Literary Questions: a + Soft Mutation

Mostly recognition. You will meet these questions in writing, formal speech, forms and ceremonies. A few are used in polite speech too, such as A gaf i ...? (May I ...?).

The pattern. a + soft-mutated verb + subject:

• A welaist ti ef? — Did you see him? (gwelaist → welaist)
• A fydd y swyddfa ar agor yfory? — Will the office be open tomorrow? (bydd → fydd)
• A gaf i ofyn cwestiwn? — May I ask a question? (caf → gaf)
• A glywsoch chi'r newyddion? — Have you heard the news? (clywsoch → glywsoch)

Before a vowel. There is nothing to mutate: A oes heddwch? (Is there peace?), A ydych chi'n barod? (Are you ready?), A yw'r trên yn hwyr? (Is the train late?).

Where spoken questions come from. Speech has dropped the a but kept its mutation. That is why spoken questions start with a softened verb: Welaist ti fe?, Fydd hi'n braf?, Ga i ofyn?. See Questions and Negatives of Short Verbs and May I? Ga i...?.

Answers. Answer by echoing the verb, as in speech: A oes ...? — Oes / Nac oes. At the Eisteddfod, the crowd answers the Archdruid's A oes heddwch? with Heddwch! See Echo Answers in Other Tenses.

A meaning "whether". The same a introduces reported questions: Gofynnodd hi a oeddwn i'n barod (She asked whether I was ready); see Whether: A and Os.