Bod: Existential Tense – There is
The existential tense shows existence of something, and is the same for singular and plural usage. It can be used with ’na which causes soft mutation, eg: mae ‘na gaws, oes ‘na gaws?, does ‘na ddim caws. Note that the mutation is blocked by ddim in the negative. ‘Na is used the same way for all tenses. The existential tense of bod does not use the linking participle yn.
Present Existential: There is, there are
Part | English | Welsh | Alternative | Example | Alternative Example |
aff | there is there are | mae | mae ‘na | mae caws | mae ‘na gaws |
int | is there? are there? | oes? | oes ‘na? | oes caws? | oes ‘na gaws? |
neg | there isn’t there aren’t | does dim | does ‘na ddim | does dim caws | does ‘na ddim caws |
yes | oes | ||||
no | nag oes |
Does dim can be shortened to sdim, but is then not used with ‘na, eg, sdim caws, but not sdim ‘na gaws.
Imperfect (Past) Existential: There was, there were
Part | English | Welsh | Alternative | Example | Alternative Example |
aff | there was there were | roedd | roedd ‘na | roedd caws | roedd ‘na gaws |
int | was there? were there? | oedd? | oedd ‘na? | oedd caws? | oedd ‘na gaws? |
neg | there wasn’t there weren’t | doedd dim | doedd ‘na ddim | doedd dim caws | doedd ‘na ddim caws |
yes | oedd | ||||
no | nag oedd |
Future Existential: There will be
Part | English | Welsh | Alternative | Example | Alternative Example |
aff | there will be | bydd | bydd ‘na | bydd caws | bydd ‘na gaws |
int | will there be? | fydd? | fydd ‘na? | fydd caws? | fydd ‘na gaws? |
neg | there will not be | fydd dim | fydd ‘na ddim | fydd dim caws | fydd ‘na ddim caws |
yes | bydd | ||||
no | na fydd |