Week 42 - Main grammatical points Let's have a look at some question and verb forms that crop up pretty regularly in conversation but that can cause some confusion for Welsh learners.
Firstly Ble
Ble is always followed by the affirmative form of the verb, for example
Ble rwyt ti'n mynd? Ble roeddet ti neithiwr? Ble fyddi di'n aros?
A common error by learners is to ask Ble ydy? it's always Ble mae?
Pryd, Faint, Sut, and Pam follow the same pattern, for example
Pryd? Pryd mae dy ben-blwydd di? - When is your birthday? Pryd wyt ti'n symud i mewn? - When are you moving in?
Faint? Faint roedd e'n gostio? - How much did it cost? Faint dalodd e? - How much did he pay?
Sut? Sut mae hi heddiw? - How is she today? Sut oedd llun y babi? - How was the baby's picture?
Pam? Pam wyt ti i fod i yfed cymaint o ddŵr? - Why are you supposed to drink so much water? Pam roeddet ti mor hwyr? - Why were you so so late?
Note that sometimes you will hear people saying
Pam bod for example
Pam bod y gêm yn dechrau'n hwyr? - Why is the game starting late?
Although this pattern is quite common amongst Welsh speakers it is not strictly correct.
You should therefore use Pam mae etc.
Arwyn says; Ac mae pen tost 'da fi.
In Welsh when we talk about illnesses there are two main constructions.
If a part of the body is mentioned e.g. pen tost in south Wales or cur pen in north Wales the form is: Mae pen tost gyda fi/ Mae pen tost 'da fi or in north Wales - Mae gen i gur pen.
Mae gen i fraich boenus or Mae braich dost gen i.
However if no part of the body is mentioned and an ailment is referred to the pattern is as follows:
Annwyd - a cold
Mae annwyd arna i. Oes annwyd arnat ti?
Gwres - temperature
Mae gwres arni hi. She's got a temperature.
Ffliw Mae'r ffliw arnyn nhw. - They've got the flu.
Note again the preposition that follows dweud meaning to tell someone.
Agnes says: Ti'n dweud wrtho i - You're telling meAnd Arwyn says: A dweud y gwir wrthot ti - To tell you the truth
Full forms are:
dweud wrtho i dweud wrthot ti dweud wrth Agnes dweud wrthi hi dweud wrtho fe dweud wrthon ni dweud wrthoch chi dweud wrthyn nhw
