Defective Verbs

Defective verbs, or na briathra uireasacha, are verbs that cannot be fully conjugated because they only exist in a limited number of forms. Unlike irregular verbs, which have a full but unpredictable set of conjugations, defective verbs are missing most of their tenses and persons. Some even appear in only a single form.

Feadair (to know)

The verb feadair is a remnant of an older verb system and is the only surviving deponent verb in Irish. This means its forms look passive but have an active meaning. It is timeless, so a form like feadramar can mean “we know” or “we knew” depending on context.

Today, feadair is almost exclusively used in questions, negative sentences, and the answers to them.

• An bhfeadair tú? - Do you know?
• Ní fheadar. - I don’t know / I wonder.

It often merges with the negative particle ní to become n’fheadair.

• N’fheadar an bhfuil sé ann fós. - I wonder if he is still there.

When used with the preposition do (to), it means “to be able to tell someone” or “to let someone know”.

• An bhfeadraís seo dom? - Can you tell me this?

Conjugation

ar, arsa (to say)

The verb ar or arsa is used to mean “said”, but only immediately after a line of direct speech. It is timeless, so arsa mise can mean “I say” or “I said”.

The main rules for its use are:

• ar is used only before third-person pronouns: ar seisean (said he), ar sise (said she), ar siadsan (said they).
• arsa is used in all other cases, including with nouns and other pronouns: arsa mise (said I), arsa an fear (said the man). An older form, ars, is sometimes seen before the article.

• “Tuigim anois”, arsa Seán. - “I understand now,” said Seán.
• “Ní thuigeann tú ar chor ar bith”, ar sise. - “You don’t understand at all,” she said.

The verb abair can also be used instead of ar/arsa for direct speech, often in the relative present tense form a deir.

Dar (to seem)

This verb exists only in the single, timeless form dar, meaning “it seems” or “it seemed”. It is always used with the preposition le (with) to indicate whose opinion it is.

• dar liom - it seems to me / I think
• dar leis - it seems to him / he thinks

It can be placed after a statement or before a go/nach clause.

• Dar leis an bhfear go bhfuil sé ann. - The man thought that he was there. (Literally: “It seemed to the man that he is there.”)
• Sin a bhfuil le rá, dar liom. - That’s all there is to say, it seems to me.

Dóbair (it almost happened)

This verb, which has variants like d'fhóbair, fhobair, and hóbair, exists only in a single form derived from the third-person singular past tense. It now functions more like an adverb meaning “almost” or “nearly”.

It can be followed by a verbal noun construction (with the subject introduced by do) or by a go/nach clause.

• Dóbair dom titim. - I almost fell.
• Dóbair go dtitfinn. - I almost fell.

Aitim (I implore)

This formal verb only exists in two present tense forms for the first person.

• aitim - I implore
• aitimid - we implore

Alternative spellings aicim and aicimid are also found. The older spelling was aithchim/aithchimid.

Tarlaigh (to happen)

This verb is only used in the third person; it has no forms for “I”, “you”, or “we”. Its verbal noun is tarlú (a happening, an event).

The past tense is irregular: tharla (though the regular-looking tharlaigh is also heard in some dialects).

When tharla is followed by a clause, it does not use the dummy subject sé (it).

• Tharla timpiste. - An accident happened.
• Tharla go raibh mé ann. - It happened that I was there.

If the event happens to someone, that person is introduced with the preposition do.

• Tharla dom a bheith ann nuair a tháinig sé. - I happened to be there when he came.

The phrase ó tharla (go) means “since” or “because”.

• Agus ó tharla muid ag fanacht le fada le freagra… - And since we had been waiting a long time for an answer…

Téana (come)

This verb is only used in the imperative mood to mean “come on” or “let’s go”.

• Téana ort! - Come on! (to one person)
• Téanaigí oraibh! - Come on! (to more than one person)

A common form for the first-person plural (“let’s…”) is téanam.

• Téanam abhaile! - Let’s go home!

A verbal noun, téanachtaint, exists for reporting the command in indirect speech.

• Dúirt sé liom téanachtaint leis. - He told me to come with him.

Ráinig, ráinigh (reached)

This verb is rare today but common in older literature. It means “to reach”, “to arrive”, or “to happen”.

Usage

• To reach a place or time: It has mostly been replaced by sroich.
• To happen: Conas mar a ráinig go raibh tú anseo? - How did it happen that you were here?
• To manage or succeed (with le): Ráinigh liom é a dhéanamh. - I managed to do it.
• To be able to (impersonally with le): sara ráinig linn-ne dul abhaile - before we could go home.

The verb is best known today from its appearance in the Irish national anthem.

• …buíon dár slua thar toinn do ráinig chugainn… - …a group of our host that came to us over the waves…

The Copula is

The copula, is, is also considered a defective verb because it lacks a full set of conjugations. It is a complex topic and is covered in its own dedicated chapter.