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Conjunctions in Irish: agus, ach, má, nuair a, go and more

The joining words. Some do nothing to the word after them (agus, ach, nó); some lenite the verb (má, nuair a, ó); some eclipse it (go, dá, mura, sula, cé go). Each page shows which.

All the conjunctions

agusandachbut, exceptnóornánor, thanmarbecause, as, likemáif (something that may well be true)dáif (something imagined or unlikely)muraif not, unlessnuair awhengothatsulabeforeósincecé goalthough, even thoughtoisc gobecauseionas goso that, in order thatgo dtí gountilmurachbut for, if it were not formar sinso, thereforefad isas long as, whileach amháinexcept, only

Which ones change the verb

Lenition (a séimhiú) after má, nuair a and ó: má thagann, nuair a bhí, ó tháinig. Eclipsis (an urú) after go, dá, mura, sula, cé go, toisc go, ionas go and go dtí go: go bhfuil, dá mbeadh, sula dtéann. In the past tense of a regular verb those become gur, murar, sular, cé gur with a séimhiú: gur tháinig.

Conjunctions in Irish: agus, ach, má, nuair a, go and more: the questions people ask

What is the Irish for and?

Agus. Tae agus caife, tea and coffee. In speech it is often shortened to is.

What is the difference between má and dá?

Má is if for something that may well be true, and lenites: má thagann sé, if he comes. Dá is if for something imagined or unlikely, eclipses, and takes the conditional: dá dtiocfadh sé, if he were to come.

When is it go and when is it gur?

Go (that) eclipses: deir sé go bhfuil sé tinn. In the past tense of a regular verb it becomes gur with a séimhiú: dúirt sí gur tháinig sé. The irregular pasts keep go: go raibh, go ndeachaigh, go bhfaca.