Although the SSi Methodology focuses on listening and speaking, it’s quite common for people to become curious about the grammar behind what they’re learning and want to ask questions about it … or just to make some comments from their observations.
Rather than you having to hunt about the forum to find such things, this is a special topic for those who enjoy grammatical discussion and would like to delve deeper.
To start you off - a frequent question is: Can you recommend a grammar or text book where I can learn more?
Our answer to that is always that you can’t go wrong with books by Gareth King. He has produced workbooks at beginner and intermediate level Welsh, more comprehensive books explaining the grammar, and his latest books - Thinking Welsh and Working Welsh - give a lot of explanations and examples of Welsh grammar and language use that commonly mystify or surprise learners.
So here you are Grammar Fans! A topic especially for you!
Thanks so much for setting up a space for us grammar gremlins
I’ve always struggled a bit with knowing exactly when to use “sydd.” I understand it’s a kind of clause connector—roughly meaning “who/which/that is” (I think), but I feel like I get it wrong (or at least half-wrong!) about 50% of the time.
Yes, that’s right, though it won’t necessarily translate as those directly.
You can think of it as a+mae (you can say a oedd or a fydd, or a ‘any other verb’, but not a mae) and then any place where you would normally have mae preceded by who/which/that needs a sy/sydd instead.
e.g. the man who was asking = y dyn a oedd yn gofyn
the man who will be asking/who will ask = y dyn a fydd yn gofyn
but the man who is asking/who asks = y dyn sy’n gofyn
It’s not just 3rd person present, although that is where it is mostly used, it also applies to the present tense in general depending on the construction. For instance, in an emphasised sentence like “I’m asking” (it is I who is asking), you’d have *fi sy’n gofyn" and that applies to ti, fo/fe, hi, ni, chi, nhw too.
Pobol Y Cwm! Can’t take it too seriously but it’s entertaining, and 25-ish minutes is a nice episode length if you need to spend that time concentrating hard to understand.
Of course, there are subtitles if you want them. I try to get as much as I can without subtitles first, and then watch it again with the subs to understand the rest.
This is one of those things I’ve picked up without knowing why! Thanks so much to @christopher-14 for asking a really interesting question, and of course to @siaronjames for such a clear answer.
Now I’ve learned something new, can I go back to bed?
Can’t take it too seriously but it’s entertaining, and 25-ish minutes is a nice episode length if you need to spend that time concentrating hard to understand.
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