Number lookup: one to ten, and what they do to a noun

One to ten, and the little a that belongs with each of them. Then what a number does to the noun after it: two to six soften it, seven to ten eclipse it, and the noun stays singular.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Irish counts in three ways — out loud, counting things, counting people — but you only ever produce the first.
The list to learn runs a haonuh HEEN to a deichuh JEH, and the little a is part of it.
In front of a noun, two to six soften it and seven to ten eclipse it — both changes you already know how to undo.
The noun stays singular after a number: trí chat is literally “three cat”.
People have numbers of their own: beirtbertch for two, triúrTROOR for three.

You do not need numbers to finish — neither story counts anything. Open this when a number in a book stops you, or when you want to say one out loud.

Counting out loud

This is the list to learn: the numbers you say on their own. The little a is part of each one.

	Irish	Said
1	a haon	uh HEEN
2	a dó	uh DOH
3	a trí	uh TREE
4	a ceathair	uh KYA-hir
5	a cúig	uh KOO-ig
6	a sé	uh SHAY
7	a seacht	uh SHAKHT
8	a hocht	uh HUKHT
9	a naoi	uh NEE
10	a deich	uh JEH

Notice a sé: the number six is the same word as sé“he”. Irish is a small language and it reuses its sounds.

Put a number in front of a noun and two things happen: the number changes shape slightly, and it pulls a mutation onto the noun. Two through six soften; seven through ten eclipse.

Numbers in front of a noun

A number in front of a noun pulls a change onto it. Two to six soften, and seven to ten eclipse.

catkat“cat”

dhá chatghaw khat“two cats”

Softened, and the number itself is dhá rather than a dó.

madraMOD-ruh“dog”

trí mhadratree WOD-ruh“three dogs”

Softened.

catkat“cat”

seacht gcatshakht gat“seven cats”

Eclipsed, because seven and up eclipse.

éanAYN“bird”

trí éantree AYN“three birds”

Untouched — a word starting with a vowel has nothing to soften.

Counting people, and two quantity words

English	Irish	Said
two people	beirt	bertch
three people	triúr	TROOR
many dogs	a lán madraí	uh LAWN MOD-ree
a few dogs	cúpla madra	KOOP-luh MOD-ruh

So “two friends” is beirt chairdebertch KHAR-juh, not dhá chairde. If a number looks unfamiliar, check whether the thing being counted is a person.

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