SSi Forum

Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

#6766

Thanks I did wonder.

#6767

In the case of SSiW especially relatives and co-workers in the tafarn. :wink: :laughing:

#6768

Yeah I’ve just come across that again level 2 challenge 10 and it made me ask the question :rofl:

#6769

Ha ha, also nabod for a place. Almost everything else is Gwybod.

#6770

There is the example “Dw i’n meddwl y liciwn i helpu chdi” in Challenge 9.
Why do we need “y” there? Is it something like “that” for the indirect phrase “liciwn i”? Becasue I think it would be “bod” with a direct order phrase, e.g. “Dw i’n meddwl bo fi angen helpu chdi”…

#6771

Yes, it is that. I can’t remember the bod/y/â rule and exceptions just now. I usually just go by the sound and memory of phrases. I’ll try to take a look at Gareth King’s Modern Welsh Grammar book tonight in the unlikely event that someone more knowledgeable doesn’t help in the meantime :grinning:

#6772

I happen to have the Modern Welsh Dictionary (so can beat @JohnYoung on time :laughing:) here and can read that: y is often silent in normal speech, and “is used to introduce subordinate clauses (introduced by that… in English) where the original statement began with an affirmative verb other than the present tense of bod”.

It always takes me a while to figure out grammar explanations in any language, but the example right next makes it instantly clear!
Dw i’n meddwl y bydd hi gartre= I think she’ll be at home

BTW in the Southern course it is
Dw i’n meddwl y r hoffen i dy helpu tdi

What is that r between y and hoffen? Like with articles (yr) but a space slipped in by mistake between the two?
And the tdi instead of di I would have expected?

#6773

I just assumed it was because ‘h’ is treated like a vowel when determining whether it’s ‘y’ or ‘yr’. Might be wrong though :slight_smile:

#6774

Yes, that must be it. :slight_smile:

I’m never completely sure about what to do with words starting with “h” (in Welsh and English alike). Also when I did the challenges I just repeated the sounds (no mental resources to do more than that, ha ha!) but didn’t check details on the vocabulary lists so now I’ve noticed I had strange doubts popping up! :smiley:

#6775

Yes, all about flow.
I don’t think there is a tdi, is there. Just ti or chdi.

#6776

Speaking of words starting with h…
I’m sure I often hear people on the radio say ‘hefo’ instead of ‘efo’ - is there a reason for that or is it just a coloqualism? Or am I just mishearing?

#6777

@JohnYoung and @gisella-albertini, thank you for the explanation! It makes sence now!

#6778

Sticking an “H” at the start of words that start with vowels is really common when talking about feminine things. (I think it happens with some other stuff too but someone else will explain that. :wink:)

Hefo hi
Ei hacen hi
Etc.

#6779

Where did you spot that Gisella? It sounds like the gremlins have been at work there :slight_smile:

#6780

Always watch out for the gremlins! :smiley:

It’s Level 1, Challenge 9, South version on computer/browser (haven’t checked the iOS app).
Last example in Vocabulary list.
I never checked the vocabulary lists while doing the challenges 'cause I found written Welsh too confusing, so just noticed it now!

#6781

Yes, definitely a gremlin attack. The ‘r’ shouldn’t be there, and it should be ‘di’ not ‘tdi’ :slight_smile:

I’ll have to see if I can fix it … DONE! :slight_smile:

#6782

Yeah that’s why I was getting confused - I’m comfortable with it for possessive usage (e.g. ei henw hi, etc), but I didn’t realise ‘efo’ followed that same rule.

#6783

It doesn’t! – Apparently some people just like saying hefo…

#6784

Hello, I was just wondering, why your six month course, at what level should the learners become? B1 or B2? Thanks,

Samuel

#6785

Could some kind soul explain to me why there’s an ‘a’ before the first two uses of oedd here? I get the third one as a sort of “that” (the only thing ‘that’ they had to show for their dominance) but I can’t see what function the first two have, as the phrases seem complete without it. Is it something to do with the fact that these are identification phrases (hence the verb has moved from the beginning of the phrases) and get lonely without something to hang on to (in a way that doesn’t seem to happen in the present tense)?

Y Gleision a oedd tîm gorau’r chwarter agoriadol ond cic gosb o droed Jarrod Evans a oedd yr unig beth a oedd ganddynt i’w ddangos am eu goruchafiaeth.