Roimh (before)

The preposition roimh means “before” and is most commonly used to talk about time. It is usually pronounced /rɪvʲ/. Like many Irish prepositions, it conjugates for person and number when used with pronouns, and it causes initial mutations on the following noun.

Conjugated Forms

When roimh is followed by a pronoun (like “me”, “you”, or “them”), it combines with the pronoun to create a single word.

Mutations

The initial mutation caused by roimh depends on whether it is followed by the definite article an.

Without the Article

When roimh is followed directly by a noun, it causes lenition.

• Tá sé fuar roimh mhaidin. - It is cold before morning.

With the Singular Article

When roimh is followed by the singular definite article an, it causes eclipsis.

• Bhí mé ann roimh an mbus. - I was there before the bus.

There are several dialectal exceptions to this rule:

Usage and Examples

Temporal “before”

The most common use of roimh is to mean “before” in time, or “earlier than”.

• Tháinig sé roimh a seacht a chlog. - He arrived before seven o’clock.
• Tá mé romhat sa scuaine. - I am before you in the queue.

Spatial “before”

Using roimh to mean spatially “in front of” is rare in modern Irish. The phrase os comhair is much more common for this meaning.

• Tá an crann os comhair an tí. - The tree is in front of the house.

Idiomatic Expressions

Roimh appears in several important idioms where its meaning is not “before”.

• faitíos roimh - fear of
  • Tá faitíos orm roimh an madra. - I am afraid of the dog.

• fáilte roimh - welcome to

  • Tá fáilte romhat. - You are welcome. (Literally: “Welcome is before you.”)

• tar/téigh roimh - to intercept, stop, prevent

  • Chuaigh sé rompu ag an droichead. - He intercepted them at the bridge.

Other Forms and Grammar

Dialectal Variants

Besides the conjugated forms, the preposition itself has several variants:

• roimhe: Common in Ulster.
• roim: Common in Munster.
• roimis: Often used in Munster before the article, e.g., roimis an lá.

Asking Questions

To ask “before whom?” or “before what?”, you use the following structures, which require an indirect relative clause.

• cé roimhe...? - before whom…?
• cad roimhe / céard roimhe / cá roimhe...? - before what…?

Grammatical Case

Historically, roimh governs the dative case. In modern standard Irish, the dative form of a noun is almost always identical to the nominative, so this rule has little practical effect for learners.