Lessons for English speakers
Learn to read Irish
A short, active path into reading Irish: sound out eight real words before the alphabet, learn to undo séimhiú and urú on sight, put the verb at the front of the sentence, and read a story whose pronunciation and English begin hidden.
13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 4 optional lookups · ≈ 51 min with everything
4
Two changes at the front of a word
≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
- Two changes hit the front of an Irish word; neither touches its meaning. They are the single biggest reason a beginner cannot find a word in a dictionary.
- séimhiúSHAY-voo“softening” slips an h in behind the first letter — to undo it, delete the h.
- urúOO-roo“eclipsing” bolts a new letter on in front and silences the old one — to undo it, delete what is in front: one letter, or two in the case of bhf.
- The last letter of an eclipsing pair is the dictionary word.
- You need to recognise a changed word, not produce one.
Séimhiú: an h slips in, the sound softens — to undo it, delete the h
catkat“cat”
mo chatmuh khat“my cat”
k becomes the rasp of “loch”.
beanban“woman”
an bheanun van“the woman”
b becomes v, because the vowel after it is slender.
gaothgee“wind”
an ghaothun GHEE“the wind”
g becomes the voiced rasp — the softening can be drastic.
teachtchakh“house”
mo theachmuh hakh“my house”
t becomes plain h.
feicimFEK-im“I see”
ní fheicimnee EK-im“I do not see”
f disappears entirely. The word underneath is still feicim.
Urú: the seven eclipsing pairs
| Written | Said |
|---|---|
| mb | m |
| gc | g |
| nd | n |
| bhf | w or v |
| ng | ng as in sing |
| bp | b |
| dt | d |
A new letter is bolted on in front and the old one goes silent — eclipsed. The last letter of the pair is the original word: cover what comes before it — one letter, or two for bhf — and you have the dictionary word back.
Urú in the wild
crannkran“tree”
i gcrannih GRAN“in a tree”
The little word iih“in” eclipses whatever follows it.
bótharBOH-hur“road”
ar an mbótharerr un MOH-hur“on the road”
A small word plus an“the” eclipses too. mb is said “m”.
fuilfwil“is — a verb form”
an bhfuilun wil“is …? — asking”
bhf is a single w. This one you will meet on every page.
The t- hat: a third, much smaller change
éanAYN“bird”
an t-éanun TCHAYN“the bird”
Nothing is hiding here: after an, a word starting with a vowel is simply wearing a hat, and the hyphen tells you so.
Find the dictionary word underneath
Delete the h, or delete what is bolted on in front, and say what is left.
- mo chat
One h to delete.
Show answer +Hide answer −
catkat“cat” — “my cat”, said “muh khat”. - an bhean
Same trick, and the b underneath is now easy to hear.
Show answer +Hide answer −
beanban“woman” — “the woman”, said “un van”. - i gcrann
Delete the letter in front, not an h.
Show answer +Hide answer −
crannkran“tree” — “in a tree”, said “ih GRAN”. - an bhfuil
bhf is a single w, and two letters come off the front.
Show answer +Hide answer −
fuilfwil is underneath. an bhfuilun wil is the asking shape of “is”, and you will meet it constantly.