Chris Writing
basic grammar

• six tenses, Welsh relies on auxiliary BE for them
• simple sentence construction: auxiliary verb—noun phrase—linking particle—the rest of the sentence (say, a verb phrase)
• linking particles: yn (doesn’t translate), wedi (have)
• BE = bod (unmarked form, not called infinitive but verbnoun)
• I am: dw i; dw from bod, i = I.
• eistedd = sit
• thus, I sit / I am sitting: dw i yn eistedd—> dw i’n eistedd (contraction)
• the six main tenses (aspects?) all use auxiliary verbs; two more use inflected verbnouns, but we’re goint to leave them aside for the moment
• conjugation of bod is here , so mae hi’n eistedd is the third person feminine singular
• interrogative forms: bod form changes, most get an “y” at the beginning. ydw i’n eistedd?, ydy hi’n eistedd?
• answer: auxiliary (plural forms different); ydy / nac ydy: yes, she’s sitting / no, she isn’t.
• negative (I am not sitting): negative particle ddim before the linking particle: dw i ddim yn eistedd; attention, the conjugation of bod changes again: dydy hi ddim yn eistedd (she isn’t sitting). no contraction of yn since it doesn’t follow a vowel.
• dydyn nhw ddim yn rhedeg: they aren’t running
• da iawn: da = good, iawn = very :) ... adjectives after nouns and adverbs after adjectives; if adverb modifies a verb, use particle yn
• the letter y is pronounced as a schwa except at the word end. ysbyty (hospital) is prononuced [əsb’əti]
• other tenses: future: bydda i’n eistedd; past: roeddwn i’n eistedd
• use of wedi for “have-tenses” (to be clarified):
  dw i wedi eistedd = i have sat; bydda i wedi eistedd = i will have sat; roeddwn i wedi eistedd = i had sat
• the bydda/roeddwn series have their own interrogative and negative forms. fydda is the interrogative of bydda (future).
• The change b—>f is called mutation: initial consonant change depending on what comes before that. There used to be an interrogative particle a, which causes it. There also used to be a negative particle na, so na bydda y’n eistedd became just fydda y’n eistedd (I will not sit).
• So the first person singular future tense of bot is bydda in declarative sentences, and fydda in negative and interrogative ones.
• roeddwn becomes oeddwn and doeddwn, respectively: oeddwn i’n eistedd (was I sitting?) and doeddwn i ddim yn eistedd (I wasn’t sitting); attention, simple past requires a different tense.
• stress on penultimate syllable: [‘roi.ðun]
• more verbs: meddwl (think), canu (sing), ysgrifennu (write), cysgu (sleep)
• big pronunciation trap: u is [i:]

To learn tenses of bod, see Suw’s cheat sheets . Things I’d like to know next:

• How to do clauses involving simple copula (N is Adj).
• How to add a circumstantial adverbial (tomorrow, yesterday, here, there…).