There are two conjugations of Irish verbs. The first is mostly monosyllabic with only a few exceptions, while the second is polysyllabic. There are only eleven irregular verbs, with different degrees of irregularity.
Conjugated forms:
Periphrastic constructs based on bí and/or verbal nouns and adjectives:
Analytic forms have information about tense only, e.g. molann, molfaidh, etc. Pronouns must be used to add personal information, e.g. molann sibh.
Synthetic forms (as the name suggests) "join together" an analytic form and a pronoun, e.g. molann + mé > molaim.
| Indicative | Conditional | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Present | Future | Past | Past habitual | Present | Past | ||
| analytic | -ann | -fidh | L~ | L-adh | L-fadh | -a | -adh | - |
| 1st s | -im | -fad | -as | -inn | -finn | + | -inn | -im |
| 2nd s | -ir† | -fir† | -is† | -tá | -fá | + | -tá | ~ |
| 3rd s | + | + | ~ | + | + | + | + | -adh |
| 1st p | -imid | -fimid | ‑amar | -imis | -fimis | -imid | ‑imis | -imis |
| 2nd p | + | + | ~ | + | + | + | + | -igí |
| 3rd p | -id† | -fid† | ‑adar† | -idís | -fidís | + | -idís | -idís |
| auto | -tar | -far | ‑adh | -tí | -fí | -tar | -tí | -tar |
| relative | -as | -fas | ~ | + | + | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Indicative | Conditional | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Present | Future | Past | Past habitual | Present | Past | ||
| analytic | -íonn | ‑óidh | L~ | L-íodh | L-ódh | -í | ‑íodh | ~ |
| 1st s | -ím | -ód | -íos | -ínn | -óinn | + | -ínn | -ím |
| 2nd s | -ír† | -óir† | -ís† | -íteá | -ófá | + | -íteá | ~ |
| 3rd s | + | + | ~ | + | + | + | + | -íodh |
| 1st p | -ímid | -óimid | ‑íomar | -ímis | -óimis | -ímid | -ímis | -ímis |
| 2nd p | + | + | ~ | + | + | + | + | -ígí |
| 3rd p | -íd† | -óid† | ‑íodar† | -ídís | -óidís | + | -ídís | -ídís |
| auto | -ítear | -ófar | ‑íodh | -ítí | -ófaí | -ítear | -ítí | -ítear |
| relative | -íos | -ós | ~ | ~ | ~ | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Independent and dependent forms derive from the related ideas of absolute and conjunct forms (for simple verbs), and prototonic and deuteronic forms (for complex verbs), in Old Irish. The forms are identical for all regular verbs in Modern Irish, and are clearly seen only in some of the tense forms of some of the irregulars.
There is a plethora of verbal noun forms in Irish. There are some patterns, but many exceptions. The suffixes are listed below in alphabetical order, although the long-vowel endings are grouped together, and suffixless forms are discussed at the end of the list.
The verbal adjective root is slender or broad, derived from the radical. The basic suffix is ‑tə, which may or may not be lenited/aspirated, and the final ə is broad (a) or slender (e) in agreement with the adjective's root. Therefore, the possible set of altered suffixes is ‑ta, ‑tha, ‑te, ‑the. The formation rules are well defined and are applied regularly with very few exceptions.
Examples following these rules
The declension of verbal nouns depends on context. When used for example as substantive, they are declined with the appropriate noun declension. The gender of the verbal noun tends to follow that of the declension, but there are exceptions.
When verbal nouns are in infinitive context, they are declined using the verbal adjective.
However, certain verbal nouns are always declined using the verbal adjective, irrespective of context.
The copula is exists in only three tenses:
It is not declined.
There is only a handful of defective verbs in Irish, notably:
The copula is (see above) is also regarded as a defective verb.
{{ga-conj-1a}}, first conjugation, monosyllabic, various endings not ‑igh{{ga-conj-1b}}, first conjugation, polysyllabic{{ga-conj-1c}}, first conjugation, monosyllabic ‑igh{{ga-conj-2}}, second conjugation