Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

If you’re directly speaking to someone (formally) or to a group of people, you’d use the -wch ending - prynwych y bwyd but if it’s just a general, to anyone, kind of instruction, then it’s common to use just the verbnoun. If you look at Welsh websites, that’s what you’ll generally see.

3 Likes

Diolch yn fawr @Deborah-SSi

yes, spot on!

It’s not so much the the number threshold that changes it, it’s the ‘o’ (of) that does it. When a noun directly follows a number, it’s always singular (as in your example ‘deg punt’), but when you put an ‘of’ in there, it becomes plural (as in your “faint o bunnoedd” - i.e. no preceding number, or even if you said ‘deg o bunnoedd’). This rule applies to any number, but higher numbers (like your “mil o bunnoedd” example) tend to put an ‘o’ in there more than smaller numbers, although there isn’t - as far as I’m aware - a magic number where it happens. You could equally say mil punt.

2 Likes

Shwmae bawb. Just going through challenge 6 of level 3 and “She has such a kind heart it’s the least I could do” came up. “Mae gyda hi galon mor garedig dyna oedd yr lleiaf a allwn i wneud” is what was said in Welsh.

Could anybody be able to explain to me why the imperfect is used in the Welsh for this please?

Diolch!

In the English, the “it’s” is a contracted form of “it was”, so it’s imperfect. The “could” gives you the clue. If it were in the present, it would be “it’s the least I can do” in the English.

2 Likes

Ah thank you so much for this, reading this now makes me feel incredibly stupid haha. Seems so obvious now! :slight_smile:

Hi! To start a sentence with “We are…” I thought it was “Dyn ni’n…”, e.g. “Dyn ni’n moyn” but on SSiW (South) they say “(ŷn) ni’n moyn”. Am I getting confused or is this the same thing? Can I say “Dyn ni’n moyn”? Thanks!

There are several colloquial forms to say we are, and all are more or less abbreviated forms of the “book form” rydyn ni, and the course simply teaches the most common forms. But saying dyn ni is completely fine.

3 Likes

I still hear the -a informal command regularly in NE Wales but the sloppier verb ending is slipping in more with younger people. Especially in more anglicised areas

1 Like

Helo Pawb. I am in Level 1, on lesson 20, and keep mixing up the use of “wnes i ddim” and “do’n i ddim”. Is there a clear rule of thumb for when to use either of them? Diolch!

Yes. Strictly speaking wnes i ddim is I didn’t and do’n i ddim is I wasn’t, so the former is used for verbs describing an action, the latter for verbs describing a state. Examples:
Wnes i ddim agor y ffenest.I didn’t open the window.
Do’n i ddim yn gwybod hyn.I didn’t know that.
(Here the English uses “didn’t”, because “I wasn’t knowing that” isn’t correct English, but that is basically what the Welsh is saying.)

3 Likes

Ah, diolch Hendrik. That makes sense and will help a lot! Hwyl.

A good rule of thumb from Gareth King is that the list of “stative” verbs that would usually sound odd/wrong with wnes i is very similar to the list of those that sound odd in English with “I’m x-ing” (“I am loving her” sounds wrong, unless she’s a Big Mac). Although the fit isn’t perfect, it makes it easy for an English speaker to develop a feel for when wnes i sounds right/wrong.

5 Likes

I keep mixing up ma dal rhaid i fi and ma dal gyda fi and I can’t figure out why. Any tips to help me to get them right?

Mae dal rhaid i fi = I still have to, (with some sense of compulsion). It will be followed by a verb.

Mae dal gyda fi = I still have, (with a sense of possession). It will be followed by a noun.

Hope that helps.

3 Likes

Thank you so much for answering that, much appreciated. Fingers crossed that will help me get them the right way around.

1 Like

Can someone tell me what the difference is between the words for “day” - dydd and diwrnod? Thanks! :slight_smile:

This is one of those things that crop up from time to time, so instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, here is an older post talking about this :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Is it possible to say „Mewn drama dw i“?
I know I can say „Dw i mewn drama“.

And the other way round:
Can I say „Dw i actor“ instead of „Actor dw i“

And then there is another question :sweat_smile:
If I say „Dw i‘n gweld car glas“ how do you know which colour I mean, if „glas“ can be blue, azure, green, grey and silver according to the dictionary (gweiadur.com)?
Same with „llwyd“ (grey/brown)

Yes, if you’re drawing attention to being in a drama (as opposed to being in a comedy, for instance).

Yes, you can say “Dwi’n actor”, but again, if you want to focus the sentence and draw attention to being an actor rather than, say, a teacher, you’d need “actor dwi”

Most people will understand glas as blue and llwyd as grey - those are their most common meanings.

2 Likes