Literary Past -ais / -asant

Literary Past Endings (Recognition)

Level 6

In books and formal writing you will see Gwelsant y castell where speech says Gwelon nhw'r castell (They saw the castle). You only need to recognise these forms.

How It Works

Recognition only. These forms belong to literary and very formal Welsh: the Bible, older books, poetry and some official writing. You do not need them in speech.

The endings. Literary forms of gweld (see), with the spoken forms:

  • gwelais — spoken gwelais i, said weles i in the South (I saw)
  • gwelaist — gwelaist ti, said welest ti in the South
  • gwelodd — gwelodd e, o, hi
  • gwelsom — gwelon ni
  • gwelsoch — gweloch chi
  • gwelsant — gwelon nhw

Most verbs use the full plural endings -asom, -asoch, -asant: prynasom (we bought), talasant (they paid). Some verbs shorten them to -som, -soch, -sant: gwelsom, clywsant (they heard), cawsom (we had). An a in the stem often becomes e before -ais and -aist: talu → telais (I paid), siarad → siaredais (I spoke).

No pronoun. The ending tells you the person, so literary Welsh usually leaves out i, ti, ni and the others: Codais yn gynnar (I got up early). A noun subject still follows the verb: Gwelodd y ferch y castell.

Irregular verbs.

  • mynd: euthum (I went), aethost, aeth, aethom, aethoch, aethant
  • dod: deuthum (I came), daethost, daeth, daethom, daethoch, daethant
  • cael: cefais, cefaist, cafodd, cawsom, cawsoch, cawsant
  • gwneud: gwneuthum, gwnaethost, gwnaeth, gwnaethom, gwnaethoch, gwnaethant

Compare the spoken forms in The Simple Past and Irregular Past. The object after a literary past verb still softens, as in speech: Cawsant groeso (croeso → groeso).

Examples (6)

  1. Gwelais ef yn y dref ddoe.

    I saw him in town yesterday.

    Spoken: Welais i fe yn y dre ddoe (South), Welais i o yn y dre ddoe (North).

  2. Aethant adref yn gynnar.

    They went home early.

    Spoken: Aethon nhw adre'n gynnar.

  3. Cawsant groeso cynnes.

    They received a warm welcome.

    Spoken: Gawson nhw groeso cynnes.

  4. Daethom i Aberystwyth yn 1990.

    We came to Aberystwyth in 1990.

    Spoken: Daethon ni i Aberystwyth yn 1990.

  5. Prynasom dŷ yn y wlad.

    We bought a house in the country.

    Spoken: Prynon ni dŷ yn y wlad.

  6. Codais yn gynnar a cherddais i'r gwaith.

    I got up early and walked to work.

    Spoken: Codais i'n gynnar a cherddais i i'r gwaith, with the pronoun i after each verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Literary Past -ais / -asantLevel 6Literary Past Endings (Recognition)

Learn This First

Literary preterite endings extend the spoken preterite.

Words in This Pattern

-ais-aist-odd-asom-asoch-asant