"Os gweli di'n dda"

Translation: Please

[NeilDwi]

The hint should also give the literal translation, just so the learner knows exactly what they are saying.

[mizinamo]

But "exactly what they are saying" is "please".

If you say "Goodbye", you are not literally saying "God be with ye", are you? You're just bidding someone farewell.

I doubt that Welsh people think about the literal translation of os gweli di'n dda any more than English people do about "goodbye" or "o'clock".

[Cynphony]

I looked up each part word for word.
Os = if
Gweli = more
di'n = is?
Dda = well
If more is well
It makes sense that it is used in place of please

[Pema_Fox]

You might want to look again.

(https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gweld) shows that "gweli di" means "you (will) see".

And if you hover on gweli in the above sentence, you can see "you see" as a possible translation at the bottom of the pop up box.

[Esse-Honorem]

for "di'n" / "yn" in this expression:

1) are they used interchangeably;

2) are they different expressions of 2nd singular pronoun;

3) is it also a N./S. Wales difference?

[EllisVaughan]

"Os gwelwch yn dda" is more formal and infact could be said "Os gwelwch chi'n dda" but the chi is often omitted becuase the -wch ending tells us that it is formal without using "Chi".
"Os gweli di'n dda" is the informal and uses "di" instead of "chi". I don't know why we don't omit the "di" like we do in the formal version but it most certainly would never be done.

[shwmae]

To give a fuller explanation: Using os gwelwch yn dda / os gwelwch chi'n dda / os gweli di'n dda is more formal than using plis. And then os gwelwch yn dda / os gwelwch chi'n dda would be use with one personal formally/respectfully or to more than one person with no reference to formality or respect. Os gweli di'n dda would be used with an individual we are more familiar with or have no need to show respect too.

[KTSpam]

I've always used chi'n - never heard it with di'n before; it sounds quite awkward... I wonder if there's a north/south difference too (I'm north)...

[shwmae]

No, nothing to do with north and south, just the fact that you're probably less likely to use "please" with someone you call ti and even then you might just prefer to use the more informal plis. I've heard plenty of notherners use it, though plis is a lot more common.

[RickLeMon2]

Duolingo accepts "if you please" as a translation for "os gwelwch chi'n dda". However, it doesn't for "os gweli di'n dda."

I was taught to mentally treat "os gwelwch chi'n dda" as "if you please". I don't remember why, exactly. Regardless, for learning I found it useful. Others might stumble across this as well, so I thought I'd mention it. (I'm not sure how concerned about this I am myself since I expect that, in the wild, I will either use or encounter "os gweli di'n dda" precisely never.)

[ibisc]

While 'if you please' is a more literal translation, it is very unusual to hear it used in day-to-day English. 'Please' is the better translation.