Man lugging a heavy bag

The following collection of Irish and English adjectives illustrate the placement of the adjective after its noun in Irish speech. In English the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. So in English we say "a big family" but in Irish we say "Clann mor" meaning "a family big". Notice that there is no equivalent to the article "a" in the Irish.

Click on each of the blue lines to hear the pronunciation.

Bad - Olc Bhí an scannán go holc. The movie was bad.   Big - Mor Tá mo theaghlach mór. I have a big family   Beautiful - Galánta Tá súile galánta donna aici. She has beautiful brown eyes. Bitter - Searbh Tá na líomóidí searbh. The lemonade is bitter    Clean - Glan Tá an chistin glan anois. The kitchen is clean now.   Dry - Tirim Tá an madra tirim anois. The dog is dry now.   Correct - Ceart Bhí an ceart aici. She was correct    Fast - Gasta Is féidir leis rith go gasta. He can run fast    Heavy - Trom Tá mo mhála trom. My bag is heavy.   Quiet - Ciúin Bí ciúin le do thoil! Be quiet, please.   Old - Sean Tá an seanduine ar an stól. The old man is on the stool.   Hard - Crua n/a Tá sé crua. It is hard.   Rough - Garbh Tá an talamh garbh anseo. The ground is rough here.   Cold - Fuar Tá sé fuar inniu. It's cold today

Good - Maith Tá an ceol go maith. The music is good.   Small - Beag Tá mé beag. I am small. Ugly - Granna Tá madadh gránna aici. She has an ugly dog.   Sweet - Milis Bhí an t-oráiste milis. The orange was sweet.   Dirty - Salach Cad chuige a bhfuil tú salach? Why are you dirty?   Wet - Fliuch Tá an madra fliuch. The dog is wet.   Incorrect - Micheart Bhí sé mícheart. He was incorrect.   Slow - Mall Gabh go mall le do thoil. Go slow please!   Light - Éadrom Tá sí chomh héadrom le cleite. She is light as a feather.   Loud - Callánach Tá sé millteanach callánach! He is very loud!   New - Nua Cheannaigh mé cóta breá nua! I bought a lovely new coat. Soft - Bog Tá mo gheansaí nua bog te. My new jumper is soft and warm.   Smooth - Mín Tá craiceann mín aici. She has smooth skin.   Strong - Laidir Bean láidir a bhí inti. She was a strong woman.   Young - óg Tá an buachaill óg. The boy is young.

.

The words, sentences and recorded pronunciation are the property of TalkIrish. The choice of clipart is the work of IrishPage.com. Special thanks to Michelle Gallen, the founder of TalkIrish for allowing us to use the recordings. We encourage you to visit TalkIrish.com for a wealth of additional words, pronunciation and learning aids,

Filleadh go liosta
Click icon above to go back to wordlist