Ddim o'r - mo'r

Welsh General / Questions
1

P’nawn da, Bawb!

Wi’n ceisio dysgu am ‘mo’!
I’m trying to learn about ‘mo’!
(Ddim o).

I understand that it is used with nouns, proper nouns etc

Ar-lein, mae nifer o enghreifftiau, ond…
Online, there are a number of examples, but…

The majority of them seem to follow the negative for ‘saw’ welais - weles, etc.

Er Enghraifft:

Welais i mo Siân ddoe.
I did not see Siân yesterday.

So I have been thinking is it Usually used with the short verb form and would the following be correct?

See.
Welais i mo’r gêm neithiwr.
I didn’t see the game last night.

Watch.
Wyliais i mo’r gêm neithiwr.
I didn’t watch the game last night.

Mynd.
Es i mo’r gwaith yr wythnos diwetha.
I didn’t go to work last week.

Es i mo Gaerdydd eto.
I didn’t go to Cardiff yet.

Es i mo Gymru eleni.
I didn’t go to Wales this year.

Gwneud.
Wnân nhw ddim pont dros dro i ni.
They will not make a temporary bridge for us.

Wnân nhw mo’r bont dros dro i ni.
They will not make THE temporary bridge for us.

Sing.
Chana(f) i mo’r gân i chi.
I will not sing the song for you.

Although, I feel that the “Es i” examples are incorrect and should really be:

Es i ddim i Gaerdydd eto.
I didn’t go to Cardiff yet.

And.

Es i ddim i Gymru eleni.
I didn’t go to Wales this year.

Diolch am eich help!

I respectfully request your replies in Welsh and English to help with my understanding and learning. :blush:

2

You’ve almost got it! Da iawn! It’s when you have a negative direct object after a ‘short form verb’, so most of your examples are fine, but the ones above with mynd don’t work.

If you think about the difference, mynd has i after it, mynd i Gaerdydd, mynd i Gymru so you don’t have a ‘direct object’ following. It’s es i ddim i Gaerdydd and es i ddim i Gymru whereas the others don’t have another word like i with them:

Gwnân nhw bont - Wnân nhw ddim bont - “they will / won’t make A bridge”
Gwnân nhw’r bont - Wnân nhw mo’r (ddim o’r) bont - “they will / won’t make THE bridge”

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3

Basically, you can’t say ddim y so that becomes mo’r, and you also can’t have ddim before a proper name (person, town, country) because they’re also definite.
Is that a fair summary?

BTW this is one reason Welsh feels much harder than most other languages I’ve learnt - there are so many variations and special situations that require special treatment…

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4

Yes, that’s it - so you get phrases like weles i mo Tom yn y dre - “I didn’t see Tom in town” and also the pronoun forms - weles i mohono fe/fo - “I didn’t see him”.

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6

Isn’t the Gog version “Weles i mono fo”?

7

Well, the pronoun fo is certainly the gog form, but shortening mohono to mono (and other forms accordingly) is more of an individual speaker’s preference and happens in natural speech all over the place.

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8

Yes, as Hendrik mentions - it’s not really a north/south difference as such, more of a personal preference or just what is heard more in various different places.

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9

Aha!
Thanks for making that clear.
(I’m currently taking the Canolradd course, and the Gog book doesn’t mention “mohono” at all - only the “mono” forms. I checked the Hwntw book, and it only uses the “mohono” forms without even mentioning that there are “mono” forms. Our gog teacher corrected one of the students who used the “mohono” forms, so I’ll pass on your answer to her as well.)

10

Well, I’ve heard both in the south, and it’s useful to know that the other exists. If you look in grammar books, both forms are usually shown and just considered variation.