Writing a Diary 16 (Q & A about what you did)

In a conversation someone may ask you what you did. Here are some possible ways, using the compound preterite, with verb gwil/gül to do. The verbal particle <a> is frequently dropped in Late Cornish, especially in conversation:

 “did you?” is

<a wrüga[1] whei?> (formal)

or <a wresta [2] (che [3])?> (familiar)

You may be asked a general question about the past, e.g.:

Pandra wrüga whei gwil de?	What did you do yesterday?
Pandra wresta gwil de Sül?	What did you do on Sunday?

In that case you may answer using the preterite or the compound preterite, e.g.

Me eth dhe’n shoppys de.	I went to the shops yesterday.
Me a wrüg moas dhe’n eglos de Sül.	I went (did go) to church on Sunday

You may be asked a more specific question about the past, e.g.:

Wrüga whei moas dhe’n shoppys de?	Did you go to the shops yesterday?
A wresta che moas dhe’n eglos de Sül?	Did you go to church on Sunday?

If you just want to give a short positive or negative answer, you can use:

Ea, gwrüg.	Yes, I did.
Na, na wrüg.	No, I didn’t.

You can use Pandra  …? with any verbs that can take an object, e.g.

Pandra wrüga whei gweles newher?	What did you see last night?
Pandra wresta gwary de Sadorn?	What did you play on Saturday?

 Again, your answer could be in the preterite or compound preterite, e.g.:

Me a welas gwary gen Alan Kent newher.	I saw a play by Alan Kent last night.
Me a wrüg gwary peldroos de Sadorn.	I played football on Saturday.

You can ask a specific question using any verb, e.g.:

Wrüga whei neyja en gwav?	Did you swim in the winter?
A wresta eva re hedhyw vettin?	Did you drink too much this morning?

 You might want to give a negative answer, e.g.:

Na wrüga vy byscath (besca) neyja en gwav	I didn’t ever swim in winter.
Na wrüga vy eva traveth hedhyw vettin.	I didn’t drink anything this morning.

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[1] pronounced [reega]

[2]  can aso be <wrüsta>

[3] this is more emphatic