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Unit 1
Uned un
Inflected future
Regulars
In Basic Welsh (Unit 24) we saw how the stem of the verb is used when we need to add endings; the imperative (command form) ending -wch, for example, is added not to talu (verb-noun) to give *taluwch, but to the stem tal- to give talwch! ‘pay!’ Then for the preterite (Basic Welsh, Unit 25) there is a special set of endings covering all persons – so tales i ‘I paid’, talodd e ‘he paid’, etc.
Another set of personal endings in Welsh conveys the idea of the future. Let’s look at the endings first:
| Singular | Plural |
1 | -a i | -wn ni |
2 | -i di | -wch chi |
3 | -ith e/hi | -an nhw |
Notice again that we have included the following pronoun in each case, as in Modern Welsh the endings never appear on their own except in yes/no answers. You may have noticed also that the second person singular pronoun is not ti but di in the future.
So the inflected future of talu will be:
| Singular | Plural |
1 | tala i I will pay | talwn ni we will pay |
2 | tali di you will pay | talwch chi you will pay |
3 | talith e/hi he/she will pay | talan nhw they will pay |
General principles for inflected verbs (Basic Welsh, Unit 26) apply; so, for example, tala i, fe °dala i, °dala i all mean ‘I’ll pay’. Notice the very common expression °Wela i di/chi ‘I’ll see you’ (i.e. ‘goodbye’).
You will have realized by now that we saw another way of doing the future in Basic Welsh (Unit 18), using bydda i etc. (future of bod) + yn + VN. Are they the same? No – and they are not interchangeable; if they were, what would be the point of having both systems? But they do overlap in function. It is hard to see any substantial difference, for example, between Pryd bydd e’n ffonio? and Pryd ffonith e? ‘When will he phone?’ On the other hand, the inflected future is definitely preferred in certain circumstances, and we will have a look at some of these in the next unit.
Exercise 1.1
Turn these long futures into short futures:
Example: | Bydda i’n talu |
| Tala i |
- 1 Fyddi di’n agor y siop yfory?
- 2 Fe fydda i’n gweld ti wythnos nesa.
- 3 Byddwn ni’n helpu chi.
- 4 Bydd y lleill yn aros fan hyn.
- 5 Fyddwch chi’n cyrraedd mewn pryd?
- 6 Fydd Fred yn cymryd coffi?
- 7 Fe fydd Sioned a Medi’n trafod y broblem.
- 8 Fyddi di’n cymryd rhagor?
- 9 Fe fydd Suzie’n bwydo’r anifeiliaid wedyn.
- 10 Fyddan nhw ddim yn arwyddo’r ddogfen.
Exercise 1.2
Translate into Welsh using the short future – use Mi° for affirmative (AFF) sentences:
- 1 I’ll help you (chi).
- 2 We’ll see you (chi) tomorrow.
- 3 When will these plants flower?
- 4 Bert will stay here.
- 5 They’ll phone tomorrow.
- 6 We won’t see them again.
- 7 Sioned will tell him this afternoon.
- 8 Will they write to us?
- 9 Will he buy enough?
- 10 They won’t drink.
- 11 I’ll collect everything.
- 12 You (chi) ’ll speak first.
- 13 Who will open the door?
- 14 We’ll build a new house here.
- 15 The water will run out here.
- 16 Will they arrange everything?
- 17 I’ll keep these for you (ti).
- 18 Will they tell us?
- 19 Sioned will give him a present.
- 20 I’ll call round later on.
Exercise 1.3
Turn these short futures into long futures:
Example: | Ffonith e |
| Bydd e’n ffonio |
- 1 Enillan nhw’r gêm?
- 2 Ffonith Eleri heno?
- 3 Parith y gynhadledd am wythnos.
- 4 Arhosan nhw ddim.
- 5 Ateba i mo’r cwestiwn ’na.
- 6 Rhodda i ddeg punt iddo.
- 7 Chysga i ddim efo’r holl sŵn ’ma.
- 8 Mi drefnwn ni bopeth.
- 9 Helpa i chi mewn munud.
- 10 Pharith yr argyfwng ’ma ddim yn hir.
