Can SSiW demystify the "bu" past-tense of "bod"?

Anyone who has delved into grammar or course books will have probably come across the “bu”-form simple past tense of the verb “bod”.

Here is what the BBC Catchphrase site says about it:

The exact meaning of the Past Tense of ‘bod’ (to be) is difficult to convey
as it doesn’t exist in English. So we have to translate it by using ‘went’ or
‘have been’ or ‘was /were’. Here are the forms
Fe / Mi fues i Fe / Mi fuon ni
Fe / Mi fuest ti Fe / Mi fuoch chi
Fe / Mi fuoch chi
Fe / Mi fuodd e / o Fe / Mi foudd y plant*
Fe / Mi fuodd hi Fe / Mi fuon nhw
Fe / Mi fuodd yr athro

  • Notice that the singular form of the verb is used with all nouns - even
    with plural nouns.
    e.g. Fe fues i yng Nghaerdydd ddoe.
  • I went to / have been in / was in Cardiff yesterday.
    Mi fuon nhw i Sbaen ym mis Awst.
  • They went to / have been to / were in Spain in August.
    Mi fuodd Gwyn mewn parti nos Sadwrn.
  • Gwyn went to / has been to / was in a party on Saturday night.

The ‘bues’ forms can also be used with another verb. The exact meaning
in English is quite difficult to convey.
e.g. Mi fuon ni’n siopa ddoe.

  • We ‘went shopping’ / ‘have been shopping’ yesterday.
    Fe fues i’n chwarae tennis ar ôl cinio ddydd Sadwrn.
  • I ‘was playing’ ‘/ ‘went playing’ tennis after lunch on Saturday.

(That site uses the “mi” or “fe” affirmative marker thingy and so uses the mutated form “fu…”, but you will also see the “bu…” unmutated form being used).

Now various books say it differently, but they usually say something like the above “The exact meaning of the Past Tense of ‘bod’ (to be) is difficult to convey
as it doesn’t exist in English…” or “The ‘bues’ forms can also be used with another verb. The exact meaning in English is quite difficult to convey.”.

Because of seeing things like this, I have tended to shy away from this form, and rather ignored it. But (perhaps because I keep seeing it in writing - although I don’t think I’ve seen it stated officially that it is only a written form) I thought it was time to get to grips with it.

I don’t think it was covered in the original Courses. It’s possible that it’s in some of the later Level challenges that I haven’t caught up with, although if it’s not used in the spoken language, that might explain why SSiW hasn’t mentioned it.

If it is part of the spoken language, does SSiW have any plans to cover it, and explain where it can or should be used, and explain what it means (as far as it can be explained)?

Tagging @aran and @Iestyn.

Thank you!

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I see this has already been covered, at least to some extent, here:

http://forum.saysomethingin.com/t/bod-vs-bues

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