In my book of Welsh verbs, the present tense of (for example) cofio, is given as cofiaf, cofi, cofia, cofiwn, cofiwch and cofiant. Is this tense used much in speech and/or writing? I’m only familiar with “dwi’n cofio” etc.
Diolch
Mike
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone using the inflected version of the present tense in general day-to-day use, it’s always constructed with the present tense of bod, ie dw i’n cofio.
You do see the inflected preterite and the inflected future more often, though.
It’s used more in writing, and it’s often referred to as the non-past, as it covers both present and future.
In speech, you’ll hear it for certain more common verbs, e.g. Wela i for “I see”, which can mean “I understand” as in English, or af i “I’m going” or “I’ll go”, but in general it tends to be used more for the future than the present - prynwn ni’r tocynnau fory - “we’ll buy the tickets tomorrow”.
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Thanks, Deborah, for more accurate info. I’ve never heard the term ‘non-past’!
I thought that ‘wela i’ was inflected future? Or are we talking about the same thing but using different terms?
Yes, same thing - where some grammar books call it ‘future’, others call it ‘non-past’.
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Great answers - thank you all. Very helpful
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