This post is the 3rd instalment of the Welsh leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapters 2a and 2b of Colloquial Welsh. For earlier instalments, please see Welsh Archives – Language Miscellany
Present tense of bod
Table 1 shows the present tense of the verb bod (‘be’), giving the forms used in positive, interrogative (question) and negative contexts. Some forms differ between northern (N) and southern (S) Welsh.
The negative forms include the particle ddim after the subject.
Table 1. Present tense of bod (‘be’)
| Positive | Question | Negative | |
| I am 1S | dw i, wi (S) | ydw i? | dw i ddim / wi ddim (S) |
| You are 2S | (wyt) ti | (wyt) ti? | (dwyt) ti ddim |
| He is 3Sm | mae o (N), mae e (S) | ydy e? ydy o? (N), yw e? (S) | dydy e ddim, tydy o ddim (N), dyw e ddim (S) |
| She is 3Sf | mae hi | ydy hi? | dydy hi ddim, tydy hi ddim (N), dyw hi ddim (S) |
| We are 1P | dyn ni, dan ni (N), ŷni (S) | ydan ni? (N), (yd)yn ni? (S) | dyn ni ddim, (ty)dan ni ddim (N), ŷn ni ddim (S) |
| You 2P | dych chi, dach chi (N) ŷch chi (S) | (y)dach chi? (N) (yd)ych chi? (N) | dych chi ddim / dach chi ddim (N) ŷch chi ddim (S) |
| They 3P | maen nhw | ydyn nhw?(N) ŷn nhw?(S) | (dy)dyn nhw ddim, tydyn nhw ddim (N) ŷn nhw ddim (S) |
Present tense of other verbs
The present tense of bod combines with other verbs to form one type of present tense of the other verb. This construction consists of the present tense, the particle yn (’n after vowels) and the base form of the other verb (example 1).
(1) Dw i ’n dysgu
am I in learn
‘I am learning’, ‘I learn’
Some other verbs in lessons 2a and 2b:
- dod (‘come’), mynd ‘go’, gadael ‘leave’, gyrru, ‘drive’, hedfan (‘fly’),
- dweud / deud (‘say’), siarad Cymraeg (‘speak Welsh’), eisiau ‘learn’,
- darllan (‘read’), ysgrifonnu ‘write’, sillafu ‘spell’,
- edrych (‘look’), gwylio (‘watch’),
- gwybod ‘know [a fact]’ nabod ‘know’ [a person], deal ‘understand’, meddwl ‘think’,
- gwranda ‘listen’,
- gwerthu ‘sell’, prynu ‘buy’,
- byw ‘live’, gweithio ‘work’, gwella ‘ improve’, rhowch ‘put’, adnewyddu renovate [newydd = ‘new’], mynychu ysgol ‘go to [frequent] school’
- bwrw llaw (‘rain’), bwrw eira (‘snow’)
dod i nabod pobol ‘get to know people’
Yes and no
‘Yes’ is ie and ‘no’ is nago. But more common responses are to repeat the verb (changing, if necessary, the person and /or number accordingly:
Q. Ydych chi’n siarad Cymraeg? A. Ydw.
Are you.in speak Welsh? Am
‘Do you speak Welsh? Yes / I do.
For negative answers, place nag (in some areas, nac) before the verb.
Word order: verb-subject (VS)
In ordinary sentences, the verb precedes the subject.
Agreement with 3rd person plural subjects
For 3rd person plural subjects, the verb is in the singular, unless the pronoun nhw (‘they’) is used.
Nationalities
Table 2. Some nationalities
| Nationality | Male person | Female person |
| Welsh | cymro | cymraes |
| English | sais | saesnes |
| Scot | albanwr | albanes |
| Irish | gwyddel | gwyddeles |
| French | ffrancwr | ffrances |
| German | almaenwr | almaenes |
| American | americanwr | americanes |
Lundain = ‘London’, Efrog Newydd = ‘New York’, Iwerddon ‘Ireland’, ffrangeg ‘french language’
Other words
Conjunctions
ond ‘but’, a (ac before vowels) ‘and’, hefyd ‘also’, ychidig ‘a little bit’
Places
lle ‘where’, rhywle ‘somewhere’, yn y gegin ‘in the kitchen’, fan hyn ‘here’, draw fan’na ‘over there’, gartre ‘at home’, tu allan ‘outside’, lan y grisia ‘upstairs’, i ffwrdd ‘away’
Abertawe ‘Swansea’
Time
yfory ‘tomorrow’, heddiw ‘today’, heno ‘tonight’, wythnos nesa ‘next week,’ trwy’r wythnos ‘all week’, trwy’r amser ‘all the time’, eleni ‘this year’, ar hyn o bryd ‘at the moment’, dros y Sul ‘for the weekend’, mewn pryd ‘in time, not late’, yn aml ‘often’
Adverbs
yn dda ‘well’, effallai ‘perhaps’, chwaith ‘(not) either’
phrases
Shw mae pethau ‘how are things?’ Go lew ‘alright’, timod ‘you know’, gwela I ‘I see’, wir? ‘really?’, felly ‘so’, ’te ‘then’
rhy gflym ‘too fast’, gormod o lyfrau ‘too many books’, fel hyn ‘like this’, ddim … rhy iach ‘not too healthy’, eto ‘again, still’
Nouns
tŷ ‘house’, teledu ‘TV’, anreghion ‘present’, rhiant (rhieni) ‘parent(s)’ plentyn (plant) ‘child(ren)’ bwrdd ‘table’
Prepositions
o ‘of, from’, o dan ‘under’, gyda / ‘da ‘with’, gyda llaw ‘by the way’,
Source
Colloquial Welsh, Gareth King (2008)
Further reading
There is more detail on several topics covered above in The Syntax of Welsh, Robert D Borsley, Maggie Tallerman and David Willis (2007)