I’m guessing that in the bod examples, ei and eu respectively are missing before the bod, but their ghostly non-presence is still having a grammatical effect.
Look out, therefore, for the likes of Dwi’n edrych yn hapus achos mod i wedi pasio’r arholiad.
Of course @robbruce is right about sentences 3 and 5 that @Lena_P quotes - they are bod because of the pronouns hi and nhw following. In other words, it’s always bod hi and bod nhw, just like it’s always fod e, fod ti, mod i and bod chi and bod ni.
With examples 1, 2 and 4 the bod / fod is followed not by a pronoun but by nouns - and in these cases the plain fact is that either bod or fod is possible, though my strong feeling is that fod is more common. And it has nothing to do with gender of the noun either. So all these possibilities would be fine:
Dw i’n siwr bod Gareth yn dod Dw i’n siwr fod Gareth yn dod Dw i’n siwr bod Siaron yn dod Dw i’n siwr fod Siaron yn dod
So: learn the right one with pronouns, choose either bod or fod according to your fancy with nouns.
It’s fine, I’m not feeling left out, is it Bogata? [he writes whilst on the internet and could find out instantly, nope that’s Columbia, it’s La Paz, oh wait… it could be Sucre, it depends who you ask. Curses I’ve just destroyed my point about how some questions are easy to answer with the intertnet, but grammar questions, less so, poo]
this is a useful thread, thanks! not only do i find the ‘fods’ and ‘bods’ tricky too (however, this can be learnt), as a learner still blundering my way through yr hen iaith, i’ve noticed that native speakers often use a bod or fod to join longer sentences up, where as a learner, i’m tempted to use ‘mae’…but i guess step 1 IS noticing…step 2…implementing yourself…tricky! frequently refer to the relevant chapter in modern welsh, with the hope one day this WILL become natural!! #gobaith!
Yes the use of “bod” for “that” appears in one of those painfully long sentences in one of the challenges.
I remember now, because some kind forum member (possibly Gruntius) gently pointed out that there was no need for “mae” after the “bod” as they are both derived from the same verb (to be).
… and Gareth (King) was far too polite to mention that this is covered in his excellent “Modern Welsh - A Comprehensive Grammar” (pages 303-304 in my Routledge 1996 reprint), including the use of the simplified “bo fi” etc.
