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| An Aimsir Fháistineach (The Future
Tense) |
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When to use the Future tense: Use it to describe an action
that will happen in the future or where you would use "will"
or "shall" (future) in English.
[Note: do not use
the future tense after má - if. Use the present
or habitual present. There will be a lesson later on Má
and Dá.] |
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| The songs associated with this lesson have most of the verbs in
the future tense. You have already learnt some verbs in their root
form (the second person singular imperative form) as in the first
column below. You then learnt these verbs in the past, present, and
habitual present tenses. |
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You will remember regular verbs fall into
two groups:
- An chéad réimniú (First
Conjugation)
- and An Dara Réimniú (Second
Conjugation).
- Then there are the eleven irregular verbs: Na
Briathra Neamhrialta.
- Lastly you need to consider the old spelling
rule "caol le caol agus leathan le leathan" already
explained.
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| In this lesson we will look at the Foirm Dhearfach (positive form), Foirm Dhiúltach (negative), and Foirm Cheisteach (interrogative) forms of the verbs in the future and I hope at the end of the exercise
you will agree that An Aimsir Fháistineach (the future tense) in Irish is easy. |
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| Basically the future is formed by adding ~faidh or ~fidh
to verbs of An Chéad Réimniú (the first conjugation) and ~óidh or ~eoidh
to verbs of An Dara Réimniú (the second conjugation). |
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| Note that some irregular verbs have a special root for the future
and that one has two forms. Faigh becomes gheobhaidh
when it is neamhspleách, (independent), and ní
bhfaighidh when spleách (dependent). |
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| Briathra san
Aimsir Fháistineach - - Verbs in the future tense |
| Root of verb |
These verbs are all in the Future Tense |
Briathar
Verb |
san Aimsir Fháistineach
in the Future Tense |
Aistriúchán
Translation |
Réimniú
Conjugation |
| An
Chéad Réimniú / The First Conjugation |
| Fan |
Fanfaidh mé, fanfaidh tú, ...fanfaimid
... |
I / You / We will stay. |
1A |
| Iarr |
Iarrfaidh mé, iarrfaidh tú ...
iarrfaimid ... |
I / You / We will ask |
1A |
| Cuir |
Cuirfidh mé, cuirfidh tú ...
cuirfimid ... |
I / You / We will put |
1B |
| Siúil |
Siúlfaidh mé, siúlfaidh
tú, ... siúlfaimid, ... |
I / You / We will walk |
1B (eisceacht) |
| Sábháil |
Sábhálfaidh mé, sábhálfaidh
tú, ... sábhálfaimid, ... |
I / You / We will save |
1C |
| Dóigh |
Dófaidh mé, dófaidh tú,
... dófaimid, ... |
I / You / We will burn |
1D |
| Léigh |
Léifidh mé, léifidh tú,
... léifimid, ... |
I / You / We will read |
1E |
| Cloígh |
Cloífidh mé, Cloífidh
tú, ... Cloífimid, ... |
I / You / We will defeat |
1F |
| Nigh |
Nífidh mé, nífidh tú,
... nífimid ... |
We will wash |
1G |
| An
Dara Réimniú / The Second Conjugation |
| Ceannaigh |
Ceannóidh mé, ceannóidh
tú, ... ceannóimid, ... |
I / You / We will buy |
2A |
| Dúisigh |
Dúiseoidh mé, dúiseoidh
tú, ... dúiseoimid ... |
I / You / We will wake up |
2B |
| Éirigh |
Éireoidh mé, éireoidh
tú ... éireoimid ... |
I / You / We will get up |
2B |
| Cabhraigh |
Cabhróidh mé, cabhróidh
tú, ... cabhróimid .. |
I / You / We will help |
2A |
| Oscail |
Osclóidh mé, osclóidh
tú, ... osclóimid ... |
I / You / We will open |
2C |
| Inis |
Inseoidh mé, inseoidh tú, ...
inseoimid, ... |
I / You / We will tell |
2D |
| Foghlaim |
Foghlaimeoidh mé, foghlaimeoidh tú,
... foghlaimeoimid, ... |
I / You / We will learn |
2E |
| Freastail |
Freastalóidh mé, freastalóidh
tú, ... freastalóimid, ... |
I / You / We will attend |
2F |
| Na
Briathra Neamh-Rialta / The Irregular Verbs |
| Abair |
Déarfaidh mé, déarfaidh
tú, ... déarfaimid, ... |
I / You / We will say |
NR |
| Beir |
Béarfaidh mé, béarfaidh
tú, ... béarfaimid, ... |
I / You / We will bring / catch |
NR |
| Bí |
Beidh mé, Beidh tú, ... beimid
.... |
I / You / We will be |
NR |
| (Clois) |
Cloisfidh mé, cloisfidh tú ...
cloisfimid ... |
I / You / We will hear |
NR |
| Déan |
Déanfaidh mé, déanfaidh
t ú, ... déanfaimid ... |
I / You / We will make
(or do!) |
NR |
| faigh |
Gheobhaidh mé, gheobhaidh tú,
... gheobhaimid, ... |
I / You / We will get |
NR |
| faigh |
Ní bhfaighidh mé, Ní bhfaighidh
tú, ... Ní bhfaighimid, ... |
I / You / We will not get |
NR |
| (Feic) |
Feicfidh mé, feicfidh tú ...
feicfimid |
I / You / We will see |
NR |
| Ith |
Íosfaidh mé, íosfaidh
tú ... íosfaimid |
I / You / We will eat |
NR |
| Tabhair |
Tabharfaidh mé, tabharfaidh tú
... tabharfaimid ... |
I / You / We will give |
NR |
| Tar |
Tiocfaidh mé, tiocfaidh tú ...
tiocfaimid ... |
I / You / We do come |
NR |
| Téigh |
Rachaidh mé, Rachaidh tú ...
Rachaimid ... |
I / You / We will go |
NR |
| The numbers 1 and 2 above stand
for the groups (called "conjugations" or in
Irish "réimniú") in which similar
verbs are listed. The letters after the numbers indicate slight
variations in behaviour which will be obvious when you compare
the verbs to each other. NR is short for Neamh-Rialta,
Irregular. There are 11 of them and you have met them
before. |
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| How to decide which conjugation a verb is in. |
| Verbs of one syllable are in the first conjugation: dún,
ól, rith, bris, cuir, fan, etc |
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Verbs of more than one syllable ending in ~áil: sábháil,
etc, are in the first conjugation. Note how they lose the
i in ~áil when an additional syllable is added.
Sábhálfaidh. (Unfortunately "sábháilte"
- saved is an exception to this!) |
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| (~áil is one of the liveliest endings in modern Irish.
All and sundry add ~áil to an English word and hey presto
we have a new Irish verb. Try and avoid this. Learn lots of traditional
verbs so that you won't need to make up new ones. Verbs are the most
important words in the language.) |
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| Verbs of one syllable ending in ~igh are also -- surprisingly
-- in the first conjugation: léigh, nigh, cloígh,
etc. They form the future by losing the ~igh and adding
the future ending: léifidh; nífidh; cloífidh
etc |
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| Verbs of more than one syllable ending in ~igh are in the
second conjugation: ceannaigh, cabhraigh, etc |
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| Verbs of more than one syllable ending in a slender consonant: inis,
freastail, foghlaim, oscail are in the second conjugation and lose
an ~i or ~ai or are abbreviated when endings are attached
to the root: inis becomes inseoidh and freastail
becomes freastalóidh etc. |
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| I know it is not much help at this stage but deciding whether a
verb is first or second conjugation depends on how the future is formed.
Some verbs sit easily in either. Labhair - speak for
example. You will hear both labharfaidh and labhróidh.
A good idea is to look up verbs that you are unsure of in Ó
Dónaill's dictionary. You should find plenty
of examples of the tenses there. |
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| How to form the future tense: |
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| Positive / Affirmative (Saying "Yes!") |
An
aimsir fháistineach,
foirm dhearfach - -
The future tense, positive form |
Verbs with an initial b, c, d, g, m, p, s,
t, |
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The initial consonant does not change here in the positive.
Take the root of the verb i.e. the command form, and add
one of these endings ~faidh; ~fidh;
~óidh; ~eoidh: like those given above in
the examples. The rule "caol
le caol agus leathan le leathan" must be applied.
~faidh ~fidh are
attached to verbs of the first conjugation. dún
becomes dúnfaidh
(leathan le leathan) and éist becomes éistfidh
(caol le caol).
~óidh ~eoidh
are attached to verbs of the second conjugation. Ceannaigh
becomes ceannóidh.
Notice the loss of ~aigh. Éirigh becomes
Éireoidh.
Again note the loss of ~igh.
With verbs like "cabhraigh" remove the "
--aigh -- " before adding the ending for the future:
cabhróidh.
Some verbs lose a syllable: inis becomes inseoidh
and oscail becomes osclóidh. |
| Verbs with an initial vowel: |
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No change to the initial vowel here.
"ól" becomes "ólfaidh
mé" or "ólfaidh
tú" -- "éist" becomes
"éistfidh mé"
or "éistfidh tú";
but "éirigh" becomes "éireoidh"
or "éireoidh tú"
and ceannaigh becomes ceannóidh
mé. |
| Verbs with an initial f: |
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No change to the initial f here.
No problem. Do the same again. Fág - - leave
becomes fágfaidh mé
- - I shall leave and Freagair -- answer
(i.e. the verb answer) becomes freagróidh
mé, freagróidh tú ... etc
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| Negative (Saying "No!") |
An
aimsir fháistineach,
foirm dhiúltach - -
The future tense, negative form |
Verbs with an initial b, c, d, g, m, p, s,
t, |
| The negative is formed with ní before
all verbs plus lenition / an aspiration / séimhiú
on the initial consonant if possible: so: Ní bhrisfidh
mé -- I shall not break; Ní chuirfidh
mé -- I shall not put; Ní dhéanfaidh
mé -- I do not do / make; Ní cheannóidh
mé -- I shall not buy |
| Verbs with an initial vowel: |
| Just put Ní before these: Ní
ólfaidh mé -- I shall not drink; Ní
éistfidh mé -- I shall not listen;
Ní íosfaidh mé -- I shall not
eat; |
| Verbs with an initial f: |
| Just do as you did for the consonants above, use
Ní and séimhiú / aspiration
/ lenition: Ní fhágfaidh mé
- - I shall not leave; Ní fhreagróidh
mé - - I shall not answer. (Notice again
that some verbs like "Freagair" lose a syllable
when an ending is added.) |
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| Interrogative (Asking a question) |
An
aimsir fháistineach,
foirm cheisteach - -
The future tense, interrogative form |
Verbs with an initial b, c, d, g, m, p, s,
t, |
Ask a question with An or Nach
and place an "urú"
on the initial consonant.
An ndúiseoidh tú go moch?- - Will you
wake up early?. Nach ndúiseoidh tú? -
- Will you not wake up? An mbrisfidh tú
an ubh le spúnóg?- - Will you break
the egg with a spoon? Nach mbrisfidh tú? - - Will
you not (break)
NB. If using these questions at the end of a sentence where
the subject is clear -- or as a reply to a question -- there
is no need to repeat the subject. For example you could say
Dúiseoidh tú go moch, an ndúiseoidh?
Similarly you would say Brisfidh tú an ubh le spúnóg,
nach mbrisfidh? An mbrisfidh tú an ubh le spúnóg?
Reply: Brisfidh! (No need there for a pronoun such
as mé, tú, sé etc) |
| Verbs with an initial vowel: |
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Use An or Nach again and put in an urú
-- which in this case is always n- With An however
one - n - cancels the other and you get "An
ólfaidh tú bainne" and "an
éireoidh tú go moch" - Will you
get up early?.
Nach n-éistfidh sé? -- Will he not
listen? |
| Verbs with an initial f: |
| The urú on - f - is -bh
- so An bhfanfaidh tú ar scoil tar éis 4.00
pm? -- Will you remain at school after 4.00 pm? Nach
bhfreagróidh tú ceisteanna sa rang? --
Will you not answer questions in class? |
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The six most irregular verbs.
Na sé bhriathar is neamhrialta
The six most irregular verbs are listed above with the rest of
the irregular verbs. Many of the irregular verbs use a different
root for the future tense. Learn each one in turn. Only one of the
them has two forms -- spleach / dependent and neamhspleach / independent -- and that is faigh -- get. This
requires some close attention. There is a special root for the Positive
form: Gheobhaidh mé. Note the absence of the ~ f ~ which one would expect in the future tense. In the negative
it is Ní bhfaighidh mé -- the urú after Ní at the beginning of the word is completely irregular
and needs to be learnt.
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Dearfach
Positive |
Diúltach
Negative |
Ceisteach
Interrogative |
Gheobhaidh mé
I will get |
Ní bhfaighidh mé
I will not get |
An bhfaighidh tú
Will you get? |
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| The forms Neamhspleách and Spleách are explained
on an earlier page. Click here
to see it again. |
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| NB: |
The verb abair - - say is never
lenited in any tense in written Standard Irish / An Caighdeán
Oifigiúil.
Ní déarfaidh mé - - I will not
say [In spoken Irish you will hear variations on this.] |
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| These irregular verbs display irregularities in this and other tenses.
They are not difficult but they are so frequently used as to be essential
for essays, stories and conversation. Learn them well. |
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| If you have problems with verbs and their
tenses watch out for verbs in your reading where the meaning is obvious.
Copy them out -- into a special notebook -- together with the phrase
in which they occur and learn them. You will gradually build up your
vocabulary -- and your grammar. |
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