Talking about the past
Remember the most common irregular verbs in Welsh and what to do with other verb endings.
If you want to talk about something you did in the past, you could use the following patterns. Notice the ending of the verb -ais – I did something in the past.
Codais i am saith o’r gloch y bore ac, ar ôl bwyta brecwast, cerddais i i’r ganolfan hamdden i dalto catch y bws. Gwelais i Matt a Rhys yno.
So what did you do on Saturday? – Beth wnest ti dydd Sadwrn?
Exercise
List five sentences to explain what you did on Saturday. Remember: the verbs will end in -ais but be careful as some verbs are irregular, eg:
Es i. – I went.
Ces i. – I had.
Gwnes i. – I did.
Des i. – I came.
If you want to talk or write about other people, you need to change the endings of the verb, eg:
- –aist ti – you (singular) did something in the past
- –odd e/o – he did something in the past
- –odd hi – she did something in the past
- –odd Sam – Sam did something in the past
- –on ni – we did something in the past
- –och chi – you (polite and plural) did something in the past
- –on nhw – they did something in the past
Exercise
Read the following piece that Josh has written about a trip to Llandudno.
Codais i am saith o’r gloch y bore ac, ar ôl bwyta brecwast, cerddais i i’r ysgol i ddal y bws. Gwelais i Matt a Rhys yno ac aethon ni ar y bws. Eisteddon ni yn y cefnback.
Gyrrodd y bws am ddwy awr ac yna cyrhaeddon ni’r dref am un ar ddeg o’r gloch. Roedd rhai o’r merched eisiau mynd i siopa ond aeth fy ffrindiau a fi i sgïo.
Sgion ni am ddwy awr. yn anffodusunfortunately, syrthiodd Matt ac roedd e’n boenus iawn. Ffoniodd Rhys am ambiwlans ac aeth Matt i’r ysbyty.
am drip!what a trip!
Question
Find the past tense forms. What do they mean?
- codais i – I got up
- cerddais i – I walked
- gwelais i – I saw
- aethon ni – we went
- eisteddon ni – we sat
- gyrrodd y bws – the bus drove
- cyrhaeddon ni – we reached/arrived at
- aeth fy ffrindiau a fi – my friends and I went
- sgion ni – we skied
- syrthiodd Matt – Matt fell
- ffoniodd Rhys – Rhys phoned
- aeth Matt – Matt went
This tense is very important as you can use it in many situations, eg when talking about the weekend, a holiday in the past, a trip or a visit to somewhere.
You can also use this tense to explain how you researched a particular topic, eg:
- Darllenais i erthyglau am... – I read articles about...
- Chwiliais i am wybodaeth ar y we am... – I searched for information on the internet about...
- Gwyliais i raglen ddogfen am... – I watched a documentary about...
- Siaradais i â… – I spoke to…
- Es i i ymweld â… a gofynnais i am… – I went to visit… and I asked about…
Asking questions in the past tense is quite straightforward and answering Yes and No is easy too.
Here are some questions and answers. Look at them carefully in order to work out how to ask questions in the past and how to answer Yes and No.
Wyliaist ti’r teledu neithiwr? (gwylio – to watch)
Do. Gwyliais i EastEnders.
Fwytaist ti sglodion neithiwr? (bwyta – to eat)
Naddo – bwytais i salad neithiwr.
Question
How do you form a question in the past tense?
You must mutate the verb – use a soft mutation. Look at Mutations: soft, nasal, aspirate for more information.
Question
What are the yes and no answers in the past tense?
- Do – Yes
- Naddo – No
You may want to talk about something that didn’t happen. Do you know how to form the negative in the past tense?
Add ddim after the verb:
| Affirmative | Negative |
| Es i ... - I went. | Es i ddim. - I didn’t go. |
| Affirmative | Es i ... - I went. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Es i ddim. - I didn’t go. |
Words beginning in t, c and p: aspirate mutation + ddim.
| Affirmative | Negative |
| Teithiais i. - I travelled. | Theithiais i ddim. - I didn’t travel. |
| Canais i - I sang. | Chanais i ddim. - I didn’t sing. |
| Prynais i. - I bought. | Phrynais i ddim. - I didn’t buy. |
| Affirmative | Teithiais i. - I travelled. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Theithiais i ddim. - I didn’t travel. |
| Affirmative | Canais i - I sang. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Chanais i ddim. - I didn’t sing. |
| Affirmative | Prynais i. - I bought. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Phrynais i ddim. - I didn’t buy. |
Look at Mutations: soft, nasal, aspirate for more information.
Words beginning in d, g, b, m, ll, rh: soft mutation + ddim.
| Affirmative | Negative |
| Des i ar y bws. - I came by bus. | Ddes i ddim ar y bws. - I didn’t come by bus. |
| Gwelais i ffilm dda yn y sinema. - I saw a good film at the cinema. | Welais i ddim ffilm dda yn y sinema. - I didn’t see a good film at the cinema. |
| Bwytais i swper. - I ate supper. | Fwytais i ddim swper. - I didn’t eat supper. |
| Affirmative | Des i ar y bws. - I came by bus. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Ddes i ddim ar y bws. - I didn’t come by bus. |
| Affirmative | Gwelais i ffilm dda yn y sinema. - I saw a good film at the cinema. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Welais i ddim ffilm dda yn y sinema. - I didn’t see a good film at the cinema. |
| Affirmative | Bwytais i swper. - I ate supper. |
|---|---|
| Negative | Fwytais i ddim swper. - I didn’t eat supper. |
Look at Mutations: soft, nasal, aspirate for more information.
Question
Fill in the gaps – write in the negative form of the verb seen in brackets.
- _____________ i ddim yn dda neithiwr. (cysgais)
- _____________ i cyn naw o’r gloch. (codais)
- _____________ i yn y gwely tan ddeg o’r gloch. (darllenais)
- _____________ i ar y radio tan amser cinio. (gwrandawais)
- Chysgais i ddim yn dda neithiwr.
- Chodais i ddim cyn naw o’r gloch.
- Ddarllenais i ddim yn y gwely tan ddeg o’r gloch.
- Wrandawais i ddim ar y radio tan amser cinio.
Exercise
Why not prepare a piece about a visit in the past? As well as referring to what you did, you could say what you didn’t do as well. Why not use expressions associated with time in the piece? If a friend also prepares a piece about a visit, you could ask each other questions about the visits.
