Talking About the Past in Welsh

Video transcript

Hey there and welcome to Ablas! In this video, we’ll learn how to talk about the past in Welsh, including how to ask questions, with an example story and quiz to test your knowledge at the end. You can download a PDF of today’s lesson from the link in the description!

Regular past tense form

Let’s start off simple with the regular past tense form.

If you wanted to say you walked to the park in the past tense, you’d take the verb cerdded, and conjugate it like this: ”Cerddais i i’r parc.”

Let’s look at another example, and notice the pattern here: ”Gwelais i aderyn ddoe.” This means, “I saw a bird yesterday.” The verb gwelais has a similar ending to cerddais.

This verb ending changes depending on who you’re talking about. If we were talking to one person directly using the singular informal you, we’d say: ”cerddaist ti, gwelaist ti.” And if we used the third person singular… ”cerddodd, gwelodd.”

If we’re referring to multiple people and wanted to say “we walked, we saw”: ”cerddon ni, gwelon ni.” And lastly the plural or polite you, ”cerddoch chi, gweloch chi,” and the third person plural: ”cerddon nhw, gwelon nhw.”

Irregular forms

We’ve covered the regular form, so let’s look at the verbs that don’t fit this pattern.

There are four main irregular verbs. Dod, Mynd, Cael, Gwneud. Take a moment to look at how each of these verbs differ in their conjugation.

Before we go any further, let’s look at some examples of other conjugated verbs that don’t follow the regular pattern.

• ”Arhosais i wrth y safle bws.” (I waited at the bus stop.)

• ”Cyrhaeddais i neithiwr.” (I arrived last night.)

• ”Mwynheuais i’r parti.” (I enjoyed the party.)

Questions and negatives

Now we’ll cover how to ask questions and make negative statements about the past.

To ask a question about the past, we need to use the soft mutation to change the spelling of the word at the start of the question. To find out more about mutations, check out the video on the channel covering this.

But let’s look at an example now: ”Gwyliaist ti'r teledu?” becomes… ”Wyliaist ti'r teledu?”

And when we answer a yes or no question like this, we use do and naddo. For example: ”Do, gwyliais i'r teledu.” (Yes, I watched TV). ”Naddo, darllenais lyfr.” (No, I read a book).

But how do we write negative statements in the past tense? We simply add ddim after the verb.

But it’s not always that straightforward. If the verb starts with T, C or P, it triggers the aspirate mutation. Notice the difference here: ”Canais i gân.” (I sang a song.) ”Chanais i ddim gân.” (I didn’t sing a song.)

And when the verb starts with D, G, B, M, LL or RH, we use the soft mutation. ”Gwelais i ffilm dda.” (I watched a good film.) ”Welais i ddim ffilm dda.” (I didn’t watch a good film.)

Other past tenses

Let’s finish off with a couple of other ways to talk about the past.

If you wanted to say you have done something that has now been completed, you can use wedi. ”Dw i wedi gorffen.” (I have finished.) ”Rydyn ni wedi penderfynu.” (We have decided.)

And if you wanted to say you had done something in the past, you can use roedd with wedi. ”Roeddwn i wedi gorffen.” (I had finished.) ”Roedden ni wedi penderfynu.” (We had decided.)

Story

Now that we’ve learnt all you need to know about the past tense, let’s put it into practice with a short story.

It’s quiz time!

Don’t worry if you missed some of the past tense examples in that story – you can download the PDF of today’s lesson which will include the full translation. But now it’s quiz time!

How do you say "I went"?

1. Es i

2. Des i

3. Ces i

Which sentence is correct?

1. Chanais i ddim gân.

2. Chanais i gân.

How do you say "we enjoyed"?

1. Mwynheuon ni

2. Mwynhon ni

3. Mwynheuon nhw

Your task

Well done for getting this far!

Now your task is to write a short diary entry about your last weekend in Welsh. Try to include where you went, what you ate, and a description using the roedd tense.

Be sure to leave a like if you enjoyed this lesson and hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out on future videos. Our website is full of fun games across 7 languages, so head on over and put your skills to the test! Until next time, thanks for watching!