About this phrase

Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú consists of:

• An interrogative pronoun cé, meaning what or who, combined with the singular, feminine, definite article an.
• The singular, feminine noun chaoi meaning way or manner.
• An indirect relative particle a. This eclipses, when followed by a ecliptable consonant.
• The dependent form, present tense of the verb bí meaning be.
• The subject pronoun, second person singular tú meaning you.

Thus, cén chaoi a bhfuil tú: how are you?; literally, 'what way is it that you are?'.

Similar greetings

Note that this greeting is very much a Connacht form, and would be most un-naturalistic in other regions.

In Munster, the equivalent is conas atá tú? (literally, 'how are you?'). This is generally pronounced conas 'tá tú? (East Munster) or conas 'tánn tú? (West Munster). Note the loss of the initial vowel of atá in haplology.

In Ulster, the equivalent is caidé mar atá tú? (literally, 'what is it as you are?').

Familiar use with personal names

Cén chaoi a bhfuil—? and the other greetings can be used with personal names, where there is some degree of familiarity between the participants. For instance, someone who already knows Siobhán might greet her with cén chaoi a bhfuil Siobhán? / conas 'tá Siobhán? ⁊rl…

Asking after other people

These greetings are not calcified in the second person singular — or even plural. They can be used to ask after people not present; just use the form cén chaoi a bhfuil X?, where X is the appropriate personal name or subject pronoun. See the following section.

The subject pronouns in Irish (conjunctive)

The subject of a sentence is the entity that performs the action of the verb. Thus, pronouns used in place of the subject are called subject pronouns.

• mé (not 'Mé'): I.*
• tú: you.
• sé: he; it (masculine).
• sí: she; it (feminine).
• sinn (Munster) / muid (Connacht ⁊ Ulster): we.*
• sibh: ye (plural).
• siad: they.

*But see the examples.

Examples

• Tá mé: I am. (Connacht ⁊ Ulster.)
• Táim: I am. (Munster; never 'tá mé'.)
• Tá tú: you are.
• Tá sé: he / it is.
• Tá sí: she / it is.
• Tá muid: we are. (Connacht ⁊ Ulster.)
• Táimíd: we are. (Munster; never 'tá sinn'.)
• Tá sibh: ye are.
• Tá siad: they are.

The same subject pronouns' emphatic forms (conjunctive)

• mise (not 'Mise'): I.*
• tusa: you.
• seisean: he; it (masculine).
• sise: she; it (feminine).
• sinn-ne (Munster) / muide (Connacht) / muid-ne (Ulster; pronounced, roughly, 'mwij-ING-yi'): we.*
• sibh-se: ye (plural).
• siad-san: they.

*But again, see the examples.

Examples

• Tá mise: I am. (Connacht ⁊ Ulster.)
• Táim-se: I am. (Munster; never 'tá mise'.)
• Tá tusa: you are.
• Tá seisean: he / it is.
• Tá sise: she / it is.
• Tá muide: we are. (Connacht.)
• Táimíd-ne: we are. (Munster; never 'tá sinn-ne'.)
• Tá muid-ne: we are. (Ulster.)
• Tá sibh-se: ye are.
• Tá siad-san: they are.