2026 Day 154

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens ha Peswardhek

De Merher, tryja mis Efen
Wednesday, 3rd June

Gero nei dhe vires orth an verb "bos" arta. Ello whei trouvya an sampels?

Let's look at the verb "to be" again. Can you find the examples?

Grammar in practice

Here are some sentences which use bos descriptive

!st person singular:

Lôwen o vy. I am happy. (with adjective)

Pur vesy o vy… I am very busy …

1^st person plural:

Moy sygür o nei … We are slower (more slow)

2^nd person plural:

Welcòm o whei …  You … are welcome

3^rd person singular:

Degòlyow hav ew. It’s summer holidays (with noun)

An kensa seythen ew. It’s the first week.

An kensa dedh ew. It’s the first day.

Pur üskis ew ev. He is very fast.

Pur ervirüs ew Tristan. Tristan is very decided.

Gellys ew hei. She is (has) gone. (with verbal adjective/past participle)

Ew hei gellys? Is (has) she gone? (verb first, no particle, so question)

Res ew dhewgh mos You must go (lit. necessity is to you going) (with prepositional pronoun creating the English subject)

res ew dhewgh gòrra with a Arthòr you must take care of Arthur (lit. necessity is to you putting care of Arthur)

Here are some sentences using bos descriptive,

Firstly with the meaning “there is” or “there are”, without a secondary verb. May be combined with a prepositional pronoun to mean “to have”:

Ma lies tra dhe wil There are many things to do

Ma disqwedhyans dhebm I have an exhibition (lit. There is an exhibition to me)

Ma odhom dhebm a oll an spas I need all the space (lit. there is need to me of all the space)

Ma esperans dhebm I hope (lit. There is hope to me)

Next with « ow » the -ing particle and a secondary verb

ma Tas ow mos … Dad is going …

Ma Rosa ow senjy dorn Arthòr Rosa is holding Arthur’s hand, Rosa holds Arthur’s hand

thera nei ow mos we are going, we go

Finally, just indicating “location”

thera nei en tewlder. we are in darkness.

 

Now find the sentences in the narrative.

   Degòlyow hav ew. An kensa seythen ew. An kensa dedh ew. Lôwen o vy.

   “Pur vesy o vy hedhyw,” emedh mabm.  “Ha Tas ewedh. Res ew dhewgh mos dhe jei Mabm Wydn ha Henvam rag an jedh.”

   “Nei oll?” a venjama godhvos.

   “Oll! Mabm Wydn a vedn fyttya kidnyow rago whei.”

   “Prag na ella nei dos genes?”

   “Ma odhom dhebm a oll an spas e’n carr bian vy rag ow jednas ha pictours. Ma disqwedhyans dhebm üdn seythen e’n cresen lowarth. Ma esperans dhebm my a vedn gwertha pub tra. Ha ma Tas ow mos bys en Scottlond rag effects specyal en fylm aventur. Tas a vedn kemeres an carr brâs leun a bub tra ev.”

   “My a vedn obery gen Gorownter Marcus.”  Pur ervirüs ew Tristan.

   “Rosa ha Kettern, res ew dhewgh gòrra with a Arthòr, mar pleg. Pur üskis ew ev. Na wrewgh y gelly.”

   Etho, thera nei ow mos, pajar flogh, a-dreus pras an gever, dres rew a wedh Nadelik, dres crow an gever hag oll an treven erel en lowarth Mabm Wydn, bys en daras kegin hy chei. Moy sygür o nei del ûsyes drefen ma whans dhe Arthòr leverel ‘Mettin da’ dhe geniver gavar. Bulhornes alja bos moy üskis.

   “Welcòm o whei oll,” emedh Mabm Wydn. “Ma lies tra dhe wil hedhyw. En kensa, gero nei dhe vos bys en Pow Frenk. Henvam a venja disqwedhes neppeth dhewgh. Bes kemerowgh with na wrewgh whei gòrra troos war an dor gwedhra!”

   “Pe le ma Henvam? Ew hei gellys solabres?” my a venja godhvos.

   "Ea. Gellys ew hei."

   Etho thera nei ow mos en crow an gever. Ma Rosa ow senjy dorn Arthòr en tydn. Ha Mabm Wydn ow keas an daras thera nei en tewlder.

2026 Day 153

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens ha Terdhek

De Meurth, nessa mis Efen
Tuesday, 2nd June

Ma trei mis en gwenton a veteorologieth: mis Meurth, mis Ebrel ha mis Me. Degensete a veu an diwettha dedh a vis Me ha'n diwettha dedh a wenton. Ma trei mis en hav a veteorologieth: mis Efen, mis Gorefen ha mis Est. Etho, de a veu an kensa dedh a vis Efen ha'n kensa dedh a hav. Bes nag üjy an gewer ow convedhes an sêsons! E veu gewer drovadnüs en mis Me ken dalladh an hav. Lebmyn ma dhen an cowasow a veu gwaytyes genen en mis Ebrel. 

There are three months in meteorological spring: March, April and May. The day before yesterday was the last day of May and the last day of spring.  There are three months in meteorological summer: June, July and August. So, yesterday was the first day of June and the first day of  summer. But the weather does not understand the seasons. There was tropical weather in May before the beginning of summer. Now we have the showers we expected in April.

2026 Day 152

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens ha Dewdhek
De Lün, kensa mis Efen

Monday, 1st June 

Whei alja desky lies poynt gramassek en udn radn cott a whedhel po daralla. Otta sompel andhien bian.

You could learn many grammatical points in one short part of a story or tale. Here's a little, incomplete example.

  “Ma odhom dhebm a olifans gwydn.” Lev ow hôr Rosa ew hedna. Nag o nei bes nowydh devedhys tre dhort scol.

  “Gwra gofyn ort dha dhama wydn.” Lev agan dama ew hedna.

   Ma hei ow cosôwes bes hanter orth Rosa. Hanter hy rach ew kemerys gen caletter aral. Fatel ell hei gwitha Arthòr, agan broder bian, dhort towla yos tettys ort an gath? Ma dhodho gallos marthys rag nebonan ew bes trei bloodh coth.

This shows the use of bes meaning but, in the sense of only or just (sometimes in a negative sentence).

Nag o nei bes nowydh devedhys tre ...

We have only just come home… (lit. We aren’t but newly come home…)

Ma hei ow cosôwes bes hanter … 

She is only half listening … (it. She is listening but half…)

… rag nebonan ew bes trei bloodh coth.

.... for somebody (who) is only/just (but) 3 years of age

 

There are examples using ma there is + dhe to, where Cornish doesn’t have a verb „to need“ or „to have“.

“Ma odhom dhebm a … I need … (lit. There is need to me of…, I have need of ..)

Ma dhodho gallos ... He has ability ... (lit. There is to him ability...)

Ordinary use of bos locative with ow verbal („ing“) particle and secondary verb:

Ma hei ow cosôwes She is listening

 

Here are examples where the adjective directly follows the noun (no mutation after masculine singular nouns);

olifans gwydn white elephant

dama wydn grandmother (lit. white mother) (f) notice soft mutation

caletter aral other problem

broder bian little brother

yos tettys mashed potatoes (lit. potato mush)

gallos marthys wonderful ability

bloodh coth years of age (lit. old years)

 

Possessives (mutation after dha) and numbers before the noun:

ow hôr my sister; dha dhama your mother; hy rach her attention;

agan dama our mother; agan broder our brother;

trei bloodh three years

 

Bos descriptive used with verbal adjective (past participle):

e.g. (th)o nei we are with devedhys come;

and ew is with kemerys taken

Bos descriptive used with identifier, like two halves of an equation:

Lev … ew hedna That is the voice … (definite article not needed by lev, as owner of voice is definite)

2026 Day 151

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens hag Üdnek

De Sül, üdnegves warn ügens mis Me
Sunday, 31st May

Ew da geno whei debry bohow? Ew da genowgh eva sugen vogh ha gwin? Thera dhe'n Grekys ha dhe'n Romans duw a'n gwin (Dionysus po Bacchus). Ma lies imach a'n duw na. Ma ehen a vogh gwin marthys da henwys Bacchus blanc, wheg y sawor hag ôdor. Nag ew sugen ha gwin ascorras üdnek dhort grappys. An has ell bos gweskys dhe rei oyl has. Marthys ew hedna rag agan crohen. Coweth ow mab ew gwrier sebon. Ma va ow ûsya oyl has bogh organek et y lin gòlhy dorn Bacchus blanc. Pur wheg ew an sawarn ewedh.  

Do you like eating grapes? Do you like drinking grape juice and wine? The Greeks and Romans had a god of wine (Dionysus or Bacchus). There are many images of that god. There is a wonderful wine grape variety called Bacchus blanc, with a nice flavour and aroma. Juice and wine are not the only products from grapes. The seeds can be pressed to give seed oil. That is wonderful for our skin. My son's friend is a soap-maker. He uses organic grape-seed oil in his Bacchus blanc hand-wash. The smell is very nice too.

2026 Day 150

2026 Dedh Cans ha Hanter Cans

De Sadorn, degves war ügens mis Me
Saturday, 30th May

Üdn jedh moy! Nag era tra veth deffrans. Re dòbm o an gewer arta. Whath theram ow qwitha ort ow gour, etho na ellama mos mes gans an kei yonk. Bettegens, nag eus whans dhe'n kei coth a gerdhes telher veth. Martesen avorow a vedh gwell.

One more day! There wasn't anything different. The weather was too hot again. I'm still looking after my husband, so I can't go out with the young dog. Anyway, the old dog doesn't want to walk anywhere. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

2026 Day 149

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens ha Naw

De Gwener, nawes warn ügens mis Me
Friday, 29th May

Gordhûher ew solabres ha na worama pele eth an jedh. My a wrüg fyttya nebes boos, tra veth marthys; golhy nebes dilhas, tra veth dres ehen; redya nebes levrow ha paperow, tra veth re hir; gwary gen agan keun, tra veth posigys e'n tòbmder-ma. Nag ew da genam gweythresow chei! Nag eus pictours wheg veth. Ma drog troos dhe gour vy. Na ell ev gwil tra veth. Res ew dhodho bos sedhys gen y droos ûhel. Ma eskis specyal dhodho.

It's evening already and I don't know where the day went. I did some cooking, nothing wonderful; washed some clothes, nothing remarkable; read some books and papers, nothing too long; played with our dogs, nothing stressful in this heat. I don't like housework! There are no nice pictures. My husband has a bad foot. He can't do anything. He has to be seated with his foot high. He has a special shoe.

2026 Day 148

2026 Dedh Cans Dogens hag Eth

De Yow, ethves warn ügens mis Me

Thursday, 28th May 

'Whynas' nag ew ger plegadow, bes anjei ell bos flourys pur deg. Welcòm ew whynas et ow lowarth. Ma hasednow ow terlentry pecar'a tegednow. Tavol wherow, tavol trenk, manegow lowarn, gwelsednow kerna; mons ow cachya an howlplan ha kerna en awel glor. 'Losôw mogh' ew hanow hager, bes an flourys ew maga wydn ha deg avel kegis bûgh po Las Metêrnes Anna. 

'Weeds' is not a pleasing word, but they can be very beautiful flowers. Weeds are welcome in my garden. Seeds are shining like jewels. Bitter dock, sheep sorrel, fox gloves, shaking grasses; they catch the sunshine and shiver in a breeze. 'Hog weed' is an ugly name, but the flowers are as white and pretty as cow-parsley or Queen Anne's Lace.