I’m trying to chatter away to myself like a tree full of monkeys. Thanks for that image, @Iestyn, it always makes me smile! I’m having fun, but sometimes I’m not sure if my attempts are correct. So here are a few sentences that I am unsure of or have questions about. Feedback and corrections would be much appreciated. (I am doing the Southern Course 1.)
Dw i’n moyn mynd gytre. - I want to go home.
Wnes i fynd â Mary gytre. - I took Mary home. (Meaning I drove her home).
Bydda i’n mynd i’r siop heddiw. - I will go to the shop today.
Wyt ti’n moyn rhywbeth i fyta? - Do you want something to eat?
Dw i’n mynd i weithio. - I am going to work. – This is the verb “to work”; how would I say I am going to work, as in I am going to my job/workplace?
How do I say I went for a walk? (By myself, achos does dim ci gyda fi ) I guessed “Wnes i fynd â fi am dro” but somehow it doesn’t feel right.
We use isie for needing to do something: There is a need for me TO… But what about needing a thing? Would I say “Mae isie i fi llaeth” for “I need milk”? I could in this case say “Mae isie i fi brynu llaeth”, but it got me wondering about needing things versus needing to do something.
And last of all, if you want a laugh, I was trying to tell myself today that I had a headache, and the best I could do was “Dwy’r pen ddim yn iawn”. I haven’t learned how to say “my” yet, and I’m sure there is some much different, possibly more idiomatic, way to say that. My obviously wrong attempt made me laugh; maybe that will help the headache!
Hope I haven’t asked for too much in one post. Diolch in advance for comments/corrections!
Thanks so much, Craig. I actually just bought that Modern Welsh Dictionary! I am slightly hesitant to use it, because I don’t want to start pronouncing things wrong. Some words are pretty obvious, but others (especially words with wy or yw) are not. For example, had I looked up “bwyta” before it was introduced in the course, I would have been saying “bweeta” instead of “bitta”. Also, most of the sections on grammar look somewhat overwhelming at the moment. I’m sure Aran will be happy if I wait to investigate some of those until later
I’m guessing “gwaith” is "gw-eye-th… So I can say “Dw i’n mynd i waith”.
I thought I might have to be “taking myself for a walk”, but your version makes sense. And I figured needing a thing was probably coming later, so thanks for letting me know it’s in Course 2. I’ll wait until I get there to make up that type of sentence.
I didn’t know I would find “I’ve got a headache” as a phrase in the dictionary…I will go check that out. Thankfully the headache is gone now
To have driven her home, you would say “Wnes i yrru Mary gytre” (yrru being softened from gyrru). But you won’t cover the Welsh for the verb ‘drive’ in the old course, so your response would be ok!
I think I remember using “Mae eisiau llaeth arna i” in the southern course (I will need to refresh my memory!) but in all honesty, when I’m speaking Welsh with someone and I’m describing a need, I cheat and use “angen”! (It’s not really cheating, but I find it easier to keep the flow of a conversation).
Otherwise, Craig and Stu have answered the others as well as I would’ve!
@craigf I think you are right…I went to look up the “have a headache” phrase, and looked up to find I’d just spend 20 minutes leafing through the dictionary… Loved that emoticon!
@essenbee Stu, thanks so much for that! I’m not familiar with “Es i”, I’m assuming it is the same as “Wnes i”. That is quite concise; I wouldn’t have come up with that because I would have thought I was missing a verb. Simple is good - I like it! In that vein, I’ll just skip the “by myself” version for now I only came up with the thought of “by myself” because I was trying to replace “a’r ci” with something to maintain the structure of the sentence.
@faithless78 Thanks for the word for “drive”. I was hoping that the use of “take” would work in this context, glad to know it is okay. I hear “angen” in music a lot. I think all my music is Gog
@aran Thanks very much! I had to look “swyddfa” up in my new dictionary; it said “office”. That works for me!
I used to be “Swyddog Cyswllt Ewrop” at prifysgol Aber until 1999. My Swyddfa was me and a secretary
Swydd means job or post or even office.
Diswyddo means dsimissed or sacked or made redundant.
“Es i…” is the short form of “Wnes i fynd…” (I went…). You will come across a whole lot more of these in Course 3. These forms will make your spoken Welsh much more fluid and natural sounding. In fact, I probably enjoyed doing course 3 the most because of these (and the random introduction of new words without actually introducing them beforehand!). If you’re not there yet, you’re in for a real treat!
@hewrop Thanks for the info! Sounds like it was an interesting job. Hope none of us ever need to know “diswyddo”
@faithless78 Thank you - I didn’t realize “fynd” was included, that’s why I felt like there was a verb missing! Definitely not there yet…working on Lesson 21 of Course 1. I look forward to the fun and challenges to come!
If it’s any consolation, mynd is one of only four verbs that are usually described as irregular, and they are (more or less) irregular in the same way (with regional variations). (“bod” is also irregular, but in a different way … well, it’s a law unto itself really).
I thought ‘swyddfa’ was ‘office’, ‘swyddfa post’ post office and ‘swydd’, maybe, job. I watch children’s S4C. On octonots, when saying, “To your posts!” (or ‘stations’) he seems to use ‘ystafell’ (room). Is that common? I sort of expected ‘gorsaf’ or ‘swydd’.
) I guessed “Wnes i fynd â fi am dro” but somehow it doesn’t feel right.
