Hello - I am at the end of Level 2 and just reviewing the huge amount I have learnt before signing up for Deep End! I am probably looking too closely at this but I find I am confused over the different ways of saying various people didn’t do things…
Do’n I ddim, Wnaeth o ddiim (would it be wnaeth hi ddim for she?) nest ti ddim, doeddan nhw ddim (would it be doeddan ni ddim for we?), dydi o ddim, doedd hi ddim (why not dydi hi ddim?).
How can I remember which to use? . I am getting to grips with would, want etc …
dydi o ddim, doedd hi ddim (why not dydi hi ddim?).
Dydi o ddim means: he doesn’t
Doedd hi ddim means: She wasn’t
The forms do’n i ddim, doedd hi ddim etc are a form if you want to speak about things that happened in the past over a period ( I was speaking, she was doing etc.)
The forms wnes i, wnest ti , wnaeth o or wnes i ddim, wnest ti ddim are another form of the past, things that happened at a point of time ( I did, she came, we saw etc.)
The problem is which to use. The rules are not always the same as in English, e.g you always say o’n i eisiau, o’n i’n gwybod, though you’d say in English I wanted or I knew ( and not I was wanting, I was knowing).
But: you will always be understood whatever you say and if you speak often and with different people. you will get a feeling for what to say.
Do’n i ddim, doeddwch chi ddim, doedde ti ddim - Continous past tense. (I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t drinking, He wasn’t listening, He wasn’t very good at school, they weren’t playing properly).
Wnes i ddim, wnaeth o ddim, wnaeth hi ddim - Singular instance past tense (He met her, She kicked the ball at the window, He ate a pack of crisps).
It takes practice, but if you’ve mastered it in English - and you understand why you would use one over the other - you’ll be fine
The main thing is not to worry - get yourself into conversations often enough, and you’ll run into the occasional wall of misunderstanding, and that will help you iron it all out…
There are loads of examples as well, where something could comfortably fit into “both”. i.e
Oeddwn i’n siarad gyda John Smith ddoe - I was speaking with John Smith yesterday.
Wnes i siarad gyda John Smith ddoe - I spoke with John Smith yesterday.
or even if you fancy being fancy…
Siaradais i gyda John Smith ddoe - I spoke with John Smith yesterday.
. I am getting to grips with would, want etc …
