beag
/bʲeɡ/
The Irish word for little is beag.
beag is an adjective used to describe something that is small in size. It can also function as an adverb meaning "not much".
Meaning: small in size (adj)
Which one should you use?
While beag is an adjective describing size, beagán is a noun meaning "a little bit" or "a small amount".
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
beag is the masculine singular adjective used for nouns of masculine gender.
How do you pronounce it?
/bʲeɡ/
Did you know?
- The phrase beagáinín is a double diminutive of beag, used to describe something that is not just small, but tiny or cute.
- In some Irish dialects, beag can be used as a mild understatement to describe something that is actually quite significant, similar to the English 'a bit of a problem'.
- The word beag is a cognate of the Welsh word bach and the Breton word bihan.
Examples in context
- Tá an cailín beag ag gol.The little girl is crying.This sentence shows how to use beag to describe a person.Tatoeba #10923969 by janTuki, translation #6387311 by CarpeLanam
- Bhí sé róthugtha beagáinín.He was a little bit too full.
- Tá an madra beag.The dog is small.
Example conversation
Cian and Niamh are looking at a house.
- CianAn bhfuil an tigh beag?Is the house small?
- NiamhTá sé beag, ach tá sé go hálainn.It is small, but it is beautiful.
- CianIs maith liom an t-uileár beag ansin.I like the little caterpillar there.
- NiamhTá sé go cute, Cian.It is cute, Cian.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “little” translations and entries beag, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries beag, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
