Negatives

Hello
Have finished New Course completely and half way through Old Course and still coming to terms with when to use particular negatives. I think I understand that Sa and So are interchangeable with dim/ddim in present tense but have been thrown a few times when nag has been thrown into the mix and completely stumped on when to use beidio.
Are there simple rules on this?
Diolch
Berwyn

nag is na before a vowel, and na can mean “that …not” or “who/which…not”, so if you’ve got a negative “that” clause or a negative “who/which” clause in the sentence, that’s why you’re hearing na or nag. It can also mean “nor”, and is also the ‘no’ part of a negative answer (e.g. nag ydw = no I’m not).
Peidio (which mutates to beidio in some places) is a verb that means “to stop” (among other similar things… to refrain, to cease, etc), but it can get translated in its command form as “Don’t!” (though you’re really saying “Stop!”). It also appears in some idioms such as “ai peidio” = “or not”, and with “rhaid” to mean “not” as in rhaid i mi beidio… = I must not (lit. I must refrain from…)

Hope that helps :slight_smile:

Thanks Sian. It was the rhaid I mi beidio use that confused me

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