Loving the course - just loving it! But…I’m doing the Lessons (South) - and in Lesson 6 we have ‘amdani’ for ‘about it’ and in lesson 7 - we have ‘amdano fe’. I’m sure the answer is simple. Thanks.
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It’s because Welsh doesn’t really have a word for “it”; instead, the words for “he” and “she” are used. “Amdani” is short for “amdani hi” or “about her”, while “amdano fe” is “about him”. Both are commonly used for “about it”.
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The simple answer is don’t worry about the reason I’m about to give you!
Technically, there is no ‘it’ in Welsh, only ‘he/him’ or ‘she/her’ - so the gender of the ‘it’ you’re talking about is what determines whether ‘amdani’ (about her) or amdano (about him) is used.
BUT this throws many learners into a panic about which to use because they may not know the gender of the ‘it’ being referred to, especially when talking about abstract concepts. So as I said, don’t worry about it - you’ll pick up the main patterns of which is used where through the course, and besides, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone in general conversation is going to pull you up on using the wrong one anyway.
Edit - Ah… I see I’ve been beaten to it (much more consisely!) by @hectorgrey 
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Diolch! It was the ‘fe’ that was foxing me…but many, many thanks for taking the time to answer.
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yes, the ‘fe’ is part of the masculine construction and is often included for emphasis or clarification but it’s fine to use ‘amdano’ with or without the ‘fe’ (you’ll also hear ‘fo’ sometimes instead of ‘fe’, but that’s just the Northern version, so don’t worry!). Similarly, ‘amdani’ can be followed by ‘hi’ but doesn’t have to be.
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@siaronjames, I always wonder… I have a little poodle dog. She is a bitch, but in normal conversation I would say, “Mae gen i ci!” Now, if I wanted to say something about my little dog, I would automatically say, for example, “Mae hi 'n hoffi ei pel.” Yet ‘ci’ is a male noun! OK, I presume a person raised speaking Welsh would catch on, but it is awkward for learners to know what to say! @aran, @Iestyn advice?
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Thanks Siaron - that’s really helpful. I can see clearly now. It’s making sense. Diolch.
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I think we’ve covered this a few times! The answer is don’t worry about it - refer to her as a ‘ci’ or as a ‘gast’, but generally a good thing to use ‘mae hi’n hoffi ei phel’ because you’re concerned their with her, not the type of animal she is…
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Woops!! Free lesson in mutation after ‘ei’!! Diolch!! And that covers all my ci a chath concerns!
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and that’s exactly why (tempting though it is, as learners) it’s important not to let things like that weigh us down early on, make us worry about getting it wrong and put us off saying it!
like I said, it won’t bother most people (especially in the context of a pet, who we all know is actually a family member not an animal in residence ! 
)
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Shouldn’t really go off on tangent, but I’d say it depends on species. Toffi and all my previous dogs - family members, not even pets, which suggests ownership and who owns whom is a moot point! But, every cat I have known has deigned to reside in the home of a human or humans, will eat food provided if it suits, but will often prefer to catch more appetising and entertaining morsels. As such, cats are animals in residence! 
At least the one that means “her”
The ei that means “his” mutates differently.
But, of course, Don’t Worry About It 
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Hmmm … now I know why I (almost) always use amdano fe and always forget about amdani and look puzzled hearing @Iestyn saying it … ayayay
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I amuse myself by seeing how often I pick the opposite one that Cat and Iestyn used for any given sentence! I kept hearing “am y peth” on radio/TV, and when I finally “officially” learned that in the Course 2 Vocabs, I was very happy. That’s my expression of choice now I like pretending that I don’t sound like a learner when I can say things like Paid â gofyn, sa i’n gwybod am y peth! (translation: Don’t ask, I don’t know about it!) 
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