Gaeilgeoir Guides

Table of Contents

 

How to Count People in Irish – Counting people in Irish is a little different from counting objects. Irish uses special words, called “Uimhreacha Pearsanta” (Personal Numbers), to count people. This guide will walk you through the basics for numbers 1 to 20.

Counting People in Irish from 1 to 10

Here’s how to say the numbers from 1 to 10 in Irish when you’re counting people:

Number of People Irish Meaning
1 duine amháin one person
2 beirt two people
3 triúr three people
4 ceathrar four people
5 cúigear five people
6 seisear six people
7 seachtar seven people
8 ochtar eight people
9 naonúr nine people
10 deichniúr ten people

Each number has its own special word for counting people, which helps make it clear that you’re talking about people and not things.

Counting People from 11 to 20

When counting people from 11 to 19, Irish adds “déag” after the word, which is similar to adding “-teen” in English. For 20, Irish has a unique term.

Number Irish Meaning
11 aon duine dhéag eleven people
12 dháréag twelve people
13 trí dhuine dhéag thirteen people
14 ceithre dhuine dhéag fourteen people
15 cúig dhuine dhéag fifteen people
16 sé dhuine dhéag sixteen people
17 seacht nduine dhéag seventeen people
18 ocht nduine dhéag eighteen people
19 naoi nduine dhéag nineteen people
20 fiche duine twenty people

These words let you count groups of people up to 20 with ease!

Read more...

Introduction Applying for the Professional Master of Education (PME) program at Hibernia College? One of

The TEG B1 marking scheme assesses your ability to use Irish in real-life conversations. This

How Long is the TEG B1 Oral Exam? Introduction: If you’re preparing for the TEG

View our exam focused courses