Literary Present-Future -af / -ant
Literary Present-Future (Recognition)
Edrychaf ymlaen at glywed gennych — I look forward to hearing from you. In formal Welsh, one short verb form means both I see and I will see.
How It Works
Recognition, plus a few useful phrases. These forms are literary and formal, but some are common in formal letters and speeches: Gobeithiaf (I hope), Edrychaf ymlaen (I look forward).
The endings. Literary forms of gweld, with the spoken future:
- gwelaf — spoken gwela i (I will see)
- gweli — gweli di
- gwêl — gwelith e, o (gweliff e in the South)
- gwelwn — gwelwn ni
- gwelwch — gwelwch chi
- gwelant — gwelan nhw
The he/she form. In literary Welsh the third person singular usually has no ending, and its vowel may change: gwêl (sees), cân (sings), tâl (pays), sieryd (speaks, from siarad). Irregular verbs have their own forms: â (goes), daw (comes), caiff (gets), gwna (does).
Present or future? Literary Welsh uses one set for both: Cân yr aderyn bob bore (The bird sings every morning), Af i'r dref yfory (I will go to town tomorrow). Speech keeps the short forms mostly for the future (Short Future, Irregular Short Future) and uses bod + yn for the present.
No pronoun. As in other literary tenses, the ending shows the person, so the pronoun is usually left out. Note that gwelwn can also be the literary "I used to see"; see Literary Imperfect.
A set phrase. Pwy a ŵyr? (Who knows?) uses gŵyr, the literary "knows" from gwybod, softened after a.
Examples (6)
- Edrychaf ymlaen at glywed gennych.
I look forward to hearing from you.
A common ending for a formal letter.
- Gobeithiaf eich gweld yn fuan.
I hope to see you soon.
- Cân yr aderyn bob bore.
The bird sings every morning.
Cân is the literary he/she form of canu; here it has present meaning.
- Siaradwn Gymraeg gartref.
We speak Welsh at home.
Spoken: Dyn ni'n siarad Cymraeg gartre (Dan ni'n in the North).
- Af i'r dref yfory.
I will go to town tomorrow.
Spoken: A i i'r dre fory.
- Pwy a ŵyr?
Who knows?
How It Connects
Learn This First
Literary present-future forms extend the short future.
Related Patterns
- af i / do i / ca i / gwna iIrregular Short Future: Af I, Do I, Ca I, Gwna I
The irregular verbs have their own short forms.
Level 3 - bod + yn + Verb-NounPresent Tense: Bod + Yn + Verb-Noun
Speech uses bod + yn for the present instead.
Level 1 - Literary Imperfect -wn / -entLiterary Imperfect and Conditional (Recognition)
The literary "used to" and "would" forms.
Level 6 - Impersonal -ir / -idImpersonal Present and Imperfect: -ir, -id (Formal)
The impersonal form of this tense ends in -ir.
Level 6
Words in This Pattern
Practice Literary Present-Future -af / -ant in Bubblegum
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