To you, for you. Multiple Welsh ways, or me confused?

Welsh General / Questions
#1

Firstly please excuse my English phonetic. I have no idea how to write this as I have only done course 1 which is speaking and listening

I have some confusion about the translation of:

for you/me which seems to be both

“y tee/me” and “am danna tee/vee”
Which is correct. I guess both depending on context.

Also similar confusion about:

to you/me which seems to be both
“y tee/me” and "ortho tee/orthie

Just got to end of course 1 lesson 25 and really making great progress. Thanks. Brilliant teaching methods.

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#2

“i ti” or “i mi” would be “to me”. (or “for me” I think)

“am danna ti” would be “for you” (as in “call for you”).
“am danna fi” would be “for me” (as in “call for me”).

“wrtho ti” is another sort of “to you” used in some situations (may have other meanings as well I think)

“wrtha i” is another sort of “to me” used in some situations.

(English “v” sound is written “f” in Welsh).

Pob lwc!

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#3

Hi @Calculad

In English we have many prepositions. These are words like

up, down, to, from, over, under, by etc

And in Welsh there are many prepositions too. Words like

am, yn, dros, o, i, wrth, gan, at etc.

Unfortunately these do not correspond exactly. And sometimes a prepostion is used in one way, and then sometimes in another way.

In English we go TO a place, and TO a professional.

In Welsh we go “i Lundain”, to London but “at y deintydd”, to the dentist.

Just one set of complications. But they say that English is really difficult to learn!

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#4

I never get the right preposition!!! If I write what pops into my head and then look it up later, I almost always have to come back and edit it!! That’s one reason I tend to use very little Cymraeg on the Forum!! :smiley: mmm maybe that should be in the forum??!! :laughing:

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#5

Thanks for your very kind words, and great to hear that you’re off to such a great start… :sunny:

As Margaret has says, prepositions never map very neatly between languages - so this is definitely one for the ‘don’t worry about it’ pile - you will get used to producing the ‘right’ one from the context over time without needing to think too much about it… :sunny:

#6

I have a handy little book (from Gwasg Gomer) called “Pa Arddodiad?” (Which Preposition?). Subtitled “A check-list of Welsh prepositions.” It is an alphabetical list of verbs with the appropriate preposition. In the case of some very widely used verbs (like “mynd”) there is a whole list of different ones, and it indicates how each is used. For example:

mynd at (rhywun/rhywbeth)
mynd dros (rhywun)
mynd gyda (rhywun)
mynd heb (rhywun/rhywbeth)
mynd o (rhywle) i (rhywle)

etc.

For me, it is more an opportunity to get a feel for what goes with what. Especially since I don’t hear Welsh as much as I would like.

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#7

Thanks for your advice and spellings. I have a dictionary but it is only of use for single words.

#8

Thanks margaretnock. Now I think about it there is a parallel problem with French/English.

#9

Thanks sionned

#10

This online dictionary is one I like very much:

http://www.gweiadur.com

You have to register and then logon, but then it’s easy to use. (Tick the box or whatever it is to remain logged in when you are not using it, so you don’t have to log in each time).

It includes example phrases for some (not all) words. “mynd” and “dod” come with quite a few examples.

Has some other nice things like sound samples.

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