Describing people
Can you describe someone else's characteristics and personality?
Getting started
Is cailín cliste í
To describe a person’s characteristics, we use the copula structure in Irish.
This means that we use the noun and then the adjective.
For example, a tall man is translated as fear ard.
Cén sórt duine tú / é / í? - What type of person are you / he / she?
| I am a friendly person. | Is duine cairdiúil mé. |
| He is a funny person. | Is duine greannmhar é. |
| She is a clever girl. | Is cailín cliste í. |
Is duine greannmhar é
If including the name, add this at the end of the structure. For example, 'Sorcha is a quiet person' would be 'Is duine ciúin í Sorcha'.
To put these types of descriptions into the negative form, change ‘Is’ to ‘Ní’.
To put these types of descriptions into the question form, change ‘Is’ to ‘An’.
| I am a friendly person. | Is duine cairdiúil mé. |
| I am not a friendly person. | Ní duine cairdiúil mé. |
| Am I a friendly person? | An duine cairdiúil mé? |
An duine cairdiúil mé?
The subjects used with the copula in Irish include:
| mé | I |
| tú | you |
| é | he |
| í | she |
| muid | we |
| sibh | you (plural) |
| iad | they |