Session 4






Language notes

Welsh has a short form present and future tense.  

It may seem surprising that the same tense can describe events in both the present and future.  However, this is similar to usage in English. Consider two sentences with the verb 'take' :
   'I take the food out of the oven and we sit down to eat'  - happening now.
   'I take the car to be serviced next Thursday' - happening in the future.
The time of the event is made clear by the context of the sentence.

The short form present and future is again produced by adding a set of standard endings to a verb noun.  Taking 'dringo' (climb) as an example:
       dringaf i'r mynydd                     I climb/will climb the mountain
       dringai di'r mynydd                   you climb/will climb the mountain
       dringiff/-ith e/o/hi'r mynydd      he/she climbs/will climb the mountain
       dringwn ni'r mynydd                 we climb/will climb the mountain
       dringwch chi'r mynydd             you climb/will climb the mountain 
       dringan nhw'r mynydd              they climb/will climb the mountain  

The particles fe (South Wales) or mi (North Wales) may again be placed before the verb to indicate that the sentence is a positive statement rather than a question. The particle causes a soft mutation, for example:
            Fe ddarllenaf i'r llyfr,            Mi weliff o y ffilm newydd

The four common verbs: caelmynddod and gwneud, have irregular forms:
   
cael - have      present/future:  I have a meeting, you have a meeting, etc.          
                         singular                                plural
1st person        caf i gyfarfod                      cawn ni gyfarfod
2nd person       cei di gyfarfod                    cewch chi gyfarfod
3rd person        ceith o/e/hi gyfarfod          cân nhw gyfarfod 





mynd go      present/future:   I go to the town, you go to the town, etc.             
                         singular                             plural
1st person        af i i'r dref                        awn ni i'r dref  
2nd person       ei di i'r dref                      ewch chi i'r dref  
3rd person        aiff/eith e/o/hi i'r dref      ân nhw i'r dref  

dod - come      present/future: I come home, you come home, etc.     
                         singular                           plural
1st person        dof i adref                      dewn ni adref
2nd person       doi di adref                    dewch chi adref
3rd person        doth e/o/hi adref           dôn nhw adref

gwneud - do, make     present/future:   I make a promise, you make a promise, etc.           
                          singular                                 plural
1st person         gwnaf i addewid                 gwnawn ni addewid
2nd person        gwnei di addewid               gwnewch chi addewid
3rd person         gwnaith e/o/hi addewid     gwnân nhw addewid

The present tense also has a cwmpasog long form produced combining the present tense of 'bod' with a verb noun, as we saw in session 1:
                  rydw i'n cerdded,  rwyt ti'n cerdded, etc..    

A long form future tense is produced in a similar way by combining the future tense of 'bod' with a verb noun.  For example:
            byddaf i'n mynd i'r parti                   I will go to the party
            byddi di'n mynd i'r parti                  you will go to the party
            bydd e/o/hi'n mynd i'r parti             he/she will go to the party
            byddwn ni'n mynd i'r parti              we will go to the party  
            byddwch chi'n mynd i'r parti          you will go to the party
            byddant nhw'n mynd i'r parti          they will go to the party




Treigladau

Personal pronouns indicate possession.  These are generally placed before a noun:  
           fy siop                my shop           ein cartref        our home
           dy ardal             your area          eich fferm        your farm
           ei newyddion    his/her news     eu syniadau     their ideas

In Welsh, a personal pronoun can also be placed after the noun.  This is usually done for emphasis:
      fy siop i                    my shop        ein cartref ni           our home
      dy ardal di                your area      eich fferm chi         your farm
      ei newyddion e/o     his news       eu syniadau nhw    their ideas
      ei newyddion hi       her news

After some consonants, the first person singular pronoun fy causes a nasal mutation (treiglad trwynol).  These consonents are:
          p        fy mhlant        my children  (plant)
          t         fy nhŷ             my house     ()
          c        fy nghar          my car          (car
          b        fy mwrdd        my table       (bwrdd)
          d        fy nrws           my door        (drws
          g        fy ngardd       my garden    (gardd

The second person singular pronoun dy causes a soft mutation (treiglad meddal) after a larger number of consonents:
          p        dy blant        your children   (plant)
          t         dy dŷ             your house     ()
          c        dy gar            your car          (car
          b        dy fwrdd        your table       (bwrdd)       





         d        dy ddrws       your door        (drws
         g        dy ardd          your garden    (gardd
         ll        dy law             your hand       (llaw
         rh       dy rieni           your parents   (rhieni
         m       dy ferlyn         your pony       (merlyn

Finally, the third person singular pronoun ei representing a masuline subject causes a soft mutation (treiglad meddal), but  ei representing a feminine subject causes an aspirant mutation (treiglad llaes).

The treiglad llaes affects only three consonants:
          p      ei phen hi          her head       (pen)
          t       ei thad hi           her father      (tad)
          c      ei char hi           her car          (car)

The behaviour of the mutations indicates the gender of the subject where this is not explicitely stated in a sentence:
           ei fam    his mother           ei mam     her mother
           ei gar     his car                 ei char      her car
           ei rieni    his parents         ei rhieni    her parents 
 
No treigladau are applied to the plural pronouns ni, chi, and eu.

Two other useful pronouns are the stand-alone words 'these' 'y rhain' and 'those' 'y rheiny':
         Ai eich llyfrau chi ydy'r rhain?      Are these your books?
         Y rheiny ydy fy nillad.                    Those are my clothes.
'these' and 'those' do not take a mutation.



Idioms

The word 'er' is most commonly translated as the English 'although':
    Er nad ydy e'n cwrdd â ffrindiau yn aml, roedd yn mwynhau'r parti.
    Although he does not meet friends often, he was enjoying the party.

'er' appears in a number of idioms:
   
er gwaethaf  - despite:
     Fe wnaethon nhw nofio yn y llyn er gwaethaf yr hysbysiad rhybuddio.
     They swam in the lake despite the warning notice.

er mwyn - for the sake of
      Dylech roi'r gorau i ysmygu er mwyn eich iechyd.
      You should stop smoking for the sake of your health.






er hynny - despite that
      Ymddiheurodd, ond er hynny collodd ei swydd.
      He apologised, but despite that he lost his job.

ers tro - for a long time
      Dydw i ddim wedi mynd i'r theatr ers tro.
      I have not been to the theatre for ages.

er lles - for the benefit of
      Adeiladodd y ffermwr y sied er lles y gwartheg.
      The farmer built the shed for the benefit of the cattle.

er maint - despite the size of
       Mae'n adnabod pawb sy'n gweithio yna er maint y ffatri.
       He knows everyone who works there despite the size of the factory.    




Translate the sentence:

In the past there were many small farms in Wales.



Suggested translation: (a number of alternatives acceptable)













Story

The set of icons below was randomly selected, and has been used to write a story.

You are invited to translate the story into Welsh.



Vocabulary

raid  cyrch  noun (m);           stop  atal  verb;
flee    ffoi   verb;                    arrest  arestio  verb;
search  chwiliad  noun (m);




The police received information about a group of terrorists.
They were hiding in a house on the outskirts of the town.
The terrorists were planning an attack.
Armed police made a raid at dawn, but discovered that the house was empty.
The group had quickly escaped, leaving behind notes and maps.
The group intended to attack the airport using explosives, and put poison in the city`s water supply.
At this time the police received news that people had broken into the water treatment works.
The police told engineers to stop the water pumps immediately.
A water test showed that poison had been added.
The police sent a warning to the airport, but the terrorists had fled.
A week later after a huge search by the police, the gang was found and arrested.

Translate the sentence:

The police received information about a group of terrorists.

Suggested translation: (a number of alternatives acceptable)










Create your own story in Welsh

Click the button to randomly select a set of story icons:








Use of Welsh

Horoscope


A newspaper publishes daily horoscopes for each of the signs of the zodiac.

You are invited to translate some of the predictions into Welsh...




Vocabulary

patient   amyneddgar   adjective;    upset, agitate cynhyrfu  verb;
argue  dadlau  verb;  imagination  dychymyg  noun (m);
exciting  cyffrous  adjective;







Translate the sentence:

ARIES: March 21 to April 20.

Suggested translation: (a number of alternatives acceptable)








Description


Write four or five sentences in Welsh to describe the picture:







Understanding Welsh

Read the article, then write sentences in Welsh to answer the following questions:

Where are the new floating wind turbines being tested?


Why would floating wind turbines be a good idea for Wales?


Why are wind turbines a better energy source than solar power for Wales?


What is the main disadvantage of a tidal lagoon for producing energy?


How much electricity does Wales produce from wind and solar energy at the present time?




Tyrbinau sy`n arnofio yn cynnig cyfle cynhyrchu fwy o egni adnewyddol

Gallai tyrbinau gwynt sy`n arnofio ar wyneb y dŵr chwarae rhan allweddol yn y nod o geisio cynhyrchu mwy o ynni adnewyddol o fewn y degawd nesaf.

Ar hyn o bryd mae Cymru`n cynhyrchu tua 50% o`i thrydan trwy ynni gwynt a`r haul. Wedi treialon llwyddiannus yn Yr Alban, mae gobaith y gall tyrbinau sy`n arnofio roi hwb i`r ymgyrch, gan y gellir eu defnyddio mewn mannau lle mae`r môr yn rhy ddwfn i godi tyrbinau cyffredin.

Roedd ceisiadau am ffermydd gwynt mawr yng nghefn gwlad wedi denu gwrthwynebiad lleol. Ond fod potensial mawr i brosiectau ynni gwynt ar y môr. Yn wahanol i ynni haul, sy`n dibynnu ar y tywydd a`r amser o`r dydd, mae gwyntoedd arfordirol fwy neu lai yn ffynhonnell barhaus. Ond er bod filltiroedd o arfordir yng Nghymru, cynhyrchu trydan fod yn anodd mewn mannau am bod gwely`r môr yn gostwng yn ddramatig mewn sawl lleoliad.

Mae dulliau adnewyddol yn cynnwys ynni o`r haul, y llanw, tonnau`r mor, prosiectau hydro, a morlynnoedd llanw (tidal lagoons). Mae prosiectau morlynnoedd llanw yn ddrud, ac yn cymryd blynyddoedd cyn cynnig gwerth am arian. Gallai hynny olygu na fyddent yn ddeniadol iawn pan fydd arian yn brin.













Enter each section of your story in Welsh in the boxes below:






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