I think my confidence in working out the correct tense for “that” clauses has now been completely blown despite your help, with this latest example!
In this case, the present tense is used in the English so I can’t see why “oedd” appears in the Welsh. So unless your "[quote=“Deborah-SSi, post:9861, topic:3153”]
It’s not really possible from the English to tell which is meant, so it’s fine whichever you say.
[/quote] applies here, I’m lost:pensive_face:![]()
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Well, to me the English translation of that Welsh should say “I said that he didn’t …”, so that one must have slipped through the checking. Sorry
but try not to worry about these. In context it will almost always be obvious what is meant, and you’ll start to get a feel for it.
I’m having another one of those moments where I’m feeling that there’s a distinction, and I’m not sure if it’s in my imagination or real.
So, the preterite of gwneud comes in three flavours: gwnes i, wnes i, and nes i. They are all basically the same but increasingly abbreviated.
I have gotten used to using ‘nes i’ to create the preterite of other verbnouns: Nes i weld, Naeth o ganu, ayyb.
But when it comes to using the actual preterite of gwneud, the longer version feels right: Gwnes i flêr, Gwnaeth o waith da.
Is that distinction in my head? Would it be just as valid to say Nes i flêr, Naeth o waith da, ayyb?
I would say that there is no real distinction other than maybe in the perceived level of formality. And don’t forget that it is possible (and it the north probably even normal) to say “nes i wneud” ![]()
Lovely. Diolch. I kinda thought to, but it just felt a bit weird for no good reason.
S’mae! Me again!
What are the negative and interrogative versions of ‘Taswn i…’ (If I were to)?
Would it be:
Taswn i ddim yn coginio swper… If I were to not cook supper… (If I were not to cook supper…)
Taswn i’n coginio swper…? Were I to cook supper…?
Logically, taswn ought to mutate to daswn, but for some reason that feels weird.
Diolch!
You’re right that it doesn’t sound right to mutate taswn, so I checked in Y Cyfeiriadur (a very useful reference book) and it says, “The word taswn (etc) never mutates, irrespective of its context.”
So what you wrote is correct.
Thanks!
I do love Welsh, but lordie, all these exceptions to rules!!
The logic here Suw is that taswn is really petaswn, so the t- doesn’t mutate because it’s not really the start of the word. Same reason that words like moyn and molchi don’t mutate either. ![]()
Aha! Yes, that makes total sense! Thank you!
2 questions today please.
First one:
“Pa mor hir?” (how long?)
“Faint mor uchel?” (how high?)
Are “pa” and " faint" interchangeable here?
Second question:
Without knowing the (unsaid) context I had translated this as:
“Mae gwely newydd diogel gyda hi”
Is that also correct here?
I think I have heard somewhere that faint mor <…> is more correct in such questions, but pa mor <…> is still okay to use in casual speech. So with that caveat they are largely interchangeable.
For your second question, I think there is a nuance that shouldn’t be overlooked. I read “has got” as “has received”, so it should be the cael-construction. But I know that some people use “I have” and “I’ve got” interchangeably, so that would be the gyda construction.
So the course may have had a different intent than what you went with, which makes your answer technically incorrect, but keep in mind that in the real life situation you know what you want to say (owning vs receiving), so you’ll pick the one meaning what you want to convey. (This is kind of comparable to sentences shifting between ti and chi from one to the next when context clues are missing. In a real conversation you will know or set the context yourself.)
Yes, you often hear “Have you got an X?” when really the question is “Do you have an X?”, and that case it’s just the gyda construction as @Hendrik says, but if you’re talking about ‘receiving’ or in some way ‘acquiring’ something, e.g. “I got the bread at the shop this morning”, then Welsh needs a form of cael.
Thanks Hendrik. Both “Pa Mor” and “Faint mor” appear in the course material with the same meaning so good to get confirmation my understanding was correct
My pedantic grandmother was very much against both “Have you got?” and “Do you have?” The only verb needed, she’d say, is “have”.
“Have you an x?” is the correct way. ![]()
But because most people aren’t as pedantic as my grandmother, it’s very common to hear “Do you have?” and my first thought if someone says just “Have you…?” is a Two Ronnies sketch.
“F U N E X?” (“Have you any eggs?”)
“S V F X”
I remember that sketch! ![]()
(Not sure if there is a “quick answer”, but not sure where else to ask this…)
In the “Deep End” course, a certain man who shall not be named has lured me into learning a Welsh poem by heart and putting out a video of me actually reciting it. Now I do know the words, but I know next to nothing about the rules of reading Welsh poetry out aloud. If anyone could put me in the right direction, that would be gwych!
If you search in YouTube for barddoniaeth, you’ll find quite a few examples.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=barddoniaeth+
My question for you would be, what do you know about reading any poetry aloud? Welsh poetry has some distinctive features, but the basic principles of performance still apply. If you can do it in English, you’re surely well on your way.

