How adjectives work in Irish

Adjectives are words used to describe nouns and in Irish, they must agree with the gender, number and case of the noun which they are describing. Two terms often used by grammar books when speaking about adjectives are predicative and attributive.

A predicative adjective just means an adjective which is not directly attached to the noun. For example:

• The glass is red.

An attributive adjective just means an adjective which is directly attached to the noun. For example:

• the red glass

In Irish, agreement will only occur if the adjective is directly attached to the noun (i.e. it is attributive.

• The glass is red. => Tá an ghloine dearg

• the red glass => an ghloine dhearg