Shwmae!
I’m struggling to properly use the words “this” and “that” in Welsh and which particular words are used in different contexts. Hyn and hynny especially confuse me, and as of now I’ve only come across bod to mean “that” through Automagic.
Could I get a run down of the differences in use between these words or a link to a pre-existing post? I’ve listed all the different “this” and “that” words I can think of below for convenience:
Dyma ('ma)- this is, here is
Dyna ('na)- that is, there is
Hyn- this
Hynny- that
Hwn/Hon- this
Hwnnw/Honno- that
Y rhain- these
Y rheiny- those
Bod- to be/that
Diolch am darllen ac eich atebion!
@ChrisPrice the main difficulty comes because English uses “that” in various situations, and Welsh tends to distinguish between them.
Dyma and Dyna are used when you’re pointing something out, either literally or figuratively, often contrasting it with something else, .e.g.
-
Dyna fy nhŷ fi - that’s my house (not any other one)
-
Dyna beth o’n i’n meddwl - that’s what I thought (not what other people might have thought)
For stating “this thing” you can use y peth 'ma and for “that thing” y peth 'na OR
you can use words which indicate the grammatical gender of what you’re talking about, e.g.
-
dw i’n hoffi’r llyfr hwn ond ti’n hoffi’r llyfr hwnnw - I like this book, but you like that book
-
dw i’n byw yn y dre hon a ti’n byw yn y dre honno - I live in this town and you live in that town
-
dw i’n prynu’r sgidiau hyn a ti’n prynu’r sgidiau hynny - I’m buying these shoes and you’re buying those shoes
If you’re talking about something more abstract, or you don’t know the grammatical gender, you can also just use hyn and hynny
-
wyt ti’n siŵr am hyn? dw i ddim yn hoffi hynny o gwbl? - are you sure about this? I don’t like that at all.
And y rhain and y rheiny are plurals
-
wyt ti’n hoffi’r rhain? dw i’n meddwl bod y rheiny’n edrych yn well - do you like these? I think those look better.
Finally bod is something different altogether. It’s just that when you’re joining two sentences or phrases, e.g.
-
dw i’n meddwl bod y dyn yn mynd i ganu - I think THAT the man is going to sing. (Note that in English we often leave it out - I think the man is going to sing. In Welsh you need it.)
Edited to fix my typo - diolch @RichardBuck 
5 Likes
Am I being picky about a lovely, clear, helpful post if I point out that that is not, in fact, your car? :mischievous face:
Or should I just say, Wyt ti’n siŵr am hynny?
4 Likes
Ŵps, I was thinking “car” then changed my mind but my fingers had minds of their own 
2 Likes
Diolch yn fawr iawn am eich post, mae’n ddefnyddiol iawn! Dych chi’n angel! Dw i’n meddwl bo fi ddeall ychydig mwy nawr!
2 Likes