an tAinmfhocal (the noun)

• There are two genders in Irish, Masculine and feminine.
• There are certain endings that suggest that a noun is masculine or feminine.
• Once you distinguish whether a noun is masculine or feminine and you add the word 'an', you must decide whether the word needs a séimhiú

First of all lets have a look at the endings that suggest the word is masculine...

• (e)adh
• (a)í
• án
• ch
• éad
• éal
• éan
• éar
• éir
• eoir/óir
• ín
• (i)úir
• a broad s
• ún
• úr

Now lets look at the endings that suggest a word is feminine...

• aíl
• (e)áil
• (a)ilt
• (a)int
• áint
• (a)íocht
• aois/ís
• chan
• (a)irt
• (e)ach
• (e)acht
• úil
• úint
• lann
• eog/óg

To decide whether we need a séimhiú on a word we must follow a rules table for each gender..

masculine rules table- tábla firinscneach

- má tá consan ann/consonant- do not add a séimhiú
- má tá guta ann/vowel- add a séimhiú
- má tá s ann- no séimhiú

Feminine rules table- tábla baininscneach
- má tá consan ann/consonant- add a séimhiú
- má tá guta ann/vowel-  do not add a séimhiú
- má tá s ann- add séimhiú (t)

Here are some examples..

• an eolaíocht

- it's a feminine word (baininscneach)
- it's a vowel
- the table says we do not need a séimhiú with this word
- the answer is: an eolaíocht

• an am

- this is a masculine word (firinscneach)
-it's a vowel
- the masculine table says to add a séimhiú
- the answer is: an t-am