Faigh (to get, to find)
Complete conjugation of the irregular Irish verb faigh (to get / find) across all tenses: past (fuair), present (faigheann), future (gheobhaidh), and verbal noun (fáil).
The verb faigh means “to get” or “to find” and is one of the most common irregular verbs in Irish. Its irregularity comes from using different stems in different tenses. The past tense uses the stem fuair, while the future and conditional tenses use the stem geobh-. It also has special dependent forms that are used after particles like ní, an, and go.
Independent Forms
These are the standard, standalone forms of the verb, used in simple positive statements.
Present Tense
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | faighim |
| 2nd sg. | faigheann tú |
| 3rd sg. | faigheann sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | faighimid |
| 2nd pl. | faigheann sibh |
| 3rd pl. | faigheann siad |
| Autonomous | faightear |
| Relative | a fhaigheas |
Past Tense (Preterite)
The past tense uses the distinct stem fuair.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | fuaireas |
| 2nd sg. | fuairis |
| 3rd sg. | fuair sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | fuaireamar |
| 2nd pl. | fuaireabhair |
| 3rd pl. | fuaireadar |
| Autonomous | fuarthas |
Imperfect Tense
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | d'fhaighinn |
| 2nd sg. | d'fhaighteá |
| 3rd sg. | d'fhaigheadh sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | d'fhaighimis |
| 2nd pl. | d'fhaigheadh sibh |
| 3rd pl. | d'fhaighidís |
| Autonomous | d'fhaightí |
Future Tense
The future tense uses the stem geobh-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | gheobhad |
| 2nd sg. | gheobhaidh tú |
| 3rd sg. | gheobhaidh sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | gheobhaimid |
| 2nd pl. | gheobhaidh sibh |
| 3rd pl. | gheobhaidh siad |
| Autonomous | gheofar |
| Relative | a gheobhas |
Conditional Mood
The conditional also uses the stem geobh-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | gheobhainn |
| 2nd sg. | gheofá |
| 3rd sg. | gheobhadh sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | gheobhaimis |
| 2nd pl. | gheobhadh sibh |
| 3rd pl. | gheobhaidís |
| Autonomous | gheofaí |
Imperative Mood
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| 2nd sg. | faigh |
| 3rd sg. | faigheadh sé/sí |
| 1st pl. | faighimis |
| 2nd pl. | faighigí |
| 3rd pl. | faighidís |
| Autonomous | faightear |
Subjunctive Mood
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. | Autonomous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | go bhfaighe mé | go bhfaighe tú | go bhfaighe sé | go bhfaighimid | go bhfaighe sibh | go bhfaighe siad | go bhfaightear |
| Past | dá bhfaighinn | dá bhfaighteá | dá bhfaigheadh sé | dá bhfaighimis | dá bhfaigheadh sibh | dá bhfaighidís | dá bhfaightí |
Dependent Forms
Dependent forms are required after particles like ní (not), an (question), go (that), nach (that… not), and the indirect relative particle a.
Unlike most verbs, faigh uses eclipsis after ní in the past tense.
| Tense / Mood | Person | After ní | After an, go, nach, a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | 1st sg. | ní bhfuaireas | an bhfuaireas |
| 2nd sg. | ní bhfuairis | an bhfuairis | |
| 3rd sg. | ní bhfuair sé | an bhfuair sé | |
| 1st pl. | ní bhfuaireamar | an bhfuaireamar | |
| 2nd pl. | ní bhfuaireabhair | an bhfuaireabhair | |
| 3rd pl. | ní bhfuaireadar | an bhfuaireadar | |
| Autonomous | ní bhfuarthas | an bhfuarthas | |
| Future | 1st sg. | ní bhfaighead | an bhfaighead |
| 2nd sg. | ní bhfaighidh tú | an bhfaighidh tú | |
| 3rd sg. | ní bhfaighidh sé | an bhfaighidh sé | |
| 1st pl. | ní bhfaighimid | an bhfaighimid | |
| 2nd pl. | ní bhfaighidh sibh | an bhfaighidh sibh | |
| 3rd pl. | ní bhfaighidh siad | an bhfaighidh siad | |
| Autonomous | ní bhfaighfear | an bhfaighfear | |
| Conditional | 1st sg. | ní bhfaighinn | an bhfaighinn |
| 2nd sg. | ní bhfaighfeá | an bhfaighfeá | |
| 3rd sg. | ní bhfaigheadh sé | an bhfaigheadh sé | |
| 1st pl. | ní bhfaighimis | an bhfaighimis | |
| 2nd pl. | ní bhfaigheadh sibh | an bhfaigheadh sibh | |
| 3rd pl. | ní bhfaighidís | an bhfaighidís | |
| Autonomous | ní bhfaighfí | an bhfaighfí |
Verbal Noun and Adjective
- Verbal Noun:
fáil - Genitive of Verbal Noun:
fála(substantive),faighte(infinitive use) - Verbal Adjective:
faighte
Usage Notes
The Past Tense Stem fuair
The past tense stem fuair is never lenited, even after the direct relative particle a, which normally causes lenition.
- An leabhar a fuair mé inné. - The book that I got yesterday.
Historical note on 'ní bhfuair'
The negative form ní bhfuair appears to use eclipsis, which is unusual for ní in the past tense. This spelling reflects a historical sound change. The original form was ní fhuair (with lenition). The sound of ní fhuair [ni: uər′] evolved to include a “w” glide sound [ni: wuər′]. The modern spelling ní bhfuair was adopted to represent this pronunciation, so the lenited form *fhuair is never written.
Dialectal Variations
Historical Forms
Historical note on older forms
Previously, Irish distinguished between absolute (standalone) and dependent (after a particle) forms in the present and imperfect tenses. The absolute forms for faigh are now obsolete in the standard language but were based on the stem geibh-.
| Tense | Dependent (Modern) | Absolute (Older) |
|---|---|---|
| Present | faigheann | (do-)gheibheann |
| Imperfect | faigheadh | (do-)gheibheadh |
The lenition seen in the modern future (gheobhaidh) and conditional (gheobhadh) is a remnant of the old prefix do-, which was once common with these forms, e.g., (do-)gheobhaidh sé.