For anyone who’s reached the point of writing in Welsh, this site was recommended by our tutor. Just fyi, it doesn’t always seem to load properly. I usually type in sentence that I know is incorrect just to check.
http://www.cysgliad.com/cysill/arlein/
.
The problem I have with Cysill is that it only catches structures that are clearly wrong, and not those that are wrong as I want to use them but right otherwise . . . though as I write that, I wonder if putting in a longer block of text would help solve that.
I find it misleading, too. For example, it accepted “Dyma’r llyfr gwelaist ti ddoe” and “Dyma’r llyfr welaist ti ddoe” and “Dyma’r llyfr y gwelaist ti ddoe” and Dyma’r llyfr a welaist ti ddoe" and “Dyma’r llyfr y gwelaist ti ei berchennog ddoe”,
But for “Dyma’r llyfr y gwelaist y perchnogwr ddoe” it suggested “perchnogir, perchnoger, perchnogwn” which are all off at a tangent from what I was intending, my having got the word for ‘owner’ wrong.
Is that what you meant, Diane? After all that, I just give up. I find the English grammar correctors equally hard to handle - my spellchecker is giving me red underlining on “correctors” and “correcters” !!
Annie, has your tutor given you any tips on how to get the best out of Cysill, or was it just a general recommendation?
Yes, your first paragraph is exactly the problem I have with Cysill!
I’ve only used it to check to make sure I’ve got mutations right, but our tutor seemed to think it was the most brilliant thing ever.
I have a feeling that may be an educated first language (see below) vs second language thing.
If you are familiar with the range of forms available, but just need reminding, then cysill is great, because it says “hold on, that’s not right - you need one of these”. If you’re not quite sure and looking for guidance on the other hand, then you can easily get lost in the subtleties of “a” vs “y” and vaguely normal impersonals like “-ir” and completely literary forms like “-er”.
(This must be below! I tried an asterisk, but it creates a bullet point. Doh!) I say educated, because many first language speakersw wouldn’t know many of the forms available, but most first language speakers writing Welsh would have some level of Welsh language education, and a fighting chance!
Cysill is fine for checking spelling and mutations but it is hopeless for grammar. Be careful if you use it. I have done so and still do and although I think that what I have written is correct according to Cysill my tutors often find mistakes.