Language/Irish/Grammar/Negation

Irish Grammar - Negation

Hi Irish learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about negation in Irish grammar. Negation is a way to express the negative form of a sentence, such as "I do not like it" in English. Negation is an important concept to understand in any language, and it is no different in Irish. So let's get started!

Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Irish Prepositional Pronouns, Imperative Mood, Adjectives & Give your Opinion.

The Basics

To form a negative sentence in Irish, we use the word "ní" before the verb. This is similar to using "not" in English. For example:

• Tá mé tuirseach. (I am tired.)
• Níl mé tuirseach. (I am not tired.)

Here, we can see that "ní" comes before the verb "tá" to form the negative sentence.

Word order

In Irish, the subject-verb-object (SVO) word order is used in positive sentences. However, when forming negative sentences, the order changes to subject-ní-verb-object. For example:

• Positive: Is breá liom é. (I love it.)
• Negative: Ní maith liom é. (I do not like it.)

Here, we can see that the subject "liom" comes first, followed by "ní" (meaning "not"), then the verb "maith" (meaning "like"), and finally the object "é" (meaning "it").

Double Negation

In Irish, it is not common to use double negation, meaning that you do not stack two negative words in the same sentence like you may do in some other languages. Therefore, it's not correct to use "ní" and "níos" in the same sentence. For example:

• Incorrect: Ní fhaca mé aon rud. (I did not see anything.)
• Correct: Ní fhaca mé rud ar bith. (I did not see anything.)

In the incorrect sentence, there are two negative words ("ní" and "níos"), which is not grammatically correct in Irish. In the correct sentence, only one negative word ("ní") is used to form the negative sentence.

Contractions

In Irish, there are two contractions that are used in negative sentences:

• Ní becomes níor before a verb that starts with a consonant. For example:

Irish	Pronunciation	English
Níor tháinig sé	/nʲiːərˠ hɑːnʲɪɡʲ ʃeː/	He did not come

• Ní becomes ná before "bhf" or "m" sounds. For example:

Irish	Pronunciation	English
Ná maith leat é	/nɑː mæh lɛt eː/	You do not like it

Dialogue

Let's look at an example conversation to see negation in context:

• Person 1: Ar mhaith leat bainne? (Would you like milk?)
• Person 2: Níor maith liom bainne. (I do not like milk.)

In this conversation, Person 1 asks if Person 2 would like some milk, and Person 2 responds with a negative sentence using the contraction "níor".

Tips

To improve your Irish Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions! Also, remember:

• Use "ní" before the verb to form a negative sentence in Irish
• Follow the subject-ní-verb-object word order for negative sentences
• Avoid using double negation
• Use "níor" before a verb that starts with a consonant
• Use "ná" before "bhf" or "m" sounds

Sources

• Questions, Responses, and Negation | 7 | The Grammar of Irish ...
• Irish conjugation - Wikipedia

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Other Lessons

• Irish Modal Verbs (need, want, must, can)
• How to Use Be
• Adjectives
• Give your Opinion
• Imperative Mood
• Pronouns
• Irish Prepositional Pronouns
• Questions
• Personal pronouns