HI,
(I’m doing the North Wales lessons)
I thought that in Lesson 4 I learned that “I’ve still got to” was “Mae dal rhaid i mi” and that, “I’ve still got to” is very different from “I’ve still got” or “Mae dal gen i…”
So, in Lesson 18 there is a sentence, “I feel that I’ve still got to learn more.” Based on what I learned in Lesson 4, I thought it should be, “Dw i’n teimlo bod dal rhaid…” But it was, “Dw i’n teimlo bod dal gen i fwy i ddysgu.” Why isn’t it using rhaid for “I’ve got to” instead of “gen i” ?
Thanks. I’m so confused!
I sounds to me that you have sussed it, although you might not realise it yet
“Dw i’n teimlo bod dal rhaid…” means I think that I still must (have to learn more)
“Dw i’n teimlo bod dal gen i fwy i ddysgu.” means I think that I still have (have/possess more to learn)
Ohhh. Okay. Thank you. I’ll have to put more thought into this.
In my mind, I had developed a way to tell when to use rhaid and when to use gen and this sentence in Lesson 18 made my ‘black and white rule’ turn very grey! Thanks again.
Don’t worry. It took a while for me to be sure that I was right. They are very similar in English. Once you get your head around this you’ll never forget it.
Rhaid = must (have to) eg must or have to learn one more thing
Gen = have (own) eg I have the thing to learn here, on my phone.
This is helpful, thank you!
If what comes straight after is an action, then it will be “rhaid i mi” - I’ve got to DO this action
If it’s not an action, but something that you have/possess, then it’s “mae gen i” - I have this thing
If you think about the example sentence you’ve given, what you have is a thing - “fwy” - “more”. It just happens that what you have more of is something that you have to do, but it could equally be more of something - e.g. “mae gen i fwy o afalau” - I have more apples. It’s a bit subtle and can take some thinking to get your head around it
Thank you for this information. It’s very helpful!