Topic: Welsh

"Before the sales started."

Translation:Cyn i'r sêls ddechrau.

April 6, 2016

7 Comments

https://www.duolingo.com/profile/IanWilliams5

    This to me is 'before the sales start'. What makes it the past tense?

    April 6, 2016
    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/rmcode
    Mod
    • 1658

    I can mean either, depending on the context. 'Cyn i'r sêls dechrau, es i adre' = 'Before the sales started, I went home'; 'Cyn i'r sêls dechrau, dw i'n mynd adre' = 'Before the sales start, I'm going home'

    April 6, 2016
    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/IanWilliams5

      Diolch yn fawr

      April 6, 2016
      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Beth743129

        What makes it "ddechrau"? Can "dechrau" be used when being less formal?

        April 10, 2017
        https://www.duolingo.com/profile/mizinamo
        Plus
        • 47

        In this kind of construction with "i" + pronoun or noun, the following verb gets soft mutation -- e.g. cyn i'r sêls ddechrau, mae'n well i mi fynd, ar ôl i Dewi Lingo fwyta.

        April 11, 2017
        https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Beth743129

          Thank you. I had seen a Welsh speaker write it without the soft mutation, and I wondered.

          April 11, 2017
          https://www.duolingo.com/profile/shwmae

            Mutations are fickle things in the wild - some can change according to formality, dialect, background of the speaker etc. The mutations taught here are fairly standard, so you're probably better learning the ones Duolingo introduces and then as you become more fluent you can learn when to drop them or use a different mutation.

            April 11, 2017
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