chart, "Verb" box shaded in blue, are the ones where there is a significant
difference in stem between the habitual tenses and the future/conditional tenses. These are the
ones to keep track of.
 Note, by the way, that in the future and conditional of téigh and faigh, the f marker is omitted.
 Finally, the only verb on the list that has a dependent form in the tenses we're dealing with is
faigh. Gheobhaidh/Gheobhadh sí, Ní bhfaighidh/bhfaigheadh sí.
 The same combined endings occur in these tenses as in regular verbs, affecting everything but
sé/sí/sibh.
mé -- -nn
muid -- -mis
tú -- -á
sibh -- -dh
sé/sí -- -dh
siad -- -dís
For a cheat sheet of those endings, I've duplicated our earlier paradigm below, but we only need Type
I, again, to handle irregulars:
Type I
Conditional
Past Habitual
Conditional
Past Habitual
bhrisfinn
bhrisfeá
bhrisfeadh sé/sí
bhrisfimis
bhrisfeadh sibh
bhrisfidís
bhrisinn
bhristeá
bhriseadh sé/sí
bhrisimis
bhriseadh sibh
bhrisidís
d’fhanfainn
d’fhanfá
d’fhanfadh sé/sí
d’fhanfaimis
d’fhanfadh sibh
d’fhanfaidís
d’fhanainn
d’fhantá
d’fhanadh sé/sí
d’fhanaimis
d’fhanadh sibh
d’fhanaidís
bhrisfí
bhristí
d’fhanfaí
d’fhantaí
Homework
Translate the phrases below into Irish. To sort out "you", we'll use Quaker style.
1. I would eat
2. Thou would get
3. He would come
4. She would go
5. We would give
6. You would be
7. They would hear
8. I used to get
9. Thou used to come
10. He used to go
11. She used to give
12. We used to be
13. You used to see
14. They used to eat
15. I would say
16. I used to go
17. Thou would eat
18. Thou used to eat
19. He would get
20. She used to get
21. We would go
22. We used to come
23. You would give
24. You used to do
25. They would see
26. They used to hear