_Emons ŷ en ow chŷ_, they are in my house.
_Ema ’n levrow en ow chŷ_, the books are in my house.
(c). _es_, _esy_, _ejy_, are chiefly used with relatives or interrogatively in the sense of “is there,” “is there not.”
_An levar es en ow chŷ_, the book which is in my house (in this case _es_=_a es_, which is).
_’Es levar en ow chŷ_? Is there a book in my house?
_Nag es levar en ow chŷ_? Is there not a book in my house?
In the first of these two interrogations the interrogative particle _a_ coalesces with _es_, in the second _nag_=_ni ag_, _ag_ being the same interrogative particle, with a _g_ added before a vowel.
The ordinary interrogative of this tense is merely the form _’oma_, _’osta_, _’yua_, _’on nŷ_, _’ough whŷ_, _’ens ŷ_ (pron. _enjŷ_), which should be preceded by an apostrophe to show that the interrogative particle _a_ is elided. The negative interrogative is the same preceded by _nag_.
The difference between the use of _ema_, _yu_, and _es_ is not quite so distinct in Cornish as between the corresponding _y mae_, _yw_, and _oes_ in Welsh, but if there is any difference in meaning between _ema_ and _yu_, it is that _ema_ has more often the sense of _there is_, _it is_, and _yu_ more commonly that of _is_ only; also _yu_ can be used interrogatively and negatively, while _ema_, except after _ple_, where, should not be used interrogatively, and is never used negatively at all. Its negative and interrogative equivalent is _es_.
II. FIRST DIVISION. IMPERFECT TENSE, _I was_.
1. _esen_, _ythesen_, 1. _esen_, _ythesen_. _en_.
2. _eses_, _ytheses_, 2. _eseugh_, _ytheseugh_. _es_.
3. _esa_, _ytheses_. 3. _esens_, _ythesens_.
1. _erav_, _eram_, _erama_, _therav_, 1. _eron_, _theron_. _theram_.
2. _eras_, _erasta_, _theras_. 2. _erough_, _therough_.
3. _era_, _thera_. 3. _erons_, _therons_.
The change from _s_ to _r_ in this tense, and the assimilation of the inflections to the present, does not occur in the written language until the middle of the seventeenth century. The personal pronouns were always used with this tense in its late form, and the final consonants of the personal inflections generally coalesced with the pronouns, and so were omitted in writing, thus _therav vî_, _theron nŷ_, _therough whŷ_, were written, though incorrectly, _thera vî_, _thera nŷ_, _thero whŷ_.