In Welsh, there isn’t a single pair of words that corresponds to ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Your answer depends on who you're referring to, which tense the question is in and how emphatic you want to be. This might sound bonkers, but not having a single pair of words meaning ‘yes’ and ‘no’ isn’t all that rare. Chinese, Japanese and Irish also have multiple versions of ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The system is a call-and-response one, meaning that how you answer ‘yes’ and ‘no’ depends on the type of question you’re asked. Usually, it’s a case of matching the type of response to the type of question. Initially, it seems like a minefield and something confabulated to vex learners.

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

 

Ydw i…?

 

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 ni…?

 

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)

 

Wyt ti…? (informal/sg.)

 

Dych chi…? (formal/pl.)

 
 

Ydy hi / e…?

 

Ydyn nhw…?

 

Oes…?

 

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..?

 What about oes?

  • 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)


Emphatic questions

  • These questions are ones that don’t start with a verb

  • This is the second exception in Welsh’s question and answer system where there is a single pair of words for yes and no

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

 

These notes are taken from part of a chapter of my book ‘3 excuses to give up learning Welsh’.