Gwers 2 / Lesson 2

Deialog / Dialogue
Cliciwch yma i wrando ar y sgwrs canlynol. - Click here to hear the following conversation. Translations of new words & phrases only are given:

A. Bore da!

B. Bore da. Pwy dach chi? Who are you? (This is not impolite in Welsh!)

A. Phil dw i. Be' ydy eich enw chi? What is your name?

B. Cris dw i. Sut dach chi Phil?

A. Dal i fynd! A chi? Still going! And you?

B. Wedi blino! Lle dach chi'n byw? Tired! Where do you live?

A. Yn Ynys Môn. A chi? In Anglesey. And You?

B. Dw i'n byw yn Llangefni. I live in Llangefni.

enw / name
eich / your (first particle)
eich enw chi / your name
be ? / what?
be ydy? / what is?
be 'ydy eich enw chi? / what is your name?
dal i fynd / still going
wedi blino / tired
lle / where (can also mean - place)
a chi ? / and you ?
yn / in
byw / to live/living

Points to note:
(i) In Welsh, your is conveyed by putting eich before the word and chi after it. Click on these and practice them yourself:

eich enw chi / your name
eich car chi / your car
eich mam chi / your mother

sometimes, the final chi is omitted:

eich enw
eich car
eich mam

(ii) If you want to say I live or I am living you might think that you simply couple dw i (I am) with byw to make dw i byw. However, the language doesn't quite work like that; you have to put yn between dw i and byw. This makes: Dw i yn byw. Now, i is a vowel and so is y in Welsh. The yn is contracted to 'n to prevent a clash of vowels. Thus we get: dw i 'n byw. (Just as in English, I am is contracted to I'm)

Dw i'n byw. The exact meaning of the yn in this context is somewhat elusive, but you can think of it as meaning in the state/process of.

Thus Dw i'n byw yn Llangefni can be thought of as meaning I am in the state of living in Llangefni (!) However, take it as simply meaning: I live in Llangefni.

How to say Where do you live?

We combine lle (where) dach chi (you are) and byw (to live/living). As previously explained with dw i'n byw, we also need to use the yn. Thus we arrive at:

Lle dach chi'n byw?

Click on this and practice saying it until you feel confident with it.

(note that dach chi conveys you are or are you - the order of these two words never changes - the context will tell you the intended meaning)