Only one Welsh grammar book suggests ddaru is used commonly in N Wales, e.g ddaru mi weld meaning I saw. Is this form of the past tense heard very often?
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Some people use it and you may see it written from time to time but itās not the most common structure by a long stretch. Itās good to recognise it but I wouldnāt worry about it too much.
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It was the last word I Google translated while reading! Earlier today. Odd.
Never heard it out loud though. Or if I had I didnāt register it because the tense was clear from context.
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Oh, I didnāt know Lowri had been on Noson Lawen - thatās coolā¦
Bangor Cymraeg i Oedolion tech officer, and Meinir Gwilymās cousinā¦
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Quite an amazing family, to be sure
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Twm sings it in the chorus of Yr Afon too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ9pnuSyFGw
Iām pretty sure Iāve heard it used in speech, but very rarely.
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Iāve got a friend in Llanllyfni who uses it all the timeā¦
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Then again, it might be that it used to stand out more when I was new to its useage and by now I donāt notice it so much! (thatās my reasoning anyway - nothing to do with getting older or not paying attention! 
)
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Each week in our group we read a news article. The one tomorrow is taken from Golwg 360 ar-lein concerning a complaint made by Bethan Gwanas about low flying aircraft. In it ddaru is used twice.
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I didnāt do it!
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Depends on the area. In various parts of the N it is probably the primary method. I knew a number of people who consistently used it in most circumstances.
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Having been taught āddaruā on the very first Welsh course I ever attended some decades ago, we were later taught that it was ābadā and that we shouldnāt use it. But I do hear it routinely used locally (Dolgellau) by native Welsh speakers.
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In last weekās Beca aāi phobl, Trystan Lewis uses it several times. Trying to remember from his first talk where he is from. I seem to think he was born in Sir Fflint in northeast Wales, but he didnāt have a Fflint accent because his parents were from somewhere else. Can you help us out here, @beca-brown?
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Well whoever ātaughtā you that needs to get out of teaching Welsh and go into insurance or petroleum distribution or something.
Ddaru (I am just at this very moment writing the article on it, as it happens) is perfectly OK and, as you mention Margaret, widely and routinely used in many regions of the North.
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I live in Penmaenmawr and all native speakers here use it but I donāt hear it at all in areas such as Bethesda , Caernarfon , Pen Llyn , Ynys Mon . I hear it used to the east of Penmaenmawr , right up the Conwy Valley all the way to places like Corwen. Everyone in Blaenau Ffestiniog seems to use it and in the Trawsfynydd area. Not too sure about Bala as I have only ever been there once but I would assume they do. This is only my experience though and would happily be corrected if Iām wrong
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Hi Catriona, Trystan lives in Deganwy, near Llandudno, but considers himself as having a rural Conwy county accent as he comes from a farming family. Ddaru is very commonly used across the north. Hope that helps.
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Am I right in thinking there are at least 6 ways of saying āI didnāt seeā in Welsh? E.g. doān i ddim yn gweld, nes i ddim gweld, ddaru i ddim gweld, weles i ddim, ni welais, and dw i ddim wedi gweld although the last one means I havenāt seen? Quite important if one has to say āI donāt see what you meanā so often!
Well, of that list Iād say youāre least likely to run into Ni welais in spoken Welsh. And in the south you might also hear Dw i heb weld and Sa i wedi gweld, too.
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if weāre playing a bit loose with tenses and stuff, then Iāll throw in āon i ffili gweldā as well.
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