Literary Pluperfect -aswn

Literary Pluperfect (Recognition)

Level 6

Gwelswn ef o'r blaen — I had seen him before. Spoken Welsh says Ro'n i wedi'i weld e o'r blaen.

How It Works

Recognition only. The pluperfect says what had already happened before another past moment.

  • gwelswn (gwelaswn) — I had seen
  • gwelsit — you had seen
  • gwelsai — he or she had seen
  • gwelsem — we had seen
  • gwelsech — you had seen
  • gwelsent — they had seen

Most verbs have the full -as-: prynaswn (I had bought), siaradasai (he or she had spoken). Verbs that shorten their past plurals (gwelsom, clywsom) shorten these too: gwelswn, clywsai.

Irregular verbs. aethai (had gone; also elsai), daethai (had come), cawsai (had had), gwnaethai (had done).

How speech says it. Use the past of bod + wedi: Ro'n i wedi gweld, Roedd hi wedi mynd. See Had Done: Roeddwn i wedi.

"Would" from the same forms. The pluperfect of bod, buaswn, also means "would": Buaswn yn falch (I would be glad). The spoken baswn i comes from it. In the same way, dylaswn means "I ought to have"; speech says dylwn i fod wedi.

Examples (5)

  1. Gwelswn ef o'r blaen.

    I had seen him before.

    Spoken: Ro'n i wedi'i weld e o'r blaen (o in the North).

  2. Erbyn i ni gyrraedd, aethai'r trên.

    By the time we arrived, the train had gone.

    Spoken: Erbyn i ni gyrraedd, roedd y trên wedi mynd.

  3. Clywsai'r newyddion cyn i mi ddweud wrthi.

    She had heard the news before I told her.

  4. Daethai'r gwanwyn yn gynnar y flwyddyn honno.

    Spring had come early that year.

  5. Buaswn yn falch o'ch cymorth.

    I would be glad of your help.

    The pluperfect of bod used with the meaning "would".

How It Connects

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

Literary Pluperfect -aswnLevel 6Literary Pluperfect (Recognition)

Learn This First

The literary pluperfect replaces ro'n i wedi.

Words in This Pattern

-aswn-asit-asai-asem-asech-asent