Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

Thank you, Siaron!

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Bore da! Cwestiwn nesa….

For the question in level 2, Challenge 20, “Shall we get something else to drink as soon as possible?”, why is beth used in the Welsh translation? (Beth am i ni gael rhwybeth arall i yfed mor fuan â phosib?)

Does beth not only translate as “what” but have other functions, too?

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Really, I think it’s just a similar idea to the English “What about us getting something else to drink a.s.a.p.”

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Yes, it’s a way of asking “should…?”
Since you ask, you might also see “beth” stuck onto another word, when it means “thing” (peth). So rhwybeth means something :smiley:

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Thank you :slight_smile:

To go off at a slight tangent, reading that question revealed how much I’ve learnt. I was confused by “beth am i ni gael” when I did that challenge, but seeing it again now I was able to understand what was happening. Achievement!

I think going through the ‘old course’ helps a lot with that actually, because it gets more into the nitty gritty of why sentences are the way they are.

Which preposition goes with “Gwneud môr a mynydd” please? :slight_smile:
Is it: gwneud môr a mynydd o rywbeth… or maybe gwneud môr a mynydd am rywbeth? :slight_smile:

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It’s the first one - gwneud môr a mynydd o rywbeth :slight_smile:

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Diolch Siaron! :slight_smile:

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Is there a difference in meaning between sicr and siŵr?

No, not really. sicr is a bit older being in use since the 15th century but siwr is only a century younger!

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What is the difference between:

O’n i’n meddwl i ti ddweud…, and O’n i’n meddwl dwedesti…? In the second case should dwedesti take a soft mutation?

Thank you

Hi, can someone tell me how to say, ‘we like to go out’, I keep getting my tenses all muddled up, thanks !!

The first one is the Welsh way of saying it, and the second one is the English way of saying it, but using Welsh words. The giveaway is the inflected main verb sitting there NOT at the beginning of the sentence, where those things are meant to go.

As an alternative to O’n i’n meddwl i ti ddweud…, you could have O’n i’n meddwl fod ti wedi dweud… , which is slightly less neat and therefore less elegant, but at least doesn’t do damage to the grammar rules. :slight_smile:

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dan ni’n hoffi/leicio mynd allan (+Gog)
dan ni’n hoff o fynd allan (+Gog)
yn ni’n hoffi/leicio mynd mas (-Gog)
yn ni’n hoff o fynd mas (-Gog)

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Diolch yn fawr iawn Gareth—I really appreciate your very clear explanation and your taking the time to reply. I understand it now.

Coincidentally, my copy of your ‘Working Welsh’ arrived on my doorstep here in Vancouver just half an hour ago. Paging through it, my eyes fell on umpteen words or phrases that have either confused me or peeked my interest, so I want to delve into them all at once—this weekend, today, by lunchtime even :grinning: ‘Steady on’, says my more logical self, ‘Let’s set a strategy to cover them all over time’ . I could just work through them in the order they come, say one or two a day, never sure what will pop up next, so maintaining the mystery and excitement. However, there are some that I simply have to visit first because I have met them through SSiW and been puzzled. OK, I will ration myself to the ‘top ten’ puzzles, then start at the beginning at 2 a day, 5 days a week.

Thank your for this, for your dictionary (my copy being so well-used it feels like a comfy sweater and looks a bit like one too), and grammars, and for your generosity in responding to my question.

Mari

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Mari, your words are very kind, and I am delighted that my books are useful to you. I do hope you will get both information and enjoyment from the WW - for it was certainly designed to provide both! And of course you can skip about, or you can follow the path of cross-references, or you can simply attack head-on and plough through from 1 to 200 - entirely as you please! :slight_smile:

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I’m curious, now. I have a copy of Modern Welsh and I thought I had a copy of Working Welsh also, but I can’t find it at the moment, so perhaps I am mistaken.

My question is: What are the differences between the two books?

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S’mae Sionned - the Modern Welsh is the big green (or blue) grammar. The Working Welsh is the very recent latest one, with the 200 Welsh words and phrases explained with large dollops of fun and horror (in about equal measure, I hope).

I am negotiating with the publishers for a companion volume to the latter.

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As I recall, Working Welsh is a little larger (height/width rather than number of pages) than Modern Welsh. Is that correct? I’m really wondering what happened to my copy of the former, since I’m relatively certain that I have it (or had it…). If I’m not remembering the dimensions correctly, perhaps I’m overlooking it.