I'm confused

What’s the difference between

Alla i ddim and gallu?

In old lessons “I can’t” is expressed as gallu

But In new lessons its expressed as alla i ddim

I can’t Remember would be?

Alla i ddim cofio

Or

Dwi dim un gallu cofio?

gallu is the verb “to be able”.
The negative ("I can’t) can be expressed in two different ways (but means the same thing) -
Alla i ddim
and
Dwi ddim yn gallu

so “I can’t remember” can be both “Alla i ddim gofio” or “Dwi ddim yn cofio”

So why did they change it. What was the point?

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Because you’ll hear people use both so it’s to get you used to the different forms. All verbs have long and short forms like this.

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It would be like having “will not” and “won’t” in an English course even though they mean the same thing. You’ll hear both, so if you only learnt “will not” you’d be lost the first time someone said “won’t”.

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which is the most common usage?

Very difficult to say because not only does it vary from area to area, there are people who don’t necessarily stick to just one form. The usual advice is to go with the one you hear being used most around you but remember the other way for when you hear/read it elsewhere.

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Is the old course still relevant?..because im just going to do that first>?

Yes, it’s still relevant but Aran designed the new course to sort out some of the things he wasn’t happy with in the old course (not the actual Welsh, just the construction of the course). Most people go all the way through the new course first, then go through the old course to help ‘fine tune’, but there’s nothing to stop you doing the old course first if that’s what you want to do.

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ok thanks.

The word “say” changes, or softens after “mynd i”…how would you pronounce it, is it like thoo-wade? or Thru-wade

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The softening changes the initial d of dweud to dd, which is the sound you get in english th as is this or that (but not as in think!). So “thwade” is a good approximation for the pronunciation of ddweud. :slight_smile:

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Got it.

when “it” is softened by “trior”, how is it spoken? like Va?

Not sure what you mean there. “it” (hi/fe/fo) doesn’t soften - they’re always hi (hee), fe (veh) or fo (voh).

Our rotor Robert ski es always says Dont ask why, it just is! Ha ha

Ugh
Sorry that should have been our tutor says “don’t ask why, it just is”

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With non-teacher first language speakers, I’ve learnt that it’s Ok to occasionally ask “how do you say [something in English]?” but generally not to ask why. It would be like someone from Spain asking us about the conditional aspect. :slight_smile:

I take this approach (as recommended in the challenges) I feel a lot less stressed about it. I notice the people who worry about the grammar and reasons for things seem to struggle the most. I have a 3 year old, he doesn’t let me take time out to investigate the reason for things :rofl: I find that eventually the penny drops and it makes sense in its own time.

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im under the impression that the online english to welsh translator is terrible?

im on lesson 4 and i can;t understand a god damn word when i watch s4c…

It will come. You really are in the early stages. Keep listening out and soon you will start to recognise words. Listen to Radio Cymru when you can. Just put it on in the background. It helps a lot.

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