What’s the Cymraeg equivalent of “baby brother/sister” as in an affectionate term for a younger sibling, not a sibling that’s actually an infant?
I’ve heard brawd bach / chwaer fach to refer to younger siblings, but that doesn’t seem to be particularly affectionate.
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So does mawr / fawr also work for older siblings?
Somehow it still catches me by surprise how similar many terms like this are between English and Welsh.
Funny, I hadn’t much thought before but the plain speaking / affectionate versions are a bit lopsided.
“Big” sibling is more casual and feels to me to suggest a closer relationship than just “older” sibling, just like “little” sibling is that bit nicer than “younger” sibling, but “baby” sibling is cutest and definitely the most affectionate version, and the older ones just don’t get anything to match it in English.
Oh well.
“Bach” does have a range of meanings, some of them more “dear” than “little”, so I think it might have some of those affectionate connotations:
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Pryd Vs pan.
I thought I knew this. “Pryd” for a question like “when did you start learning”?
Then I got this to translate
“I want to remember when you started”
It gave “Dw i’n moyn cofio pryd wnest ti ddechrau”
Should this be “pan”?
I think I’ve missed something early on!
We would like, Bydden ni’n licio, but other times it’s fydden ni’n.
Im nearly there.
Diolch
Grammatically, a positive statement would use either bydden, mi fydden or fe fydden, and a question or a negative statement would use fydden. BUT!! Some people will use fydden for a positive statement because in speech the mi/fe has dropped out but left the mutation it caused.
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Thank you
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Thank you.
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@verity-davey @siaronjames My apologies for the very late reply. I have been out of touch with the SSiW Forum for a while (largely due to a new, time-consuming and very tiring job that I am leaving at the end of March).
So, Psalm 23 Verse 2: Yes, I’m quite familiar with the verse in question. The original Hebrew here is similar to that used in Israel today. The language is very simple, and there are two clear phrases that are not linked: “The Lord is my shepherd”; “I shall not lack”. Obviously other translations are possible, but the Hebrew wording is quite clear that the second phrase follows on from the first with no linking by words or other grammatical means.
Hope that helps a bit!
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Bore da…
May I check a quick passive construction please? I want to say “I’m really happy the books won’t be thrown away”:
Dw i wrth fy modd na fydd y llyfrau’n cael eu daflu i ffordd.
Is that ok / not idiomatic / sothach llwyr? I’m still not very confident with how the passive is used in such circumstances…
Diolch yn fawr!
Yes, that’s spot on David 
…and that’s exactly how correct constructions worm their way into your subconcsious brain despite your conscious brain telling you to doubt yourself 
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Thanks, @siaronjames.
It felt both right and wrong… You’re right, once you get past the stage where you’re happy to have written something which looks vaguely Welsh, you start second guessing yourself – and then there’s the whole issue of ‘it’s grammatically correct but nobody would ever say it’…
I really appreciate your help – thanks again!
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“-heit” is similar to English “-ness”. “Gesundheit” is still “health” - roughly, “wellness”.
The Federal Ministry of Health is “Bundesministerium für Gesundheit”.
I’ve just got to Fedri di ddeud wrtha i, i just wobdered why tell me has been wrtha fi until now!
Diolch
Prepositions often conjugate, and the conjugation of wrth for 1st person is wrthaf, which will will give you wrthaf i, however, the f is often left off in speech in some dialects, ending up as wrtha i. It’s just personal/local preference.
I just came back because. Thought ah! Is it wrthaf i, which i have heard as wrtha fi. When the lady say eitha’ you hear her using the f on he end.
Thank you, I hear something that is intended to show us variety and think I’ve been getting it wrong.
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Something that is throwing me at the moment. Don’t know if it is a glitch in the course or I’m not getting something. So I took some screen shots to confirm.
The sentence “he told me that he wanted to read that book tonight” was translated as “ddwedodd e wrtha I fod e’n moyn darllen y llyfr 'na heno”
It’s the use of the present tense “e’n moyn” for “he wanted” that is throwing me. I’m sure I’ve seen similar sentences translated here as “oedd e’n moyn”
Can anyone help clarify? Thank you.
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Welsh doesn’t do it the same way as English - fod e’n moyn is actually more like “he said him to want to…” so it isn’t really past or present, and doesn’t need to change just because you’ve got ‘said’ instead of ‘says’ at the beginning.
This comes up a lot, for a lot of people. Don’t worry about it.
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