Present tense and past tense questions with to be
How to answer the following sorts of questions:
Do you live here?
Are you happy?
Does she like her job?
Do they have a turtle?
Is there enough bread?
Have you seen them?
If you’re asked a question using dych or wyt, you are being asked do you…? or are you...?
Do and are can be translated as the verb to be: dych (chi) or wyt (ti)
In the first person, you are replying with a form of yes which literally means I am.
In the first person, you are replying with a form of no which literally means I am not.
Dych chi’n iawn? > ydw
Are you alright? > yes (I am)
Dych chi’n byw yn Llundain? > nac ydw
Do you live in London? > no (I do not)
Ydy e’n hoffi gweithio yng Nghaerdydd? > Nac ydy
Does he like working in Cardiff? > no (he doesn’t)
Ydy Mair yn hapus? > Nac ydy
Is Mair happy? > No (she isn’t)
Sometimes you have to answer in the present tense, even if the question is about the past. This is when we have the perfect tense in English.
Wyt ti wedi gweld y ffilm newydd? > Ydw
Have you seen the new film > yes (I have)
The verb gweld (to see) isn’t conjugated but we know we’re talking about the past because we have the past tense particle wedi
But because the question word wyt is in the present tense, the form of yes or no we use also has to be in the present tense.
Answering in the present tense
Wyt - Nac wyt
Yes (you are/do) - No (you aren’t/don’t)
[informal]
Ydych - Nac ydych
Yes (you are/do) - No (you aren’t/don’t)
[formal]
Ydyn - Nac ydyn
Yes (we are/do) - No (we aren’t/don’t)
Ydych - Nac ydych
Yes (you are/do) - No (you aren’t/don’t)
Ydw - Nac ydw
Yes (I am/do) - No (I’m not / I don’t)
Ydw - Nac ydw
Yes (I am/do) - No (I’m not / I don’t)
Ydyn - Nac ydyn
Yes (we are/do) - No (we aren’t/don’t)
Ydy - Nac ydy
Yes (he/she is/does) - No (he/she/it isn’t/doesn’t)
Ydyn - Nac ydyn
Yes (they are/do) - No (they aren’t/don’t)
Oes?
Is/are there..?
Oes means is there? or are there?
We use it to ask about possession or whether something exists somewhere
You are replying with a form of yes that means there is or there are
You are replying with a form of ‘no’ that means there isn’t or there aren’t
You don’t need to worry about the person of the verb here.
When you translate an oes question into English, you end up with ‘do’.
Oes crwban gyda chi? > oes
Do you have a turtle? > yes (I do)
Oes digon o amser gyda hi? > nac oes
Does she have enough time? > no (she doesn’t)
Oes brawd gyda hi o’r enw Siôr?
Does she have a brother called Siôr?
Oes bwyd llysieuol ar y fwydlen? > oes
Is there vegetarian food on the menu? > yes (there is)
Oes teulu gyda nhw yng Nghymru? > nac oes
Do they have family in Wales? > no (they don’t)
An emphatic question is one that doesn’t start with a question word. Remember that questions words are really verbs (usually the verb to be). Instead of using a verb at the start of a question we can simply move whatever information we want to emphasise right to the front of the question. You can focus any piece of information by moving it to the start of the question. This makes Welsh have quite a flexible work order, especially as emphatic sentences can be made in any tense.
We answer all emphatic questions in the same way irrespective of which person and tense is being used.
Ie
yes
Nage
No
Tiwtor Cymraeg dych chi? > ie
You’re a Welsh tutor? > yes
Almaenwr yw ei bartner e? > ie
His partner is German? yes
I’r gwaith aeth hi > nage
She went to work? (literally: to work went she?) > no
Ar y bwrdd oedd e’n dawnsio? > ie
He was dancing on the table? (literally: on the table was he dancing?)> yes
Yn Llundain maen nhw’n dysgu Cymraeg? > nage
They’re learning Welsh in London? (literally: in London they are learning Welsh?) > no