Writing in Welsh Language notesSentencesArticle:Public transport in WalesStoryUse of WelshDescriptionUnderstanding Welsh

Session 5






Language notes

Conjuctions join different components within a sentence.  In the simplest case, this may be two words, for example:
                bws a thacsi               bus and taxi
                papur a phensil          paper and pencil
The conjunction 'a' (and) causes an aspirate mutation (treiglad llaes). 
        
Conjunctions can link two sentences.  Where the sentences describe different events or ideas, a coordinating conjunction is used:
              a   and;    ond   but;    neu   or;      nid   not    
For example:
    Aeth i mewn i'r gegin ac agor yr oergell.
    He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
    (note that 'a' becomes 'ac' before a vowel)
              
    Roedden ni'n bwriadu mynd ond roedd y tywydd yn ddrwg. 
    We intended to go but the weather was bad.  

     Fe allech chi dorri'r gwair neu fe allech chi blannu'r blodau.
     You could cut the grass or you could plant the flowers.  
          
     Byddaf yn gwylio'r ffilm gartref nid yn y sinema.
     I will watch the film at home not in the cinema.  

In other cases, a conjunction may link a subsidiary clause to the main clause of the sentence.  The subsidiary clause gives more information about the main clause, for example: when or why it happened, or the consequences of it happening.
 
Time conjunctions specify a time relationship.  In some cases, these should be followed by the preposition 'i' or a tense of the verb 'bod':
        ar ôl   after;        pan   when;                    cyn (i)  before;   
        erbyn (i)   by;     unwaith (bod)   once;    ers (i)  since;
        wedi (i)   after;   hyd   until;                       wrth (i)  while;  
        nes (i)   until;      tra (bod)   while;

Examples are:
         Byddaf yn mynd ar ôl gwylio'r ffilm
                I will go after watching the film
         Bydd yn cyrraedd erbyn i ni orffen y gwaith
                 He will arrive by the time we finish the work
         Bydd cinio yn barod unwaith y bydd y llysiau wedi'u coginio
                 Lunch will be ready once the vegetables are cooked
         Peidiwch â sefyll i fyny nes i mi ddweud wrthych chi
                 Don't stand up until I tell you





Reason conjunctions indicate why a relationship exists.  They have the meaning 'as' or 'because' :
             achos (bod) ,      am (bod)
             oherwydd (bod),    gan (bod)     
Examples are:
        Rwy'n cerdded oherwydd bod y tywydd yn braf
                I am walking because the weather is fine
        Byddaf yn stopio gan ei bod hi'n cwyno am y sŵn
                I will stop as she is complaining about the noise 

Result conjunctions indicate the outcome of a relationship.  They have the meaning 'so' :
            fel (bod),        felly
An examples is:
        Torrodd ei goes felly eu bod yn galw ambiwlans
               He broke his leg so they called an ambulance

Contrast conjunctions indicate a conflict within the relationship.  They have the meaning 'although', 'despite' or 'while':
            er (bod) ,             tra (bod)
Examples are:
        Parhaodd i weithio er ei fod wedi blino
                He continued working although he was tired
        Hoffais y stori, tra roeddwn i'n casáu'r cymeriadau
                I liked the story, while I hated the characters

Purpose conjunctions indicate why a relationship exists:
          er mwyn (i)   in order;     fel (bod)  so;    rhag ofn   in case; 
Examples are:
        Fe wnes i atgyweirio'r babell er mwyn i ni fynd i wersylla
                 I repaired the tent in order that we can go camping
        Byddwch yn ofalus rhag ofn i chi gwympo
                 Be careful in case you fall
                     
Conditional conjunctions indicate a requirement for the relationship to exist:
          os  if;     pe bai  if;      oni bai   unless;
Examples are:
        Gallwch ei wneud os ceisiwch yn galetach
              You can do it if you try harder
         Bydden ni'n helpu pe gallen ni
              We would help if we could
         Ni fyddwch yn gwybod oni bai eich bod yn gofyn
              You will not know unless you ask 



Treigladau

We have already discussed some situations in which a treiglad meddal is used:  
    
 When feminine nouns follow the article 'y' (the) :
           y bont        the bridge      pont noun (f)  

When one or more adjectives follow a feminine noun:
           dinas fawr fywiog   large lively city          
                    mawr adjective;     bywiog  adjective;

 The pronouns dy, ei (masculine only) affect nouns which follow:
            dy gôt        your coat     côt   noun (f)     
            dy gar        your car       car  noun (m)   
            ei lyfr         his book       llyfr  noun (m)
         
Soft mutation occurs after the prepositions:  am, ar, at, dan, dros, gan, heb, hyd, i, o, tan, trwy, wrth.  For example:
         Es i am dro trwy bentref heb weld neb.
         I went for a walk through a village without seeing anyone.
                    tro  walk;  pentref village;  gweld  see;     
 
We will now look at some other cases where a treiglad meddal is required.

 Adjectives occurring before a noun cause a soft mutation of the noun:
             hen dŷ       old house                           tŷ  noun (m)
             hoff gerddoriaeth   favourite music    cerddoriaeth noun (f)
             prif wlad     main country                     gwlad  noun (f)

The numbers un  - one (feminine only) and dau/dwy - two - cause a soft mutation in a following noun, for example:
             un ddafad, dwy ddafad, tair dafad             dafad  sheep (f)
             one sheep, two sheep, three sheep           
             un llyfr, dau lyfr, tri llyfr                               llyfr book (m)
             one book, two books, three books





A soft mutation is applied when the object of a short form verb follows the verb, for example:
         Gwelodd ddyn yn y stryd
          He (subject)  saw (short form verb)  a man in the street (object)
         
          Gwelodd dynes gath yn y goeden
          A woman (subject) saw (verb) a cat in the tree (object)  

This rule still applies if the article (y or 'r) is present, but y at the start of the object cannot take a soft mutation:
            Rhoddodd athro lyfr i'r myfyriwr
            A teacher gave a book to the student

BUT     Rhoddodd athro y llyfr i'r myfyriwr
            A teacher gave the book to the student

The commonly used words shown below are actually contractions of short phrases involving the verb form gwel...  (see...)

       Dyma (here is)  -  shortened from  gwel di yma   (you see here)
       Dyna (there is)  -  shortened from  gwel di yna    (you see there)
       Dacw (there is)  -  shortened from  gwel di acw   (you see yonder)

This causes dyma, dyna and dacw to behave as if they are short form verbs, and cause a soft mutation of the object of the sentence.  For example:
        Dyna ddyn sy'n bwyta llawer
        That (subject) is (verb) a man who eats a lot (object)

but again the soft mutation does not occur if the article is present:
         Dyna'r dyn sy'n bwyta llawer      
         That is the man who eats a lot

A soft mutation is applied where yn proceeds a noun or adjective, for example:
         Mae'r dyn yn dew         The man is fat           tew  fat
         Mae'r anifail yn gwningen                             cwningen   rabbit      
         The animal is a rabbit



Idioms

The word 'gyda' is usually translated as the English words 'with' or 'among':

       Mae'n dŷ mawr gyda phedair ystafell wely.
       It is a large house with four bedrooms.

       Mae adran gerddoriaeth y Brifysgol gyda'r gorau ym Mhrydain.
       The University's music department is one of the best in Britain.

'gyda' appears in a number of idioms:

gyda llaw - by the way
      Gyda llaw, rhaid i ni orffen erbyn amser cinio.
      By the way, we must finish by lunch time.

gyda trên - by train
       Mae llawer o ymwelwyr yn teithio i Gymru gyda trên.  
       Many visitors travel to Wales by train.




gyda'r nos - in the evening
      Rydyn ni'n mynd allan am bryd o fwyd gyda'r nos weithiau.
      We sometimes go out for a meal in the evening.

gyda'r post - by post
      Rwy'n derbyn y cylchgrawn bob mis gyda'r post.
      I receive the magazine each month by post.

gyda hynny - at that moment
      Gofynnodd am wirfoddolwyr ac gyda hynny daeth pobl ymlaen.
      He asked for volunteers and at that moment people came forward.

gyda'i gilydd - together
       Maen nhw'n cytuno i weithio gyda'i gilydd ar y prosiect.
       They agree to work together on the project.

gyda golwg ar - with the intention of
        Es i Gaerdydd gyda'r golwg ar weithio yno.
        I went to Cardiff with the intention of working there.






You are invited to translate this article into Welsh.



Vocabulary

transport  trafnidiaeth  noun (f);  line  llinell  noun (f);
public  cyhoeddus  adjective;  connection  cysylltiad  noun (m);
ferry  fferi  noun (f);   scenery   golygfa  noun (f);
congestion  tagfeydd  noun (pl);

Public transport in Wales


Public transport is important for people who live in Wales and for visitors.
A main railway line runs along the south coast through Newport and Cardiff, to Swansea.
This connects to cities in England and is important for business travellers.
Most of the railway lines in the South Wales valleys closed when the coal mines stopped working, but some lines have reopened.
These lines carry people to work in Cardiff each day.
Cardiff has plans for a new metro system.
Trams will travel through the city streets, then join the railway and run to nearby towns.
The railway continues from Swansea to Pembrokeshire.
People use this to go to the coast for holidays, or when travelling by ferry to Ireland.
In North Wales, another main railway line runs along the coast through Bangor.
The line continues across Anglesey to Holyhead where there is another ferry connection to Ireland.
Only two railway lines cross the centre of Wales.
The journeys are slow, allowing plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountains and coast.
Long distance bus services connect the main towns, and local buses serve most villages.
In Snowdonia, walkers can travel by bus to the start of footpaths up Snowdon.
This reduces the congestion caused by cars parked on narrow roads around the mountain.

Translate the sentence:

Public transport is important for people who live in Wales and for visitors.



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

attend  mynychu verb;  eagerly  eiddgar  adjective;
exchange  cyfnewid   verb;   desert  anialwch  noun(m);




Suzi and Anna were friends at Cardiff university.
Both are now married and living in different parts of South Wales.
They met by chance in a railway station in London.
They were both waiting for a train back to Wales.
Suzi was working for a few days at her company`s office in London.
Anna was attending a conference.
They travelled back together, eagerly discussing everything that had happened since they last met.
Before parting, they exchanged phone numbers.
They had an idea to arrange a holiday together like in their university days.
Suzi phoned Anna a few days later.
"Let`s go to Mexico - go to the desert and climb a volcano".
They were surprised when their families agreed to go on the trip.
Then everything went wrong.
The global virus pandemic meant that it was not safe to travel.
They balanced the risks and decided to cancel the holiday.
Suzi suddenly thought - we used to have exciting trips to Pembrokeshire when we were students.
Suzi found her equipment for diving and climbing which had been stored away in a cupboard.
She phoned Anna with a plan.
"We can book a cottage, then perhaps go climbing on the cliffs and diving along the shore.
It will still be amazing".

Translate the sentence:

Suzi and Anna were friends at Cardiff university.

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

Pizza recipe


A recipe for a sun-dried tomato and Motzzarella pizza has been published.



You are invited to translate the recipe into Welsh.



Vocabulary

dough  toes  noun (m);   crust  cramen  noun (f);
sprinkle   ysgeintio  verb;   mince  briwio  verb;  
even  cyfartal  adjective;   garlic  garlleg   noun (m);







Translate the sentence:

INGREDIENTS.

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:

What are the main activities for which children use electronic devices?


What beneficial use of electronic devices by children is mentioned in the article?


For how much time each day do children use electronic devices on average?


According to the article, in what ways can use of electronic devices affect children?


What dangers are associated with children`s use of social media?


According to the article, who should be made aware of the results of research into children`s use of electronic devices?




Plant yn gor-ddefnyddio dyfeisiau electronig – oes angen i ni boeni?

Mae`n amlwg fod plant a phobl ifainc yn treulio mwy o`u hamser yn defnyddio dyfeisiau electronig. Gall hynny fod yn wylio`r teledu, gwrando ar gerddoriaeth neu chwarae gêmau electronig. Mae`r gwaith ymchwil o fewn y maes hwn yn dechrau cydnabod problemau a thrafferthion wrth or-ddefnyddio`r dyfeisiau. Ond, gallwn gydnabod fod y cyfleoedd i ddysgu drwy ddyfeisiau electronig yn bwysig o fewn plentyndod.

Y newid mwyaf yw`r amser y mae plant yn ei dreulio o flaen y sgrîn ac yn defnyddio dyfeisiau electronig. Mae cyfartaledd yn chwech awr a hanner y dydd. Gall amser cyswllt plant a phobl ifanc ar y dyfeisiau wneud gwahaniaeth i batrymau cysgu ac ymddygiad.

Mae gorddefnydd o rwydweithiau cymdeithasol yn arwain at rannu gormod o wybodaeth, at ddylanwadu ar hunanddelwedd corfforol a bod yn agored i gynnwys a chyngor niweidiol. Gall hyn gael effaith negyddol ar eu lles.

Mae angen mwy o waith ymchwil o fewn amser y mae plant a phobl ifanc yn ei dreulio o flaen sgrîn. Bydd astudiaethau yn y maes hwn yn sicrhau bod gan rieni y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf a mwyaf cywir i wneud y penderfyniad cywir o ran defnyddio sgrin.




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