In the lesson it is said that you could is alla ti. So is that the past tense and alli de (from Course 3 lesson 24…I think) is the present and future tense?
Its the present/future short form Cyd. The lesson basically says:
The Cymraeg for “you can” is alla ti You’ll also use this very often when in English you’d say ‘you could’, so we’re going to use it as if it meant you could.
Hwyl,
Stu
Is it Iestyn’s course you are doing? I seem to remember you were doing that on The Other Site.
I hear “Gallet ti” at the start of the lesson by Iestyn. The “et” ending shows an “unreal” situation, a “would” or a “could”, rather than “present future” or “past”.
I think the present/future tense would, as you say, be along the lines of “alli di”.
But, as always, wait for someone who knows more than me to comment!
From Stu’s reply, which I don’t follow, I may well be missing something- perhaps something else crops up later in the lesson, or you have started doing Aran’s course?
Trying to help, but hope I haven’t confused matters!
Maybe saying whether it’s Iestyn’s or Aran’s version, and giving an approximate time in the lesson could be helpful? (In all cases, not just this one!)
Apologies for confusing you here. Owain is correct, in the Southern course, the word taught is gallet ti, described as “you could if you wanted to”. I had naively assumed that the script of the South course would follow that of the Northern one more closely than it in fact does, where fedri di is introduced with the wording that I quoted. My bad!
Hwyl
Stu
@Owain: I am/was doing Iestyn’s course, and it’s possible that I’m hearing things, but I went back and re-listened to it, and it really sounds like Iestyn is saying alli de in Course 3, Lesson 22.
Hi Cyd! I think I’ve been hearing lots of positive things about you from the Blainey clan here in Llandsul… (If it’s not you. take the praise anyway! If it is, you have a family of pure-bred Welsh speakers absolutely raving about your Welsh!!!)
Owain is absolutely right about Gallet ti. It’s not eh “you could” of the past (You could do that until you broke your leg), but rather the you could of the not-quite-sure type (You could do that if you had the time).
Remember that “gallet” loses it’s g in questions and negatives.
Gallet ti wneud hynny… (You could do that … if you had the time
Allet ti ddim gwneud hynny… (You couldn’t do that… even if I offered you a million dollars)
Allet ti wneud hynny? (Could you do that? If I held your coat for you).
Course 3 Lesson 22 has “Gelli di” - You can / will be able to (the non-past tense) which is, of course, from “gallu” the same as this,.
In the north they use “medru” where we use “gallu”.
Hope that helps!
Hi Iestyn! Um, I don’t think I’ve spoken with anyone from the Blainey clan. Is it possible they know an Angela Jones? If so, perhaps she’s spoken to them about me. If not, maybe they are thinking of CYD, the association?
Your explanation does help clarify; I’d thought it was galli di and knowing it is gelli di clears things up nicely.
Out of curiousity, is there a construction for ‘you could’…where could is in the past tense (i. e. ‘You could do that until you broke your leg’)?
Cyd asked: Out of curiousity, is there a construction for ‘you could’…where could is in the past tense (i. e. ‘You could do that until you broke your leg’)?
Isn’t that “you were able to …” so “roeddet ti’n medru …” or the short form equivalent which I have no idea how to spell so will leave for someone else. 