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
8
The, a, my, this, that
≈ 2 min
What you'll learn
- 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”
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.
Gender shows itself after “the”
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
| 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
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
| 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.