"Dewi Lingo does not want milk."

Translation: Dyw Dewi Lingo ddim eisiau llaeth.

[Ash473779]

I got it wrong as I didn't include the translation with 'isio' in. Duolingo has never taught me this word, I dont even know how to pronounce it >:(

[AneurinEE]

What is dyw doing in this sentence?

[areddragon]

Dyw in this sentence just serves the same purpose as mae, except it's the negative form (since we have ddim/Dewi Lingo does not want milk!).

• Mae Dewi Lingo eisiau llaeth - Dewi Lingo wants milk
• Dyw Dewi Lingo ddim eisiau llaeth - Dewi Lingo doesn't want milk

Most of the conjugations of bod change when you use ddim, not just mae.

• (Ry)dw i eisiau llaeth - I want milk
• (Dy)dw i ddim eisiau llaeth - I don't want milk

[AneurinEE]

Ok, so if you negate the sentence you also need to have a negative form of the verb? This is kind of similar to Turkish, so I can live with that. Thanks for your very clear explanation!

[Deyan161]

Why is it 'dyw' and not "dydy"?

[shwmae]

Dyw (not dwy, which means "two") tends to be taught in the south whereas dydy is used in courses in the north. They both mean the same thing!

[Deyan161]

Oops! Typo. I've edited it. But thanks for explanation

[shwmae]

Everyone does it, mixing up dwy and dyw, bwy and byw etc.!

[Raizel]

Any advice for remembering which is which?

[shwmae]

The best way is probably learning to pronounce them right. The two sound very different if you say them correctly.

With wy you start with rounded lips and spread them to a smile: "oo-ee" (listen here).

With yw you start with spread smiling lips and round them: "oo-ee" (listen here).

If you want a quick way to remember the above words, you could think English "two" has a "w" in the middle as does Welsh dwy with the same meaning, whereas dyw doesn't. I dunno, that's off the top of my head. You can probably think of something better.

[Lara402]

I miss isio, it was the spelling I was taught in Dosbarth Nos, many years ago.

[rmcode]

Yes and it is the standard for North Wales