Irish Lesson 1: Verb "TO BE" - Present Tense I

[@brenainnmacthomais]

A Sheáin, mo chara, you absolutely must do more and more videos! It is so great to hear the Ulster dialect (Canúint Uladh)! Is as Dún na nGall mé, ach tá mé i mo chónaí i Na Stáit Aontaithe Mhériceá anois. I miss Irish and my dialect-speaking and listening to it. I was brought up speaking it, but I wouldn’t consider myself a native speaker anymore. I’m always trying to get my American friends to learn the language. I was looking at the resources on the market now. Looks like mostly Munster followed by Connacht. When I was taught it, I learned the true sounds of the broad and slender consonants with the w- and y- offglides, the hidden unstressed vowels, etc. I noticed Irish is being taught with more English phonetics than true Irish pronunciations-in the phrase “Dia duit,” the first “d” is like a “j” sound while the second “d” is a “d” sound. Also, “t” is pronounced “ch” like in “church” because of the slender “i” vowel. Please keep these videos up. I was thinking about creating a social learning FB page that teaches traditional Irish. We need to promote our language as much as possible!

[@moreartthantime]

I've been using Duolingo for three months now, and I feel like I just learned more in twenty-four minutes than I did in that whole span of months. Thank you sir. I hope you make a lot more videos. Appreciated the little lessons about historical context and how it relates to Irish people speaking English, too.

[@avananana]

This is mainly because Duolingo is very flawed when it comes to learning. It's way too systematic and it so heavily relies on you repeating things you don't even like. Learning a language the way Duolingo teaches can work, but it's really boring and can take a very long time. And this is due to the fact that you're locked from most things up until you reach a certain point.

[@johncook7281]

@@avananana Duolingo is not systematic in the following; in grammar you will now learn verbs to be, to go, phrases 'for have' tá mé,tá sé, etc and Is è Is mé. A student of Irish or French, Italian has to make their own group systematic.. I take a load of notes and they are all over the place, a mess

[@reemsuleiman1483]

Brilliant. The clearest explanations I have found online to date. Thank you.

[@irelandserverferrersegura4021]

On honor of Enya irish❤️

[@nitramnagev7997]

Excellent, Seán! You're a natural teacher. I've learnt a lot from these videos. Thank you.

[@kevinlamitie8210]

I so garee best on u tube.

[@briganfree3656]

I am an English person trying to learn Irish. I found this useful. I am in my 50s so finding it slow going to learn a new language now. Putting the verbs up and explaining it exactly as you did is exactly what is needed. Thank you. Slán.

[@alsandaromaolain7721]

Hello Seán, these videos are so good. I love that you teach people how to build and understand the foundations of sentence structures instead of just learning phrases. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and he will eat for life.

[@sodafarl0978]

Go raibh mile maith agat a Sheán. I'm learning Ulster Irish and your video is the clearest and simplest explanation of the basics I have come across. It's a great help. Go raibh maith agat aris.

[@vacaspen4787]

so glad these are still available,, practical phrases

[@whatthehell4917]

Super helpful, thank you! I'm german, learning irish cause in my head there is this dream that someday I will live there. Yeah, it's weird. Never been there. But somehow feel connected. And wanna prepair myself in learning the most beautiful language I have ever heard :D

[@brenainnmacthomais]

Good on you, and even more so for immersing yourself with the Ulster dialect!

[@yrosarosas3093]

Don't feel weird I know my reply is tooooo late but I felt happy to see your comment as I'm from Spain and I feel the same way about learning Irish! And this gentleman explained so well and helpful!

[@kendrom]

Thank you. I’ve been studying Duolingo and Rosetta Stone for months, and really had no grasp of sentence structure at all. This has been very helpful.

[@daisypeters3216]

Thank you for send me this vídeo. Sean Mor. I want So much to learn irish language because I will go to Ireland, next year. Sean, you are a great teacher. Thank you once more time.

[@faecreature21]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you. I've been trying to pick up Irish but I couldn't grasp the syntax. I figured out that Irish is Verb, Subject, Object but there were all these other words that I couldn't understand why they were there. You answered nearly everyone in this video. Thanks so much!

[@paulbustion1291]

You did an excellent job of explaining the material. I never understood what 'ann' meant when using DuoLingo or Rosetta Stone, you have clarified the meaning of it for me, your explanation of the grammar was much better than any previous explanation of the grammar that I have seen.

[@marymurphycreates]

Absolutely fabulous, thank you. You are a wonderful , clear and personable teacher.

[@Seanchai59]

Just discovered these videos and am using them to scrape the rust of my schoolboy Irish. You're a natural teacher. Looking forward to many more videos. Míle buíochas.

[@anbocmor]

Tá scáileán níos mó de dhíth orm! I need a bigger screen, to counteract my head. :-)

[@eilisdoran7294]

Seán Mór, Thank you, again and again and again. I just came across this wonderful presentation which takes the mystery and agony out of learning Irish. Sean, can you be contacted via email. Eilis, Sedona, Arizona

[@addictedtocraic]

These literal translations are exactly what I need as a returning adult student 🙃.

[@serviceuservoice]

GRMA :) You're a natural teacher.. I love the 'building blocks' approach. Your lessons are very well crafted and have been really helpful so far!! I'm 'Craigavon' area of NI and find your accent easy to relate to as well. Challenged by my unconventional learning style, and have found beginners conversational classes fun but unsuitable and formal classes would be too restrictive. So - until I can finally find a one to one tutorI, I'm trying to learn completely on my own. I need personally contextual and free form learning due to my health condition - need to establish my own patterns and my own links between sound and text - or it doesn't stick. YOUR stuff is intuitive enough to stick! Can't thank you enough !

[@hamedmohamed8594]

Go raibh maith agat! Tá lá maith Ann! Greetings from Egypt

[@steph.anie.travels]

Thank you Sean! You are helping me so much. Keep them coming. I have subscribed.

[@Aannan]

I've been enjoying my course on Duolingo but I am glad to have this as well. In my view, the best way to learn a language is to gather information from many different sources in many different styles. It keeps things interesting and provides different angles from which to view the language. Thank you so much, Sean, for this interesting lesson.

[@dolgy3762]

good video. I find proffessors usually explain things too elaborately, learning a language through normal people is so much easier. I moved to spain and I've learned Catalan and Spanish in less than a year. My family is originally from Cork, I've always been interested in learning the language of my ancestors. Shame they moved to the U.S. XD

[@kevinlamitie8210]

so right.this guy didn't drone on like some teacchers n professors.hpe said it fast n perfect pace.with understandable explaining.cead thumbs up.lol

[@dequidaqwadoa1553]

Dia duit a chara ! Cad é mar atá tú? Heartfelt thanks for these lessons! And for keeping them simple and for using examples that we can use everyday!! Excellent job !! 😁👍 Go raibh maith agat!!

[@kennyinliverpool]

Thank you -- this was genuinely very helpful

[@ryanmmaderry]

Excellent, we need more from you

[@bethbacken]

Thank you, these videos are helpful. I'm studying Irish in America and these are great lessons to add to what I'm learning in class. I'd love to see more of these.

[@estocadatx8172]

Excellent, Sean (sorry, cant fogure out fada on new keyboard) !! Very useful. I'm blending your lessons into some of the other sources I have and really enjoying attacking Irish now Im in my 60s! Go raibh mile maith agat!

[@mediocrerunner3408]

Sean I have to agree with the poster below. I’ve been teaching myself on Duolingo but your videos are bringing me on loads. I’m in love with the language. Going to a Protestant school we weren’t taught Irish and no real history of Ireland from the Irish point of view. I’ve had to educate myself as an adult and as you know strongly identify as Irish. Go raibh maith agat 👍🏻

[@knockfola]

clear, concise and informative. Maith thu Sean!

[@stenwillander5426]

Fantastic tee shirt!

[@johnnycurry6618]

Sean, I just recently found your videos. They are excellent. you are a great teacher. you take your time and explain the pronunciation very well. Thanks and pleae keep making these videos!

[@bogdanbelskii7522]

Thank you. Video is very informative. Greetings from Russia!

[@kobito610]

Thank you for the lesson! I just started to learn Irish and this is helpful!

[@michaelleahy3890]

This was so informative! I learned a lot from this wee video, Go raibh maith agat, Sean!

[@jamesoshaughnessy8330]

Thanks for the help Sean I learned a few things from your video

[@Wokingtown11]

That was a great video with great info. thanks

[@seanobrien7811]

Very clear and stress free learning

[@eleanorchapple8772]

This is great. I’m sorry I didn’t know about this earlier.

[@frizzyred1292]

Great videos, thank you! Im a beginner so all of this is extremely useful.

[@Troy_KC-2-PH]

Go raibh míle maith agat... I'm learning so thank you. This is very helpful.

[@stephenwalsh4481]

Im 43 and just started, im picking up a bit wanna be able to understand and speak a little by next year!

[@themaggattack]

Tá an mhúinteoir maith ann. Go raibh mil maith agat, Seán!

[@tomasfay8843]

Ta maidin bhreá ann ì LiosnagCearrbhach. Grma Sean, great stuff👏💚

[@Original50]

I'm 3 weeks away from finishing the CELTA certification and learning the Irish is up next... Subscribed!

[@roberthamilton2334]

Well presented and explained Séan, trying to learn a bit of the language

[@stanleyblack1983]

likewise Tá mé ag foghlaim gaeilge anois and learned more in that video than weeks with books. Go raibh maith agat Seán

[@annmclaughlin1832]

great video sean,i have always wanted to learn irish,hopefully,i will now,as i intend to follow your course

[@jjc3po]

Very helpful I'm English so this helps immensely 👍

[@patrickboyle3106]

Excellent video. Very concise.

[@grandma.p]

This is such a good lesson.

[@ShiningNoctowls]

Thanks for sharing; take care

[@chrisjezovnik3308]

Thank you!

[@marysibayan5643]

Step one, understanding someone from Ireland speaking non-American English. Great lesson. I agree with you that many language texts don't let you "play" with the verb to be. Thanks. Giving myself two years to learn as much Irish as I can before visiting.

[@anbocmor]

Mary Sibayan thankyou Mary. There's plenty of people in Ireland who have difficulty with my speed of English too so you're not on your own there! Glad you benefitted from it.

[@froggo6130]

The best part is that we Irish have quite a few accents, you never know how different someone from just down the road is going to sound

[@aonghuscooke5244]

can you pleaze do a video on ALL THE TENSES

[@daltonmiller7308]

Sean, can you do a video on the conditional mood?

[@francislewsley4223]

Go raibh maith agat a Sheáin, great resource many thanks!!!

[@kestrile]

Is the Tá...ann structure found in all the dialects?

[@patrickmcnally1532]

Yes I think it is a basic structure in the Irish language. It is called a prepositional pronoun. As far as I know there are 15 of them and when you are using different pronouns with the prepositions you end up with 105 combinations! It just takes time to learn some of them. All the best in your Irish studies. Pádraig

[@yrosarosas3093]

Thank you so much for this video you explained so well! Go raibh maith agat

[@finbomartini]

These are great lessons man. Go raibh maith agat

[@artliom1311]

Thank you very much! It was very helpful! :)

[@guilhermesobrinho1329]

go raibh míle maith agat

[@nothingbutmilk6576]

Kudos for covering the "Ta .... ann" construction - which native speakers are more likely to actually use Nearly all of the Irish textbooks (and KZbin videos) ignore it completely and teach the "Ta an aimsir go maith/dona/etc" construction instead. I guess that's because most textbooks are written by non native speakers who learned their Irish at the university and teach the Irish that "should be" spoken rather than the Irish that is actually spoken.

[@FireRupee]

Is it academic vs conversational Irish?

[@rayonsx1]

I have been working through your Irish videos and in them you have suggested that pdf files of your lessons are available at fonn foghlama on facebook. I have not been able to get there and would appreciate guidance on how to do so. Along with all your other students, I greatly appreciate the broad scope of the lessons and am looking forward to any new ones you manage to produce. Thanks for the lessons and I hope you can guide me to the pdf files.

[@paudsmcmack3117]

I love the push to revive and it is working only getting bigger...However, if you're not taught from birth the fluency will be patchy and you'll sound like Gerry Adams. I can imagine a whole country fluent in Irish and English with talented speakers of all other worldly languages.

[@paulabowen840]

great gaelic learning for beginners!

[@Inkdraft]

Dia Duit from New Hampshire, USA! I've just started learning Gaeilge agus Tá mé sona le feic seo. Tá mé dean liostáil ann. Go raibh maith agat agus go n-eÍrÍ leat!

[@Anamcara1956]

Hi Seán, I have just stumbled on your lessons and they are fantastic . I am struggling with the conditional tense endings . I remember learning these Donegal style but just returned to Irish class to hear them completely different . I want to hear them in Strabane/Donegal style . Any chance you could do a short video? Go raibh maith agat.

[@anbocmor]

Gearóid, I will do this for you soon

[@Anamcara1956]

Go raibh maith agat.

[@kristenclark9427]

would it be possible for me to chat with you? I moved to Ireland recently, and my husband speaks Gaelic. I'd absolutely love it if I could surprise him with some Gaelic!

[@efthimiosmakris3476]

Hi Sean, Could you please tell me the verbs you think more important,and useful in order to learn. Thank you.

[@dennisdelany9098]

At school we were taught never to say Ta se fear this was the worst error you could make! As I was taught, it would be Is brea an la e. I think Ta is related to stare/estar and Is to essere/ser in Spanish and Italian and presumably this distinction comes from Latin. I would be interested in a lesson on Ta and Is. For example, Ta fhios agam, Nil fhios agam but Is maith liom Ni maith liom.

[@anbocmor]

Dennis Delany thanks for your comment Dennis. Yes I will do a lesson on that soon. I intend to upload many more lessons now as part of Bliain na Gaeilge. I will do it in a manner that non-grammarians can easily grasp!

[@dennisdelany9098]

Someone I worked with who was a fluent Irish speaker made a very acute observation - Irish is "obsessed" with prepositions (and they are inflected). So "you are welcome" is Ta failte romhat (like a welcome mat in front of you) and Ta a thios agam, is feidir liom, is cuma liom, go raibh maith agat, ta bron orm, etc. - those pesky prepositions are everywhere but if you memorise the combinations they are easy enough to learn.

[@stevesewful]

very helpful . thank you

[@athensnike2015]

mark the exsistance and place. the what and where. This verb is irregualar in any language, lol. This was helpful , perfect balance of explaation and visual. This means alot to people to get access to their ancesestors or minority language. well it doesnt come up first on popularity but is a two those year old language from a wise cuture.

[@misemefein100]

Sean, this is great. I taught myself Spanish and doing French using Michel Thomas.....he just focuses on the grammar. This is the closest I have seen anyone get to it on Irish (which I have decided I really should know being Irish). What resources did you use to teach yourself. Great stuff again

[@grandma.p]

Try Learn French with Alexa on KZbin. She explains well.

[@michealodalaigh5310]

from strabane too, interested in literal translation from english to irish i find our native language very poetic, i love art and i find the irish language an art. do you do private lessons???

[@radix133]

Tá sé seo an-úsáideach, go raibh maith agat!

[@lauraburns4707]

Sean do you hold classes in Strabane if so where and when

[@k.r.murphy4301]

GRMA! Is 60 bliana orm agus fogliamin na Gaeilge anois. Is liomsa é. I do it for those who fought and died to bring back the language and culture stolen from us. Slán!

[@broytingaravsol]

will it be more appropriate to add to the sample structured pattern with"...ann" for the following explained examples

[@timflatus]

Great content. I will have to find some way of improving the sound quality because this is very tiring to listen to. I wish you'd recorded this in a room with some furniture in it.

[@irelandserverferrersegura4021]

I Will try to learn on honor of Enya

[@kayecorbin1089]

Is there a link to download printable notes. I am unable to access them on the facebook page.

[@sosh5042]

A Sean go raibh maith agat. Ta tu go hiontach as a muinteior. I wonder if it be possible to for you to be part of the irish language planning commission that plans to invest in Ireland's future. Please give me some feedback on this proposal le do thoil. Go raibh maith agat. Solomon is ainm dom

[@kyleh586]

Go raibh MÍLE maith agat!!

[@jaysmith-sq4dy]

thanks

[@pentuplove6542]

Big Seán.

[@pipdiddly]

Hey Seán! Thanks so much for these - I've been making practice worksheets from your videos, so I can have my sweetie mix up the beginnings and endings of phrases and I have to say them back to him in Irish, it's been wonderfully helpful! I have a question about the time of day/season bits, though, since you didn't give an example with the question/negative question/negation beginnings. Would you still include the 'an' with those formats? For example, you said in Irish it's common to say "It's the morning" or "Tá an maidin ann" - would you then also say "An bhfuil an maidin ann?" or "Níl an maidin ann"? Thanks for your help! Your videos are so dense it's taking me a few weeks to really work through these first two, make up worksheets, and get really familiar with the combinations so that I can just say them off the cuff, quickly, and also learn to improvise with them. I just want to make sure I'm not doing it wrong when I change the beginnings of these ones and get into a bad habit :P

[@anbocmor]

Thankyou Joan. Yes, there's no reason why you cant say "níl an mhaidin ann go fóill" its not morning yet, or "an bhfuil an mhaidin ann go fóill?" Is it morning yet. It might not be often but it is grammatically sound. There is another connected structure that might be more common in this specific case. "Níl sé ina lá" ... I will return to this later.

[@mairemaguinness8961]

My sister Eileen has put me on to your brilliant site. We are both going to work together..... Go raibh mile maith agat Sean

[@grideffect1193]

go raibh maith agat .

[@liammcooper]

why is it drochla for bad day, but not 'fluichla' for wet day? or are they interchangeable

[@anbocmor]

Droch is an exception and attaches to the front of nouns. This is not the norm in Irish, but every language has its wee exceptions and irregularities.

[@РусланЗаурбеков-з6е]

@22:05 -- "too much" in positive sense, or in negative? )))

[@anbocmor]

Mostly negative but sometimes you could be praising generosity. Rinne tú barraíocht cheana féin. You done too much already!

[@martym915]

Nach bhfuil a fhiseán anois go hiontach?

[@julioferrer186]

Erin Go Bragh 🤗🇮🇪✊

[@colinemacfly5596]

Hi! Your videos are great but I don't understand everything because of the accent..I am French and it's hard to understand your English 😅 But thank you for those videos, they are helping lots of people !

[@irelandserverferrersegura4021]

❤️❤️❤️🤗😭🇮🇪🍀💖💖

[@frizzyred1292]

Hey Seán, is it correct to use, "ann" to round off a sentence when referring to yourself, for example, Tá mé sa bhaile ann? thanks!

[@anbocmor]

The "sa bhaile" is enough in that case. Dont use the "ann". You could say something like this though "bhí mé ann" I was there.... as in I was present in some place, but thats a slightly different usage of 'ann' meaning 'there'.

[@weareallfromafrica8373]

go raibh maith agat a cara

[@ND-dg2xo]

Have they changed the pronunciation of Tyrone since I left?

[@anbocmor]

Not sure. But we can be sure all the English language versions are probably wrong. 😁

[@epi_sto_letes]

Go raibh maith agat, Seán. I don't speak Irish. But my mother, from Clare, pronounces 'tá' from you. Could it be a dialectical variance.? I was taught to pronounce the 'á' as 'aw', like thought or jaw or dawn

[@anbocmor]

Yes, further south it's closer to Taw

[@julioferrer186]

I am studying👍

[@brianmackenzie4204]

I'm just confused by the use and meaning of init

[@anbocmor]

That's understandable. It was difficult for native Irish speakers in the past when they first started using English. "It's a good day" and simple sentences like that may have seemed incomplete to them, so they started saying things in English like "theres a good day in it' etc. Have you heard the phrase "for the day that's in it" used? But as I say in the video think of it as meaning "exists" or "is happening" in a very general way. If I were to say to most Irish people today "Theres a fine day in it" the vast majority of them would find it quaint or peculiar, but somewhere in their dna it would resonate and they'd know what I meant. But while the structure is quaint and peculiar when stated in English, it is absolutely vital to Irish and totally natural in Irish.

[@brianmackenzie4204]

@@anbocmor Thank you that has cleared things up for me :)

[@williamgifford83]

I translate “init” ( or “iddnit”) as an extreme contraction of “isn’t it”. Not so much as a question but rather as a request for confirmation. It’s a nice phrase, isn’t it? Not sure if it’s an Americanism.