Preverbal Particles

A Preverbal Particle always precedes a conjugated form of the verb and must be translated as part of that verb.

Most Preverbal Particles have one form that precedes verbs in the present, future, conditional, or imperfect, and another form that precedes verbs in the past tense only. This division of tenses and moods holds true for regular and irregular verbs, with one exception: the dependent past tense forms of bí, téigh, déan, and feic are preceded by the Preverbal Particles that precede the present, future, conditional, and imperfect, i.e. ní raibh, an ndeachaigh, go ndearna, nach bhfaca, etc. rather than níor raibh, ar dheachaigh, gur dhearna, nár fhaca, etc.

The Copula is never preceded by a Preverbal Particle because the information conveyed by Preverbal Particles is already contained in special forms of the Copula (see The Copula: Forms).

I. The Perfective Preverbal Particle

The Perfective Preverbal Particle do^L indicates that a following verb is in the past tense. Do^L used to be written in front of every past-tense verb, including those with initial consonants, but Caighdeán spelling omits do^L unless a following verb begins with a vowel or with ‘f + Vowel’, in which case do^L appears as d^L’.

2nd Sg. Imperative	Old Spelling	Caighdeán Spelling
cuir ‘put’	do chuir sí	chuir sí
ól ‘drink’	d’ól sí	d’ól sí
fág ‘leave’	d’fhág sí	d’fhág sí
scríobh ‘write’	do scríobh sí	scríobh sí
déan ‘do’	do rinne sí	rinne sí
faigh ‘get’	do fuair10 sí	fuair sí

II. Negative and/or Interrogative Preverbal Particles

A Negative Preverbal Particle indicates that the verb should be translated with the word ‘not’ (e.g. ní raibh sé ‘he was not’).

An Interrogative Preverbal Particle indicates that the verb should be translated as the beginning of a question (e.g. an raibh sé? ‘was he?’).

A Negative Interrogative Preverbal Particle indicates that the verb should be translated with the word ‘not’ at the beginning of a question (nach raibh sé? ‘wasn’t he?’).

	All Tenses and Moods except the Past	Past Tense only
Negative	níL	níorL
Interrogative	anE	arL
Negative	nachE	nárL
Interrogative ‘where?’	cáE	cárL

Note: If an Irregular Verb has dependent past-tense forms, they follow ní, an, nach, and cá; níor, ar, nár, and cár are not used. Fuair ‘got’ and dúirt ‘said’ also follow ní, an, nach, and cá, and again, níor, ar, nár, and cár are not used. There is one final surprise: ní eclipses fuair, faighidh, and faigheadh.

Examples of Negative and/or Interrogative Preverbal Particles:

Níl¹¹ sé inár measc.

‘He is not among us.’

Ní dheachaigh siad ar scoil.

‘They did not go to school.’

Níor imigh mé aréir.

‘I didn’t depart last night.’

An íosfá¹² uibheacha uaine agus liamhás?

‘Would you eat green eggs and ham?’

An bhfaca nó nach bhfaca tú muid?

‘Did you or didn’t you see us?’

Ar cheannaigh nó nár cheannaigh sibh iad?

‘Did you or didn’t you buy them?’

Cá n-imríodh sibh peil?

‘Where used you to play football [soccer]?’

Cár fhoghlaim Bairbre Gaeilge?

‘Where did Bairbre learn Irish?’

III. Preverbal Particles for Commanding or Wishing

Ná^h indicates a negative command. It may precede the imperative mood in any person or number.

Go^E indicates a positive wish. It may precede the present subjunctive in any person or number.

Nár^L indicates a negative wish. It may precede the present subjunctive in any person or number.

Examples of Preverbal Particles in Commands or Wishes:

Ná habair é!

‘Don’t say/mention it!’

Go maire na mná go deo!

‘May the women live forever!’

Nár aithní an diabhal tú!

‘May the Devil not recognize you!’

Go maire na mná go deo! is a drinking-toast. A fuller version is Sláinte na bhfear agus go maire na mná go deo! ‘[I propose] the men’s health and may the women live forever!’ Nár aithní an diabhal tú! is a humorous blessing, implying as it does that the addressee might well deserve to be recognized by the Devil.