Editing Hiberno-English (section)

==Grammar and syntax==
The [[Irish syntax|syntax of the Irish language]] is quite different from that of English. Various aspects of Irish syntax have influenced Hiberno-English, though many of these idiosyncrasies are disappearing in suburban areas and among the younger population.

Another feature of Hiberno-English that sets it apart is the retention of words and phrases from Old and Middle English that are not retained otherwise in Modern English.

===From Irish===

====Reduplication====
[[Reduplication]] is an alleged trait of Hiberno-English strongly associated with [[Stage Irish]] and Hollywood films.

* the Irish {{lang|ga|ar bith}} corresponds to English 'at all', so the stronger {{lang|ga|ar chor ar bith}} gives rise to the form "at all at all".
**"I've no time at all at all."
* {{lang|ga|ar eagla go&nbsp;...}} (lit. 'on fear that&nbsp;...') means 'in case&nbsp;...'. The variant {{lang|ga|ar eagla na heagla}}, (lit. 'on fear of fear') implies the circumstances are more unlikely. The corresponding Hiberno-English phrases are 'to be sure' and the very rarely used "to be sure to be sure". In this context, these are not, as might be thought, disjuncts meaning "certainly"; they could better be translated 'in case' and 'just in case'. Nowadays normally spoken with conscious levity.
** "I brought some cash in case I saw a bargain, and my credit card to be sure to be sure."

====Yes and no====
Irish has no words that directly translate as [[yes and no|'yes' or 'no']], and instead [[Echo response|repeats the verb used in the question]], negated if necessary, to answer. Hiberno-English uses "yes" and "no" less frequently than other English dialects as speakers can repeat the verb, positively or negatively, instead of (or in redundant addition to) using "yes" or "no".

* "Are you coming home soon?" – "I am."
* "Is your mobile charged?" – "It isn't."

This is not limited only to the verb ''to be'': it is also used with ''to have'' when used as an auxiliary; and, with other verbs, the verb ''to do'' is used. This is most commonly used for intensification, especially in Ulster English.
* "This is strong stuff, so it is."
* "We won the game, so we did."

====Recent past construction====
Irish indicates recency of an action by adding "after" to the present continuous (a verb ending in "-ing"), a construction known as the "hot news perfect" or "after perfect".<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1jpNgJhjJF4C&q=%22hot+news+perfect&pg=PA129 |title=A semantic and pragmatic examination ... |via=Google Books |access-date=26 November 2010 |isbn=9783878083726 |date=1986 |last1=Fenn |first1=Peter |publisher=Gunter Narr Verlag |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211020193246/https://books.google.com/books?id=1jpNgJhjJF4C&q=%22hot+news+perfect&pg=PA129 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aPPexF5hyIkC&q=%22after+perfect%22+irish&pg=PA253 |title=Dialects Across Borders |series="Current Issues in Linguistic Theory" series |via=Google Books |access-date=26 November 2010 |isbn=9789027247872 |date=2005 |editor1-last=Filppula |editor1-first=Markku |editor2-last=Klemola |editor2-first=Juhani |editor3-last=Palander |editor3-first=Marjatta |editor4-last=Penttilä |editor4-first=Esa |publisher=John Benjamins}}</ref> The idiom for "I had done X when I did Y" is "I was after doing X when I did Y", modelled on the Irish usage of the compound [[preposition]]s {{lang|ga|i ndiaidh}}, {{lang|ga|tar éis}}, and {{lang|ga|in éis}}: {{lang|ga|bhí mé tar éis}}&thinsp;/&thinsp;{{lang|ga|i ndiaidh}}&thinsp;/&thinsp;{{lang|ga|in éis X a dhéanamh, nuair a rinne mé Y}}.
* "Why did you hit him?" – "He was after giving me cheek." (he had [just beforehand] been cheeky to me).
A similar construction is seen where exclamation is used in describing a recent event:
* "I'm after hitting him with the car!" {{lang|ga|Táim tar éis é a bhualadh leis an gcarr!}}
* "She's after losing five stone in five weeks!" {{lang|ga|Tá sí tar éis cúig chloch a chailleadh i gcúig seachtaine!}}

When describing less astonishing or significant events, a structure resembling the [[German grammar|German perfect]] can be seen:
* "I have the car fixed." {{lang|ga|Tá an carr deisithe agam.}}
* "I have my breakfast eaten." {{lang|ga|Tá mo bhricfeasta ite agam.}}

This correlates with an analysis of "H1 Irish" proposed by Adger & Mitrovic,<ref>Adger (2004)</ref> in a deliberate parallel to the status of German as a [[V2 word order|V2 language]].

Recent past construction has been directly adopted into [[Newfoundland English]], where it is common in both formal and casual [[register (sociolinguistics)|register]]. In rural areas of the [[Avalon peninsula]], where [[Newfoundland Irish]] was spoken until the early 20th century, it is the grammatical standard for describing whether or not an action has occurred.<ref name="heritage language">[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/language.html Language: Irish Gaelic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417124822/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/language.html |date=17 April 2015}}, Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.</ref>

====Reflection for emphasis====
The reflexive version of pronouns is often used for emphasis or to refer indirectly to a particular person, etc., according to context. ''Herself'', for example, might refer to the speaker's boss or to the woman of the house. Use of ''herself'' or ''himself'' in this way can imply status or even some arrogance of the person in question.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Himself Portrait – Frank McNally on a quintessential Irish pronoun |url= https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/himself-portrait-frank-mcnally-on-a-quintessential-irish-pronoun-1.4077017 |access-date=29 August 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> Note also the indirectness of this construction relative to, for example, ''She's coming now''. This reflexive pronoun can also be used in a more neutral sense to describe a person's spouse or partner – "I was with himself last night" or "How's herself doing?"
* "'Tis herself that's coming now." {{lang|ga|Is í féin atá ag teacht anois.}}
* "Was it all of ye or just yourself?" {{lang|ga|An sibhse ar fad nó tusa féin a bhí i gceist?}}

====Prepositional pronouns====
There are some language forms that stem from the fact that there is no verb ''to have'' in Irish. Instead, possession is indicated in Irish by using the preposition "at", (in Irish, {{lang|ga|ag}}). To be more precise, Irish uses a prepositional pronoun that combines {{lang|ga|ag}} 'at' and {{lang|ga|mé}} 'me' to create {{lang|ga|agam}}. In English, the verb "to have" is used, along with a "with me" or "on me" that derives from {{lang|ga|Tá&nbsp;... agam}}. This gives rise to the frequent
* "Do you have the book?" – "I have it with me."
* "Have you change for the bus on you?"
* "He will not shut up if he has drink taken."
Somebody who can speak a language "has" a language, in which Hiberno-English has borrowed the grammatical form used in Irish.
* "She does not have Irish." {{lang|ga|Níl Gaeilge aici.}} literally 'There is no Irish at her.'

When describing something, many Hiberno-English speakers use the term "in it" where "there" would usually be used. This is due to the Irish word {{lang|ga|ann}} fulfilling both meanings.
* "Is it yourself that is in it?" {{lang|ga|An tú féin atá ann?}}
* "Is there any milk in it?" {{lang|ga|An bhfuil bainne ann?}}

Another idiom is this thing or that thing described as "this man here" or "that man there", which also features in [[Newfoundland English]] in Canada.
* "This man here." {{lang|ga|An fear seo.}} (cf. the related {{lang|ga|anseo}} = here)
* "That man there." {{lang|ga|An fear sin.}} (cf. the related {{lang|ga|ansin}} = there)

Conditionals have a greater presence in Hiberno-English due to the tendency to replace the simple present tense with the conditional (would) and the simple past tense with the conditional perfect (would have).
* "John asked me would I buy a loaf of bread." (John asked me to buy a loaf of bread.)
* "How do you know him? We would have been in school together." (We were in school together.)

'''Bring''' and '''take''': Irish use of these words differs from that of British English because it follows the Irish grammar for {{lang|ga|beir}} and {{lang|ga|tóg}}. English usage is determined by direction; a person determines Irish usage. So, in English, one '''takes''' "''from'' here ''to'' there", and '''brings''' it "''to'' here ''from'' there". In Irish, a person '''takes''' only when accepting a transfer of possession of the object from someone else{{spaced ndash}}and a person '''brings''' at all other times, irrespective of direction (to or from).
* Do not forget to bring your umbrella with you when you leave.
* (To a child) Hold my hand: I do not want someone to take you.

====To be====
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
The Irish equivalent of the verb "to be" has two present tenses, one (the present tense proper or "{{lang|ga|aimsir láithreach}}") for cases which are generally true or are true at the time of speaking and the other (the habitual present or "{{lang|ga|aimsir ghnáthláithreach}}") for repeated actions. Thus, "you are [now, or generally]" is {{lang|ga|tá tú}}, but "you are [repeatedly]" is {{lang|ga|bíonn tú}}. Both forms are used with the verbal noun (equivalent to the English [[present participle]]) to create compound tenses. This is similar to the distinction between {{lang|es|[[wikt:ser|ser]]}} and {{lang|es|[[wikt:estar|estar]]}} in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] or the use of the "[[habitual be]]" in [[African-American Vernacular English]].

The corresponding usage in English is frequently found in rural areas, especially [[County Mayo]] and [[County Sligo]] in the west of Ireland and [[County Wexford]] in the south-east, inner-city Dublin and Cork city along with border areas of the North and Republic. In this form, the verb "to be" in English is similar to its use in Irish, with a "does be/do be" (or "bees", although less frequently) construction to indicate the continuous, or habitual, present:
* "He does be working every day." {{lang|ga|Bíonn sé ag obair gach lá.}}
* "They do be talking on their mobiles a lot." {{lang|ga|Bíonn siad ag caint go minic ar a bhfóin póca.}}
* "He does be doing a lot of work at school." {{lang|ga|Bíonn sé ag déanamh go leor oibre ar scoil.}}
* "It's him I do be thinking of." {{lang|ga|Is air a bhíonn mé ag smaoineamh.}}

===From Old and Middle English===

In old-fashioned usage, "it is" can be freely abbreviated ''{{'}}tis'', even as a standalone sentence. This also allows the double contraction ''{{'}}tisn't'', for "it is not".

Irish has separate forms for the second person singular ({{lang|ga|tú}}) and the second person plural ({{lang|ga|sibh}}).
Mirroring Irish, and almost every other [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]], the plural ''you'' is also distinguished from the singular in Hiberno-English, normally by use of the otherwise archaic English word ''ye'' {{IPA|[jiː]}}; the word ''yous'' (sometimes written as ''youse'') also occurs, but primarily only in Dublin and across [[Ulster]]. In addition, in some areas in [[Leinster]], north [[Connacht]] and parts of Ulster, the hybrid word ''ye-s'', pronounced "yiz", may be used. The pronunciation differs with that of the northwestern being {{IPA|[jiːz]}} and the Leinster pronunciation being {{IPA|[jɪz]}}.

* "Did ye all go to see it?" {{lang|ga|Ar imigh sibh go léir chun é a fheicint?}}
* "None of youse have a clue!" {{lang|ga|Níl ciall/leid ar bith agaibh!}}
* "Are ye not finished yet?" {{lang|ga|Nach bhfuil sibh críochnaithe fós?}}
* "Yis are after destroying it!" {{lang|ga|Tá sibh tar éis é a scriosadh!}}

The word ''ye'', ''yis'' or ''yous'', otherwise archaic, is still used in place of "you" for the second-person plural, e.g. "Where are yous going?" ''Ye'r'', ''Yisser'' or ''Yousser'' are the possessive forms.

The verb ''mitch'' is very common in Ireland, indicating being truant from school. This word appears in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] (though he wrote in [[Early Modern English]] rather than [[Middle English]]), but is seldom heard these days in [[British English]], although pockets of usage persist in some areas (notably [[South Wales]], Devon, and [[Cornwall]]). In parts of Connacht and Ulster the ''mitch'' is often replaced by the verb ''scheme'', while in Dublin it is often replaced by "on the hop/bounce".

Another usage familiar from Shakespeare is the inclusion of the second person pronoun after the imperative form of a verb, as in "Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed" ([[Romeo and Juliet]], Act III, Scene IV). This is still common in [[Ulster]]: "Get youse your homework done or you're no goin' out!". In [[Munster]], you will still hear children being told, "Up to bed, let ye" {{IPA|[lɛˈtʃi]}}, although wider English uses similar constructions such as "Up to bed you go".

For influence from [[Scotland]], see [[Ulster Scots language|Ulster Scots]] and [[Ulster English]].

===Other grammatical influences===
{{original research section|reason=This appears to be a random selection of characteristics of Hiberno-English and not the result of "grammatical influences" other than Irish and older varieties of English, or at least it is written as such.|date=October 2021}}
''Now'' is often used at the end of sentences or phrases as a semantically empty word, completing an utterance without contributing any apparent meaning. Examples include "Bye now" (= "Goodbye"), "There you go now" (when giving someone something), "Ah now!" (expressing dismay), "Hold on now" (= "wait a minute"), "Now then" as a mild attention-getter, etc. This usage is universal among English dialects, but occurs more frequently in Hiberno-English. It is also used in the manner of the Italian 'prego' or German 'bitte', for example, a barman might say "Now, Sir." when delivering drinks.

''So'' is often used for emphasis ("I can speak Irish, so I can"), or it may be tacked onto the end of a sentence to indicate agreement, where "then" would often be used in Standard English ("Bye so", "Let's go so", "That's fine so", "We'll do that so"). The word is also used to contradict a negative statement ("You're not pushing hard enough" – "I am so!"). (This contradiction of a negative is also seen in American English, though not as often as "I am too", or "Yes, I am".) The practice of indicating emphasis with ''so'' and including reduplicating the sentence's subject pronoun and auxiliary verb (is, are, have, has, can, etc.) such as in the initial example, is particularly prevalent in more northern dialects such as those of Sligo, Mayo and the counties of Ulster.

''Sure/Surely'' is often used as a tag word, emphasising the obviousness of the statement, roughly translating as but/and/well/indeed. It can be used as "to be sure" (but the other stereotype of "Sure and …" is not actually used in Ireland.) Or "Sure, I can just go on Wednesday", "I will not, to be sure." The word is also used at the end of sentences (primarily in [[Munster]]), for instance, "I was only here five minutes ago, sure!" and can express emphasis or indignation. In [[Ulster]], the reply "Aye, surely" may be given to show strong agreement.

''To'' is often omitted from sentences where it would exist in British English. For example, "I'm not allowed go out tonight", instead of "I'm not allowed ''to'' go out tonight".{{citation needed|reason=This is definitely "true" – although it seems to be just following the word "allowed" and not even "allow", but a fairly extensive search showed up no sources explicitly making this claim.|date=October 2021}}

''Will'' is often used where British English would use "shall" or American English "should" (as in "Will I make us a cup of tea?"). The distinction between "shall" (for first-person simple future, and second- and third-person emphatic future) and "will" (second- and third-person simple future, first-person emphatic future), maintained by many in England, does not exist in Hiberno-English, with "will" generally used in all cases.

''Once'' is sometimes used in a different way from how it is used in other dialects; in this usage, it indicates a combination of logical and causal conditionality: "I have no problem laughing at myself once the joke is funny." Other dialects of English would probably use "if" in this situation.