The future tense describes an event which has not yet happened. You will frequently see the word
'will' in English when the future tense is used.
To put a verb into the future tense, an understanding of the different types of verbs in Irish is needed.
Have a look at the rules below and then move to the next page where the future tense is explained.
Short, long and syncopated verbs
- a short verb has one syllable - for example cuir, glan, bris
- a long verb has more than one syllable (ends with –igh / –aigh), for example éirigh, ceannaigh
- a syncopated verb has more than one syllable (does not end with –igh / –aigh), for example muscail, imir, freastail, oscail
If you say the verb out loud it will help you decide how many syllables it has.
Here is a short version of the rules.
- short - one syllable
- long - more than one syllable
- syncopated - more than one syllable, not ending with –igh / –aigh
Can you decide if the following verbs are short, long or syncopated?
- Question
cuir
short
- Question
bailigh
long
- Question
inis
syncopated
- Question
tosaigh
long
- Question
bain
short
- Question
oscail
syncopated
- Question
fostaigh
long
- Question
cuidigh
long
- Question
glan
short
- Question
críochnaigh
long