Diolch. In that case I said the right one but afterwards I doubted myself. In German you would say “ich finde sie nicht”, which is “I am not finding it”.
Another question from me (I hope I am not using up my quota): what is the difference between “yn nes ymlaen” and “wedyn”?
As a small aside, it would be just as natural in German to say “Ich kann es nicht finden” (and of course “it” = “es” – “sie” is either “her” or “them”, depending on context)
Stimmt!
Or it, depending on the noun, surely? If I’m looking for the newspaper (die Zeitung) “ich kann sie nicht finden” is still “I can’t find it” when translated into English.
Yes, of course, but that just stems from the fact that German has grammatical gender and English doesn’t – so even if you were looking for the key (der Schlüssel) or the wallet (das Portemonnaie), it would all translate to “it” regardless. Back when I made the posting, the object wasn’t specified, so I was merely pointing out that “sie” is not a natural choice of pronoun for a non-descript “it”.
If you’d like to talk more about this, please feel free to drop me a PM, but I feel we may have strayed far enough off-topic for this to continue here in this thread. 
There’s also the option of using a verb that means “not to be able to” – methu in the North, ffaelu in the South. Dw i’n methu ei ffeindio hi etc. Not sure if there’s a slight difference of nuance or emphasis, or if it’s just a matter of taste…
yn nes ymlaen is further forward, later on
wedyn has more meanings depending on context - afterwards, subsequently, later, then, after this (which all tie in with “later on”) but it can also be used for also, on the other hand, after all.
So if you’re using either in the ‘later on’ sense, there’s not much difference and both are commonly used (but do note that for later (in time) you can also use yn hwyrach!)
Usually pronounced ffili if you’re listening out for it.
Good point - I struggled to find it in the dictionary, because I knew the sound but couldn’t guess how it would be spelt (and I’d say methu anyway). In the end I looked up the English translation ‘fail’, and found it that way!
Methu and Ffili is one of those examples where English fails (see what I did there) to have an exact single word translation. Fail isn’t really the same thing as not be able to in my view.
Agreed - just like peidio is “to don’t”! But “fail” is one of the meanings, and good enough to help me find it in GPC 
Both very commonly used in nice idiomatic Welsh - and remember that ffaelu despite the spelling is usually pronounced ffili over vast areas of Equatorial Wales.
Watching “Garejis; Dan y Bonet” last night one of the drivers (who was competing with his father) used the expression “Os hewl galed, hen gi”. Can somebody help with the meaning, please? I presume it means something like “if the work is difficult you need someone with experience, not a young pup” Thanks
It’s not an expression I’ve come across before, but my reading of it would be “If it’s a hard road, it’s an old dog” i.e. an older person finds things more difficult than a younger one. However, I could be totally wrong and your interpretation might be the right one.
Thanks Sharon. I think you are correct, the father was racing the son and the son was winning, so I think he (the father) was saying, in effect, “the reason the race was more difficult for me is because I am old” which is what you said.
They do use some interesting expressions on the programme, it’s one of the reasons I enjoy watching it e.e “ ‘sdim siap arna i yn coginio” and I heard one lady use the word “slowach” which made me smile 
Sori, just noticed that autocorrect changed “Siaron” to “Sharon”! It weren’t me guv, ‘onest!
when studying the creation of the Welsh bible, it was suggested that William Salesbury (one of the Elizabeth an translators) invented ei and eu to show a closer correspondence with Latin in order to give Welsh a bit of a status boost in comparison with English
(maybe Aran can comment on whether that is credible since he has a bit of school Latin)
This is correct, though p[ossibly not the motive. It was simply a mistaken idea that the Welsh word (up till then spelt i) for his, her and its was related to the Latin equivalent eius meaning the same three things. It’s not, but anyway the -us ending was simply knocked off, and hey presto…ei!
And one might add that formal/fussy pronunciations of ei as a diphthong (in other words, pronounce as spelt) are simply wrong - vicars, politicians and the like only started rhyming ei with tei once the spelling had been changed. This practice will be banned once I am in charge.
This version of hypercorrection is a massive bugbear of mine in English. When I hear people pronouncing, for example, forehead or Wednesday like they’re spelt I want to start hurling furniture around. 
I’m second-guessing myself here: I just mentioned, in another thread, the title of the song by Yr Angen “Fel na Fydd e”. I’ve still never yet caught enough of the lyrics to be sure of the whole song, but the immediate context is:
“Well 'da fi redeg i ffwrdd / os fel na fydd e.”
I’ve always taken this to be “if it’s going to be like that, I’d rather run away,” on the assumption that fydd gets softened because of a fe that isn’t actually there (or something like that). I tried looking it up to check, and I’m now seeing examples that are making me wonder if it’s not actually negation - “if it’s not going to be like that” - but I think I feel happier with my first explanation (partly because it’s not os fydd e ddim fel 'na).
Help! I have now confused myself thoroughly. Will it or won’t it be like that?
A finnau 
