Un rhwyun neu neb

While working through level 3 at the moment, un rhwyun translates as “anyone” but neb (no one) seems to be used also for “anyone” also. Are they interchangeble or is there some way of describing which one to use in a given situation.

They both mean ‘anyone’/‘anybody’, but neb has a negative implication:

is there anybody over there? a oes rhywun acw?
I couldn’t see anybody. ni allwn weld neb.

And of course ‘nobody’ being a negative itself, that’s also neb:

nobody is perfect. 'does neb yn berffaith.

So basically, although they can both translate as ‘anyone’, they are not interchangeable because one is a positive and the other is a negative.

4 Likes

I’d wondered the same thing. Really helpful answer, thanks!

2 Likes