Didn’t/doesn’t

Hello - I am at the end of Level 2 and just reviewing the huge amount I have learnt before signing up for Deep End! I am probably looking too closely at this but I find I am confused over the different ways of saying various people didn’t do things…

Do’n I ddim, Wnaeth o ddiim (would it be wnaeth hi ddim for she?) nest ti ddim, doeddan nhw ddim (would it be doeddan ni ddim for we?), dydi o ddim, doedd hi ddim (why not dydi hi ddim?).

How can I remember which to use? :flushed:. I am getting to grips with would, want etc …

Thank you!
Julie

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yes

dydi o ddim, doedd hi ddim (why not dydi hi ddim?).
Dydi o ddim means: he doesn’t
Doedd hi ddim means: She wasn’t

The forms do’n i ddim, doedd hi ddim etc are a form if you want to speak about things that happened in the past over a period ( I was speaking, she was doing etc.)
The forms wnes i, wnest ti , wnaeth o or wnes i ddim, wnest ti ddim are another form of the past, things that happened at a point of time ( I did, she came, we saw etc.)
The problem is which to use. The rules are not always the same as in English, e.g you always say o’n i eisiau, o’n i’n gwybod, though you’d say in English I wanted or I knew ( and not I was wanting, I was knowing).
But: you will always be understood whatever you say and if you speak often and with different people. you will get a feeling for what to say.

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Here’s a video which may help:

But in short without going to the video…

Do’n i ddim, doeddwch chi ddim, doedde ti ddim - Continous past tense. (I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t drinking, He wasn’t listening, He wasn’t very good at school, they weren’t playing properly).

Wnes i ddim, wnaeth o ddim, wnaeth hi ddim - Singular instance past tense (He met her, She kicked the ball at the window, He ate a pack of crisps).

It takes practice, but if you’ve mastered it in English - and you understand why you would use one over the other - you’ll be fine :smiley:

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The main thing is not to worry - get yourself into conversations often enough, and you’ll run into the occasional wall of misunderstanding, and that will help you iron it all out… :slight_smile:

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What he said!

There are loads of examples as well, where something could comfortably fit into “both”. i.e

Oeddwn i’n siarad gyda John Smith ddoe - I was speaking with John Smith yesterday.
Wnes i siarad gyda John Smith ddoe - I spoke with John Smith yesterday.

or even if you fancy being fancy…
Siaradais i gyda John Smith ddoe - I spoke with John Smith yesterday.

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Thank you - confidence restored!

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Nicky - your video is brilliant - thank you!

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I’ve also been struggling with this but the replies above have helped a lot - diolch yn fawr pawb!

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