Oes? / Does dim

Is There? There Isn't: Oes and Does Dim

Level 1

Oes asks "Is there...?" or "Are there...?", and Does dim says "There isn't..." or "There's no...".

How It Works

Statement → question → negative:

  • Mae caffi yma. — There's a café here.
  • Oes caffi yma? — Is there a café here? Answer: Oes (Yes, there is) or Nac oes (No, there isn't).
  • Does dim caffi yma. — There isn't a café here.

Does dim is followed directly by the noun, with no mutation: Does dim bara (There's no bread), Does dim llaeth (There's no milk).

Definite nouns are different. With "the" or a name, the question is about where something is or what it is like, so use the normal forms of bod: Ydy'r caffi ar agor? (Is the café open?) Dydy'r caffi ddim ar agor. Ydy Siân yma? See Present Questions With Bod and Present Negatives With Ddim.

In speech, especially in the North, you will often hear 'na added: Oes 'na gaffi yma? See mae 'na.

The same words ask about what people have: Oes car gyda ti? (South) or Oes gen ti gar? (North). See oes gen ti and oes car gyda ti.

Examples (6)

  1. Oes caffi yma?

    Is there a café here?

  2. Oes llaeth yn yr oergell? Nac oes.

    Is there any milk in the fridge? No, there isn't.

  3. Does dim bara ar ôl.

    There's no bread left.

    No mutation after dim: bara keeps its b.

  4. Oes rhywun yma?

    Is anyone here?

  5. Does dim ots.

    It doesn't matter.

    A very common fixed phrase, literally "there is no matter".

  6. Ydy'r caffi ar agor?

    Is the café open?

    The café is definite, so the question uses ydy, not oes.

Common Mistakes

  • Using oes with a definite noun.

    Oes y caffi ar agor?
    Ydy'r caffi ar agor?

    Oes asks whether something exists, so it goes with a noun without "the". For a particular café, use ydy.

  • Using mae for "there isn't".

    Mae dim caffi yma.
    Does dim caffi yma.

    The negative of "there is" is does dim, not mae dim.

How It Connects

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Oes? / Does dimLevel 1Is There? There Isn't: Oes and Does Dim

Learn This First

Oes and does dim are the question and negative of existential mae, answered by echo.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

oesdoesdimnac