Irish Conjugation - Subjunctive Mood

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive covers the idea of wishing something and so appears in some famous Irish proverbs and blessings. It's considered an old-fashioned tense for daily speech (except in set phrases) but still appears often in print.

The subjunctive is normally formed from "Go" (which eclipses, and adds "n-" to a verb beginning with a vowel), plus the subjunctive form of the verb, plus the subject, plus the thing being wished for. For instance, the subjunctive form of "teigh" (go) is "té":

• Go dté tú slán. -- May you be well.

(lit: may you go well)

Or again, the subjunctive of "tabhair" (give) is "tuga":

• Go dtuga Dia ciall duit. -- May God give you sense.

Or to take a third example, sometimes the wish is also a curse, like this one from Tory Island in Donegal:

• Go ndéana an Diabhal toirneach de d'anam in Ifreann. -- May the Devil make thunder of your soul in Hell.

The subjunctive is generally formed by taking the present indicative tense of the verb and adding on the appropriate subjunctive ending depending on broad or slender, and first or second conjugation. For example, the present tense first person singular of bog (to move) is bog mé and its subjunctive in the same person is boga mé:

1st Conjugation:

2nd Conjugation:

E.g., "go mbeannaí Dia thú" -- May God bless you.

There is also some irregularity in certain verbs in the subjunctive. The verb bí (to be) is the most irregular verb in Irish (as in most Indo-European languages):

The Irish phrase for "thank you" -- go raibh maith agat—uses the subjunctive of "bí" and literally means "may there be good at-you".

Please note that some verbs don't follow the conjugation of the subjunctive exactly as conjugated above. These irregularities apply to verbs whose stem ends already in a stressed vowel and thus due to the rules of Irish orthography and pronunciation, can't take another. For example:

• Although, feoigh doesn't have a fáda (accent), the 'o' in this position is stressed (pronounced as though it is ó) and thus the subjunctive is irregular.

It is important to note that where the subjunctive is used in English, it may not be used in Irish and another tense might be used instead. For example:

• If I were (past subjunctive) you, I would study for the exam tomorrow. -- Dá mba (past/conditional of the copula) mise tusa, dhéanfainn (conditional) staidéar ar don scrúdú amárach.
• I wish *(that) you were (past sub.) here. -- Is mian liom go raibh (present sub.) tú anseo.
• It is important that he choose (present sub.) the right way—Tá sé tábhachtach go roghnaíonn (present indicative) sé ar an mbealach ceart.
• **When you're older (present ind.), you'll understand—Nuair a bheidh (future ind.) tú níos sine, beidh tú a thuiscint.

• *Note that in English, the relative pronoun that can be omitted, in Irish the corresponding go must be retained.
• **Note that in English, the present tense is often used to refer to a future state whereas in Irish there is less freedom with tenses (i.e. time is more strictly bound to the appropriate tense, present for present, past for past, future for future). In this particular example, you will be older and it is then that you will understand.