Appendix:Welsh conjugation

There are two sets of rules for conjugating Welsh verbs: one for colloquial Welsh and one for literary Welsh.

Inflection involves adding the required suffix on to the verb stem. For instance, to form the colloquial first-person singular preterite form of yfed (to drink), we take the verb stem yf and add on the required ending (ais) to form yfais.

Colloquial

Colloquial conjugation is much simpler than in literary Welsh: only the preterite, conditional and future tenses, as well as the imperative mood, are built by inflecting the verb stem itself and, even then, all the tenses, as well as the negative imperative (but not the positive), can be formed periphrastically with a conjugated form of an auxiliary verb (bod, gwneud, darfod (in its form ddaru), or peidio). The passive voice is formed periphrastically with a conjugated form of cael. Negations are formed by putting ddim after the subject and mutating the conjugating verb (a mixed mutation). Letters which undergo an aspirate mutation do so; otherwise a soft mutation occurs (if possible). Example inflections are shown below using the verb gweld (“to see”).

Conjugation (colloquial)

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
Inflected colloquial forms	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	gwela i, gwelaf i	gweli di	gwelith o/e/hi, gweliff e/hi	gwelwn ni	gwelwch chi	gwelan nhw
conditional	gwelwn i, gwelswn i	gwelet ti, gwelset ti	gwelai fo/fe/hi, gwelsai fo/fe/hi	gwelen ni, gwelsen ni	gwelech chi, gwelsech chi	gwelen nhw, gwelsen nhw
preterite	gwelais i, gweles i	gwelaist ti, gwelest ti	gwelodd o/e/hi	gwelon ni	gweloch chi	gwelon nhw
imperative	—	gwela	—	—	gwelwch	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Imperfective tenses formed with bod yn

The periphrastic conjugation of the imperfective present, imperfect, future, and conditional tenses is in the form of: conjugated form of bod + subject + yn + verbal noun. The verbal noun does not mutate except for affirmative and interrogative forms after the hoffwn and dylwn patterns. Negated forms require ddim to follow the subject. The table below shows the relevant colloquial conjugated forms of bod. Note: some contracted/regional forms have been omitted for conciseness.

Colloquial forms		singular			plural
Colloquial forms		first	second	third	first	second	third
present	affirmative	(ry)dw i	rwyt ti	mae e/hi, ydy e/hi, sy e/hi	dan ni, ŷn ni, (ry)dyn ni	dach chi, ych chi, (ry)dych chi	maen nhw, dyn nhw
	negative	dydw i	dwyt ti	dydy e/hi, does e/hi, sy e/hi	dydyn ni	dydych chi	dydyn nhw
	interrogative	ydw i	wyt ti	ydy e/hi, oes e/hi, sy e/hi	ydan ni	ydych chi	ydyn nhw
imperfect	affirmative	roeddwn i	roeddet ti	roedd e/hi	roedden ni	roeddech chi	roedden nhw
	negative	doeddwn i	doeddet ti	doedd e/hi	doedden ni	doeddech chi	doedden nhw
	interrogative	oeddwn i	oeddet ti	oedd e/hi	oedden ni	oeddech chi	oedden nhw
future		bydda i	byddi di	bydd e/hi	byddwn ni	byddwch chi	byddan nhw
conditional		byddwn i, baswn i	byddet ti, baset ti	byddai e/hi, basai e/hi	bydden ni, basen ni	byddech chi, basech chi	bydden nhw, basen nhw
other conditional forms used after pe		taswn i, bawn i, tawn i	taset ti, baet ti, taet ti	tasai e/hi, bai e/hi, tai e/hi	tasen ni, baen ni, taen ni	tasech chi, baech chi, taech chi	tasen nhw, baen nhw, taen nhw

Examples:

Present: Dw i’n byw ym Mhontypridd. ― I live in Pontypridd.
Imperfect: Doedd Rhys ddim yn hoffi coffi. ― Rhys did not like coffee.
Future: Fyddwch chi’n yfed y dŵr? ― Will you drink the water?
Conditional: Bydden ni’n teithio ar y bws. ― We would travel by bus.

The future and conditional can also be formed inflectionally:

Future: Yfwch chi’r dŵr? ― Will you drink the water?
Conditional: Teithien ni ar y bws. ― We would travel by bus.

Perfective tenses formed with bod wedi

The periphrastic conjugation of the present perfect, pluperfect, future perfect, and conditional perfect tenses is in the form of: conjugated form of bod + subject + wedi + verbal noun. Examples include:

Present perfect: Dw i wedi byw ym Mhontypridd. ― I have lived in Pontypridd.
Pluperfect: Doedd Rhys ddim wedi hoffi coffi. ― Rhys had not liked coffee.
Future perfect: Fyddwch chi wedi yfed y dŵr? ― Will you have drunk the water?
Conditional perfect: Bydden ni wedi teithio ar y bws. ― We would have travelled by bus.

These tenses can be negated either with ddim wedi or with heb (“without”), which triggers soft mutation of the verbal noun and which takes the affirmative form of the verb. Thus Dydy ’nhad ddim wedi gweld y ffilm ’to (“My father hasn’t seen the film yet”) can be rephrased as Mae ’nhad heb weld y ffilm ’to.

Periphrastic preterite and future

The periphrastic conjugation of the preterite is either in the form of conjugated preterite form of gwneud + subject + verbal noun or in the form of ddaru + subject + verbal noun. An alternative periphrastic conjugation of the future is in the form of conjugated future form of gwneud + subject + verbal noun. The verbal noun undergoes soft mutation (if possible). The table below shows the relevant colloquial conjugated forms of gwneud; ddaru (used in North Wales) is invariable.

Colloquial forms	singular			plural
Colloquial forms	first	second	third	first	second	third
preterite	nes i	nest ti	naeth e/hi	naethon ni	naethoch chi	naethon nhw
future	na i	nei ti	neith e/hi	nawn ni	newch chi	nân nhw

Examples of the preterite with gwneud:

Nes i agor y drws. ― I opened the door.
Naeth hi brynu car newydd. ― She bought a new car.
Naethon ni ddim teithio ar y bws. ― We did not travel by bus.
Naethoch chi yfed y dŵr? ― Did you drink the water?

The preterite can also be formed using the invariable form ddaru:

Ddaru mi agor y drws. ― I opened the door.
Ddaru hi brynu car newydd. ― She bought a new car.
Ddaru ni ddim teithio ar y bws. ― We didn't travel by bus.
Ddaru chi yfed y dŵr? ― Did you drink the water?

The preterite can also be formed inflectionally:

Agores i’r drws. ― I opened the door.
Prynodd hi gar newydd. ― She bought a new car.
Theithion ni ddim ar y bws. ― We did not travel by bus.
Yfoch chi'r dŵr? ― Did you drink the water?

Examples of the future with gwneud:

Na i agor y drws. ― I’ll open the door.
Neith hi brynu car newydd. ― She’ll buy a new car.
Nawn ni ddim teithio ar y bws. ― We won’t travel by bus.
Newch chi yfed y dŵr? ― Will you drink the water?

Passive with cael

All forms of cael, both periphrastic and inflectional, can be used to form a construction with passive meaning. The construction is form of cael + subject + possessive determiner agreeing with subject + verbal noun. The relevant inflected forms of cael are:

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
Inflected colloquial forms	first	second	third	first	second	third
preterite	ces i	cest ti	caeth e/hi cafodd e/hi	caethon ni cafon ni cawson ni	caethoch chi cafoch chi cawsoch chi	caethon nhw cafon nhw cawson nhw
future	ca i	cei di	ceith e/hi caiff e/hi	cawn ni cewn ni	cewch chi	cân nhw
conditional	cawn i celwn i	caet ti celet ti	câi fe/hi celai fe/hi	caen ni celen ni	caech chi celech chi	caen nhw celen nhw

Examples:

Gaeth Terry ei tharo gan bêl eira. ― Terry got hit by a snowball (literally, Terry got her hitting by a snowball).
Mae’r tŷ yn cael ei godi. ― The house is being built (literally, The house is getting its building).

Negative imperative with peidio

The negative imperative (or prohibitive) forms are built as follows: imperative of peidio + â/ag (optional) + verbal noun. The form â is used before a consonant (which undergoes aspirate mutation if possible); ag is used before a vowel.

Paid â mynd yn rhy bell. ― Don’t go too far.
Peidiwch â cholli’r arian ’na. ― Don’t lose that money.