"Dydy fy mam ddim…", but "Dw i ddim…"?

Hi,

So far (I’m on L2 Challenge 5, Northern), I don’t like has been consistently translated as Dw i ddim yn licio - i.e. it’s the same construction as “I like…”.

Today, I tried to translate My mother doesn’t like with Mae fy mam ddim yn licio, but the translation was Dydy fy mam ddim yn licio. (Some of these spellings may be a little eccentric… Mae ddrwg gen i…)

Is this because there are two equally acceptable constructions, and it’s just that we’ve so far only been introduced to one version with the first person singular, and the other with the third person singular? Is one version used more often / in different circumstances?

Or is it something else entirely and I’ve misunderstood what’s going on?

Thanks!

In the present third person tense, there are different forms of ‘bod’ depending on whether the sentence is positive, negative or interrogative, so you get -
positive: mae fy mam yn licio
negative: dydy fy mam ddim yn licio
interrogative: ydy fy mam yn licio?

It happens to a varying extent with other forms too
dwi yn / dwi ddim yn / ydw i’n?
wyt ti’n / dwyt ti ddim yn / wyt ti’n?
mae o/hi 'n / dydy o/hi ddim yn / ydy o/hi 'n
'dan ni’n (from rydyn ni) / 'dan ni ddim yn (from dydyn ni ddim) / ydan ni’n?
'dach chi yn (from rydych chi) / 'dach chi ddim yn (from dydych chi ddim) / ydach chi yn?
maen nhw’n / dydyn nhw ddim yn / ydyn nhw’n?

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That explains it very nicely, thanks, Siaron – it really helps seeing it laid out systematically.

Diolch yn fawr iawn!

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