Learn how to distinguish between the two types of Irish verbs: all verbs consist of either one or two syllables and are categorized based on this distinction. It is important to recognize this before attempting to conjugate a verb, since the amount of syllables that the verb has determines what kind of ending will be added to the stem of the verb. Practice distinguishing verbs until you can look at the verb and quickly tell if it has one or two syllables. Glan (to clean) and cuir (to put) are examples of Type 1, or one syllable, verbs. Examples of Type 2, or two syllable verbs include: ceannaigh (to buy) and fiafraigh (to ask).
Focus on one tense at a time, starting with the present tense. Memorize the conjugations for each person: 1st person singular, 2nd person singular, 3rd person singular, 1st person plural, 2nd person plural and 3rd person plural. In addition to these conjugations, there exists a seventh conjugation, known as the impersonal form, for each verb. It is used to form the passive voice. Verb endings, which are added to the stem of the verb, differ based on the person and the type of verb. For the Type 1 verb cuir (to put), the stem is cuir and its present tense conjugations are: cuirim (first person singular), cuireann tu (second person singular), cuireann se (third person singular), cuirimid (first person plural), cuireann sibh (second personal plural), cuireann siad (third person plural), and cuirtear (impersonal). For the Type 2 verb fiafraigh (to ask), the stem is fiafr and the conjugations for present tense are fiafraim (first person singular), fiafraionn tu (second person singular), fiafraionn se (third person singular), fiafraimid (first person plural), fiafraionn sibh (second person plural, fiafraionn siad (third person plural), and fiafraitear (impersonal).
Practice using each verb you learn in a sentence. Do this for every person until you become comfortable with each conjugation. Once you have learned the conjugations for the present tense, move on to the past and future tenses. As you learn more tenses, start to use them in conversation. This will further solidify your knowledge of each verb and its different conjugations. For the Type 1 verb glan (to clean), for example, the past tense conjugations are ghlan me (first person singular), ghlan tu (second person singular), ghlan se (third person singular), ghlanamar (first person plural), ghlan sibh (second person plural), ghlan siad (third person plural, and ghlanadh (impersonal). Its future conjugations are: glanfaidh me (first person singular), glanfaidh tu (second person singular), glanfaidh se (third person singular), glanfaimid (first person plural), glanfaidh sibh (second person plural), glanfaidh siad (third person plural), and glanfar (impersonal).