Hwn or na?

Just finished challenge 16 (Northern).

I was at first taught “yr llyfr hwn” and “yr ffilm 'na,” but “hwn” and “na” seemed to swap around a bit in the later sentences. I couldn’t pick up whether it changes on who is being talked about or something like that…

Could anyone help?

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Y llyfr hwn - this book
Y film 'na - that film

:slight_smile:

You’ll come across other ways of saying ‘this’ and ‘that’, but hwn/'na are a good starting point… :slight_smile:

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I always like

y llyfr 'ma - this book
y llyfr 'na - that book

for three reasons:

  1. everybody uses them lots
  2. they’re invariable for gender:

y ci 'ma - this dog
y gath 'ma - this cat

  1. they’re invariable for number:

y gath 'ma - this cat
y cathod 'ma - these cats

:slight_smile:

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Wish iI could send :heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:
Please note that the expert on rgrammar favours the simplest solution! It was ever thus! Don’t let anyone scare you off grammar!

3 Likes

That was a good answer, diolch yn fawr!

:slight_smile::slight_smile:

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For this reason also, of course, I very much like the Preterite III with ddaru :

Invariable for person:
ddaru mi weld - I saw
ddaru Meleri weld - Meleri saw

Invariable for number:
ddaru mi weld - I saw
ddaru ni weld = we saw

Invariable for questions;
ddaru chi weld? - did you see?

Just add ddim for negatives
ddaru mi ddim gweld - I didn’t see

No need for tricky mo with definite objects:
ddaru mi ddim gweld y bws - I didn’t see the bus (= weles i mo’r bws)
ddaru mi ddim gweld nhw - I didn’t see them (= weles i mohonyn nhw)

And just remember to SM the VN in statements and questions.

Simples!

No good for people living Dain Saith, of course… :confused:

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VN?
and… sob… :sob: I will never get to use it!

VN is verbnoun. :slight_smile:

You can use it, dear @henddraig - you just won’t get served in shops, that’s all… :slight_smile:

Actually that could a project for everybody for 2018, couldn’t it? Everyone who lives Dain Saith to start using ddaru, and see if they can gradually change hwntw speech habits!

Might be more of a five-year plan, though…

Or five hundred, more like… :joy:

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I’m glad that I have just read your post about ddaru as I have picked this up being used a couple of times lately and wasn’t sure if I was just hearing it wrong . I hear it as “aru” though instead of “ddaru” :slight_smile: I think I’m just too used to using wnes i or wnaeth to change now though

The nes i, naeth e etc method is quite good as well - almost as simple as the ddaru method. :slight_smile:

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Listening to the sport programme on Radio Cymru, I think I heard “na 'na” for “than that”. We need an @iestyn type tongue twister full of "na"s of various meanings.

Also, I’m fairly certain I picked up my newly discovered " 'ma 'to" (“here again”). Something like: we are hear again in the stadium.