The Spelling Rule

Do you find spelling in Irish confusing? You are not alone!

In this lesson, I will walk you through a very simple rule that might make Irish spelling a little bit easier for you.

The main thing to remember here is that Irish vowels are divided into 2 groups: slender and broad / caol agus leathan

Leathan/broad: a, o, u

Caol/slender: i, e

These vowels determine what vowels will come after the consonant they precede.

If the vowels “a”, “o” or “u” are immediately followed by one or more consonants, then any vowel immediately following those consonants will also be “a”, “o”, or “u”.

If the vowels “i” or “e” are immediately followed by one or more consonants, then any vowel immediately following those consonants will also be “i” or “e”.


This is a lesson walk through of the Bitesize Cúrsaí lesson The Spelling Rule which is available to Bitesize Irish members in our course Meeting, Greeting and Introducing!

This is an online Irish language lesson walk-through of a Bitesize Cúrsaí lesson by a staff member of Bitesize Irish. Bitesize Cúrsaí is a library online Irish language courses. Featuring thousands of audio recordings with phonetic pronunciation guides. Learn Gaeilge at your own pace.

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