Just add 's' or 'es' to make the plural? Not in Irish, faraor!

Plurals in English are pretty easy, right?!

For the most part all you do is add 's' or 'es' to make the plural of a word:

flower - flowers

car - cars

Yes, I know that it's mice and not mouses; and children rather than childs...but for the most part it's pretty simple to make the plural form of a noun in English.

Rabhadh beag | A gentle warning

It's only fair to give you a gentle warning at this point...

You're about to wade into the mysterious realm of plural nouns in Irish.

Lesser mortals than your good self have perished on the rocks of the weak and strong plurals of the Irish language.

So, take my advice....

this isn't a sprint. Tóg d'am!

Make yourself a nice cuppa and settle in.

There are questions at the bottom, (with answers of course), and yes, your brain might grumble a little about being forced to concentrate for the duration of this blog post. But trust me: if you stick with it you'll come out the other side with a shaper eye, more exact Irish, and maybe even a smug smile whenever someone else mentions 'rásaí capaill' or 'siopaí bróga'!

Anois...

ar aghaidh linn!

Plurals in Irish | An Uimhir Iolra i nGaeilge

When it comes to Irish, however, it's not quite so simple. There are a tonne of ways to make the plural form of a noun.

The table below gives a few examples of the different ways the plural can be formed in Irish (this list is not exhaustive!):

Weak Plurals | Lagiolraí

As you can see from the table above there are a load of different ways to make the plural in Irish, but there are two patterns in particular which are worth noting. 

If a plural is formed by using either of these patterns then it is called a WEAK PLURAL / LAGIOLRA.

What's weak about it?

Well, we'll get to that in a minute.

But first, here are the two patterns which are used to form a weak plural:

(1) Add 'a' to make the plural

• cuach - cuacha (cuckoo → cuckoos)
• bróg - bróga (shoe → shoes)
• bialann - bialanna (restaurant → restaurants)
• seamróg - seamróga (shamrock → shamrocks)

(2) - Make the plural by making the ending 'slender'

What do I mean by that?!

Making the ending slender essentially means inserting the slender vowel 'i' right before the end of the word.

Examples:

• Bád → Báid (boat → boats)

• Capall → Capaill (horse → horses)

• Leabhar → Leabhair (book → books)

An 'ea' will be replaced by 'i' and 'ach' by 'aigh' - but the principle is the same: the last vowel of the plural form is now slender.

• Fear → Fir (man → men)

• Éireannach → Éireannaigh (Irish person → Irish people)

If these are the weak plurals, then there must be strong plurals too, right?

Yep, tá an ceart agat faoi sin. You're right about that.

Strong Plurals | Tréaniolraí

If a plural is formed in any other way than the two ways listed above then it's known as a 'strong' plural.

Here are a few example of strong plurals:

• Páirc → Páirceanna (field → fields) (nb: 'eanna' was added to make the plural, not just 'a' as with weak plurals).

• Cailín → Cailíní (girl → girls) (nb: the slender vowel 'í' is added after the word, not before the end as with e.g. leabhair!)

• Tír → Tíortha (country → countries)

• Baile → Bailte (town → towns)

• Leaba → Leapacha (bed → beds)

Nach cuma ar aon nós? | What does it matter anyway?

So you're probably thinking something along the lines of....

'that's nice, now I know that 'pancóga' (pancakes), 'leabhair' (books) and 'capaill' (horses) are

all weak plurals; whereas cailíní (girls); tithe (houses) and 'bláthanna' (flowers) are all strong plurals.....

but so what?!

What difference does it make anyway?'

Hang in there. 

I'll about to get to the point of all of this!

But before we get to that....

read on for a way to remember the two patterns that are used to form weak plurals.

Cinn Mhara: The Town of Cuckoos and Boats

To remember your weak plurals think of the picturesque village of Kinvara, on the southern shore of Galway Bay.

Two festivals are held in Kinvara every year:

during the first weekend of May the festival of the cuckoos is held; and in September there is a festival of boats.

Just think of cuckoos and boats as an easy way to remember how the weak plurals are formed. You can think of cuckoos flying over boats; sitting on boats; building nests on boats (no, wait, they don't build nests)....whatever image works for you!

• Cuach - Cuacha (cuckoo → cuckoos)

• Bád → Báid (boat → boats)

You don't need to remember how to form 'strong' plurals of course: if the plural doesn't either add 'a' (cuacha) or slenderise (báid) then it's a strong plural...

i.e. if it's not a weak plural then it's a strong plural!

The thing about weak plurals

The interesting thing about weak plurals is that when they are used in the genitive case they simply fall apart, and revert to the singular form.

Bear with me a bit longer...

don't let the words 'genitive case' put you off!

What is the genitive case?

In a nutshell the genitive case is used whenever there is a connection between two nouns; e.g. one noun gives more information about another noun.

e.g. mála scoile / a school bag

In the example above 'scoile' is in the genitive case - it is simply giving more information about the word 'mála' which comes before it. It's telling you more about the bag, that it's not a travel bag, but a school bag!

The word giving the extra information, 'scoile' in this case, is said to be in the genitive case.

You can see also that in this example the genitive form of the word (scoile) is different to the 'basic' (or nominative) form of the word (scoil).

Weak Plurals in the Genitive Case | Lagiolraí sa Tuiseal Ginideach

The singular form reappears! Magic! 🪄

The interesting thing (to my mind anyway ;-) ) about weak plurals is that in the genitive case they collapse! They break down completely and revert to the singular form of the noun.

Here are some examples:

leabhair (books) BUT siopa leabhar / a shop of books   

bróga (shoes) BUT siopa bróg / a shop of shoes

milseáin (sweets) BUT siopa milseán / a shop of sweets

On first glance you might not be too pushed to go into a shop with seemingly just one shoe (bróg) or one book (leabhar) for sale!

Equally, don't be fooled into thinking that a rása capall is a one horse race! (rása capall / a race of horses).

A final tip about the genitive case in the plural:

whenever the meaning is 'of the' then you will see 'na + urú':

Back to the cuckoos hanging out on boats:

Fleadh na gCuach / The Fesitival of the Cuckoos

Cruinniú na mBád / The Meeting of the Boats

And a few more example of weak plurals in the genitive case that you are, no doubt, already familiar with:

• na fir (the men) → Seid na bhfear (The shed of the men....not the shed of just one unsociable 'fear' on his own)

• na pancóga (the pancakes) → Lá na bPancóg (The day of the pancakes...and I better be getting more than just one)

• na hamadáin (the fools) → Lá na nAmadán (The day of the fools....there's always more than just one fool around)

Think about 'weak plurals' as being SO weak that they simply fall apart in the genitive plural (whenever you want to say 'of the.....something plural') and revert back to the singular form of the word.

It might look like the singular, but don't let appearances deceive you!

Tréaniolraí in the Genitive Case (Strong Plurals):

No change! Éasca Péasca!

Tréaniolraí are dead simple: once you know the plural form of the word you simply use it everywhere! 

(remembering to put an 'urú' before it in the genitive)

Examples:

• na cailíní → Scoil na gcailíní (The school of the girls)

• na páirceanna → Ballaí na bpáirceanna (The walls of the fields)

•  na tíortha → Bratacha na dtíortha (The flags of the countries) 

Dúshlán Duit! Can You Translate These? 🧠✨

Decide if it’s a weak or strong plural first — then give it a go!

The plural form of the noun in the basic, or nominative case, is there to help you in the brackets.

The first step is to figure out if you're dealing with a weak plural or a strong plural.

1. The colour of the doors (doras → doirse)

2. The owners of the houses (teach → tithe)

3. The boys' school (buachaill → buachaillí)

4. The names of the dogs (madra → madraí)

5. The colour of the flowers (bláth → bláthanna)

6. The work of the horses (capall → capaill)

7. The day of the pancakes (pancóg → pancóga)

8. The fort of the foreigners (gall → gaill)

📝 Answers:

1. Dath na ndoirse (strong plural: doirse)

2. Úinéirí na dtithe (strong plural: tithe)

3. Scoil na mbuachaillí (strong plural: buachaillí)

4. Ainmneacha na madraí (strong plural: madraí)

5. Dath na mbláthanna (strong plural: bláthanna)

6. Obair na gcapall (weak plural: capaill)

7. Lá na bpancóg (weak plural: pancóga)

8. Dún na nGall (weak plural: gaill)

Final Thoughts 💬

This concept is more than a little confusing when you first come across it!

Think of it as a series of steps of knowledge....

maybe you only really understand the first one or two steps the first time you across this concept.

Maybe the next time you come across it you understand a few more.

Finally, after many more times encountering it, you can do the mini challenge just above this gan stró ar bith / without a bother at all!

These are the following steps for understanding this concept, and if you just get the first one or two steps for now that is already great!

1. There are many more ways to make the plural form of a word in Irish than there are in English

2. When the plural is made by adding 'a' to the singular form of the word (cuacha); or by making the end of the word slender (báid) then it is called a weak plural (lagiolra)

3. If the plural is made in any other way at all then it is called a strong plural (tréaniolra).

4. Strong plurals and weak plurals behave differently in the genitive case

5. Strong plurals are easier: the plural form is always the same, in both nominative (basic) and genitive (description) cases: na buachaillí / scoil na mbuachaillí

6. Weak plurals 'break down' in the genitive plural and revert back to their singular form: leabhair (books ) / siopa leabhar (a shop of books)

It’s confusing.
It takes practice.

And no pressure at all — you'll get there!

Ná bí ag cur aon bhrú ort féin! (Don’t be putting any pressure on yourself!)

If you liked this post and would like to stay up to date with more Irish language tips from All About Irish make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter here. All About Irish provides online self-study Irish language courses to adult learners in Ireland and all over the world. Our courses include Beginner Irish and Intermediate level courses. We also offer TEG Preparatory courses. Check out all of our various courses for learning Irish here. Our online Irish courses are an excellent way to improve your confidence when speaking Irish.