Say the dog, my dog, this dog

Irish has no word for “a”, so a noun on its own already means “a dog”. A noun names a person, place or thing. Learn what “the” does to the next word, and how “his” and “her” differ by one letter.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

There is no word for “a” in Irish: a bare noun already means “a dog”.
an is “the”; na when there is more than one.
A “she” word softens after an; a “he” word starting with a vowel takes the t- hat.
My, your and “his” soften the next word; “her” does not — the missing h is the whole difference.
“This” and “that” come after the noun: “the dog this”.

No word for “a”

English needs both “a” and “the”. Irish has “the” and leaves “a” out entirely.

madraMOD-ruh

a dog

Nothing is missing — this is the complete phrase.

an madraun MOD-ruh

the dog

na madraínuh MOD-ree

the dogs

an becomes na for more than one.

What “the” does to the next word

Every Irish noun is a “he” word or a “she” word, and the two behave differently after an.

beanban“woman — a “she” word”

an bheanun van“the woman”

No rule guesses a noun’s gender — learn it stuck to the word.

éanAYN“bird — a “he” word starting with a vowel”

an t-éanun TCHAYN“the bird”

The t- hat, not a softening. Reading never asks you to produce this — only to recognise that bhean is bean.

My, your, his, her

Three of these soften the word after them and one does nothing at all. That difference is what you read.

English	Irish	Said	Effect on the next word
my	mo	muh	softens it
your	do	duh	softens it
his	a	uh	softens it
her	a	uh	nothing at all

His dog, her dog

Both are spelled a. The only clue is whether the next word carries an h.

a mhadrauh WOD-ruh

his dog

a madrauh MOD-ruh

her dog

The absence of the h is all that marks it as hers — read past it and “her dog” becomes “his dog”.

This, that, here, there

Irish points at something after naming it, so “this dog” comes out as “the dog this”.

English	Irish	Said	Word for word
this dog	an madra seo	un MOD-ruh shuh	the dog this
that dog	an madra sin	un MOD-ruh shin	the dog that
here	anseo	un-SHUH	—
there	ansin	un-SHIN	—

“This” and “that” come after the noun. And the second pair is simply the first with a syllable on the front — one family, not four.

Undo the change, then read the phrase

an ghaoth
A “she” word after an. Delete the h to find the word.
Show answer +Hide answer −
gaothgee“wind” — “the wind”, said “un GHEE”.
a madra
Nothing has been softened. That absence is the clue.
Show answer +Hide answer −
“Her dog”, said “uh MOD-ruh”. With an h it would be his.
an teach seo
The pointing word is last.
Show answer +Hide answer −
“This house”, said “un tchakh shuh” — word for word, the house this.

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Irish chapters ↗