🗣️ Gaeilge
An Aimsir Chaite
The past tense
In English you usually put -ed on the end of a verb to say it has already happened. In Irish the change happens at the front of the verb, and most of the time it’s a single letter h.
Send six verbs into the past
First, a guess. Dún (close) becomes dhún (closed) in the past. What do you think happens to ól (drink)?
Now tap each verb to send it into the past, and listen.
It depends on the first letter
Whether you add an h, a d’ or nothing at all depends only on how the verb starts. Tap a verb, then tap the box you think it belongs in.
Where people slip
Saying no and asking a question change the front of the verb again. Pick the right one each time.
How do you say “I didn’t drink the milk”?
How do you ask “Did you stay at home?”
Someone asks you this. You did close it. What’s the shortest answer?
The short answers
Irish has no single word for yes or no. You answer with the verb itself, and put Níor in front of it for no.
Build any sentence
Pick a front word, a person and a verb, and listen. Watch what happens to the start of the verb each time you change the front word.
The front word
Who did it
The verb
“We” is an ending
In the past, Irish has no separate word for “we”. You put an ending on the verb instead, and which ending depends on the last vowel. If it’s a, o or u, the ending is -amar. If it’s e or i, it’s -eamar.
Verbs that end in -aigh or -igh drop that ending first. Then an -aigh verb gets -aíomar and an -igh verb gets -íomar. Look at the underlined part and pick the ending.
Léigh is one to watch. You drop its igh and add -amar, so “we read” is Léamar.
Listen and pick
This time there’s nothing to read. Play it, then pick what it means. There are 224 sentences in here, so it’s different every time you come back.
Spot it
Here are six to finish with. Nothing is scored or timed.
Eleven verbs with their own past
Everything on this page works for the regular verbs, which is nearly all of them. Eleven verbs are exceptions. They’re called the irregular verbs, and each one has a past form you learn on its own. Here are three you’ll use all the time.
Next time you see Níor d’ól written down, you’ll know the d’ has to come out, and you’ll be able to say why.