About this word

Mo is the possessive adjective meaning my. It lenites, when followed by a lenitable consonant.

The possessive adjectives in Irish

• mo: my.
• Lenites, when followed by a lenitable consonant.
• Becomes m' when followed by a vowel.
• do: your.
• Lenites, when followed by a lenitable consonant.
• Becomes d' (often pronounced t', especially in Munster) when followed by a vowel.
• a: his; its (masculine).
• Lenites, when followed by a lenitable consonant.
• No effect on following vowels.
• a: her; its (feminine).
• No effect on following consonants.
• Prefixes h (with no hyphen) to following vowels.
• ár: our.
• Eclipses, when followed by an ecliptable consonant.
• Prefixes n‑ to following vowels. (In the written/printed form, the hyphen is only included when the vowel is in lowercase but is always non-breaking when it is present.)
• bhúr: yer (plural).
• Eclipses, when followed by an ecliptable consonant.
• Prefixes n‑ to following vowels. (Again, when written or printed the hyphen is only applied before lowercase vowels but is always non-breaking.)
• Pronounced úr in Munster.
• a: their.
• Eclipses, when followed by an ecliptable consonant.
• Prefixes n‑ (lowercase only / non-breaking hyphen) to following vowels.

Examples (with a lenitable and ecliptable following initial consonant)

• mo pheann: my pen.
• do pheann: your pen.
• a pheann: his / its pen.
• a peann: her / its pen.
• ár bpeann: our pen.
• bhúr bpeann: yer pen.
• a bpeann: their pen.

Examples (with a following initial vowel)

• m' árasán: my flat.
• d' árasán: your flat.
• a árasán: his / its flat.
• a hárasán: her / its flat.
• ár n‑árasán: our flat.
• bhúr n‑árasán: yer flat.
• a n‑árasán: their flat.

The possessive adjectives and stressed emphasis

The expression of posessive emphasis in Irish is very different to that of English. Prosodic forms such as mo pheann (my pen), do árasán (your flat), a bpraiseach (their mess) are incorrect and have only really evolved as a result of faulty L2 learning by L1 English speakers. These forms are not native to the language and should be avoided.

The correct way to indicate stressed posessive emphasis (correct as in 'natural to the language' as opposed to 'rigarously enforcing the grammatical rule book') is to use the appropriate emphatic suffix. Study these examples:

Examples (where the following word ends in a velarised consonant)

• mo pheann‑sa: my pen.
• do pheann‑sa: your pen.
• a pheann‑san: his / its pen.
• a peann‑sa: her / its pen.
• ár bpeann‑na: our pen.
• bhúr bpeann‑sa: yer pen.
• a bpeann‑san: their pen.

Examples (where the following word ends in a broad vowel)

• mo pheaca‑sa: my sin.
• do pheaca‑sa: your sin.
• a pheaca‑san: his / its sin.
• a peaca‑sa: her / its sin.
• ár bpeaca‑na: our sin.
• bhúr bpeaca‑sa: yer sin.
• a bpeaca‑san: their sin.

Examples (where the following word ends in a palatelised consonant)

• mo chuid‑se: my share.
• do chuid‑se: your share.
• a chuid‑sean: his / its share.
• a cuid‑se: her / its share.
• ár gcuid‑ne: our share.
• bhúr gcuid‑se: yer share.
• a gcuid‑sean: their share.

Examples (where the following word ends in a slender vowel)

• mo bhocaire‑se: my muffin.
• do bhocaire‑se: your muffin.
• a bhocaire‑sean: his / its muffin.
• a bocaire‑se: her / its muffin.
• ár mbocaire‑ne: our muffin.
• bhúr mbocaire‑se: yer muffin.
• a mbocaire‑sean: their muffin.

Again, in the written form all hyphens should be non-breaking.

All these examples begin with consonants. However, the suffixes would be exactly the same for words beginning with vowels.

Possessive constructions in Ulster Irish

Note that an alternative means of expressing posession exists, and is quite current, in Ulster Irish: teach seo agam (my house), leabhar seo aici (her book), teanga seo acu (their language) ⁊rl…