"Mi ddaethoch chi â phartner i'r parti nos Sadwrn."

Translation: You brought a partner to the party on Saturday night.

[HerrArbo]

Why isn't it right to say "You came with a partner to the party on Saturday"?

[ibisc]

Different meanings with different prepositions:

• dod â - bringing
• dod gyda/efo - coming with

[JeanRafens]

I don't see why "came with a partner" (what it literally looks like to me) has to be written "brought a partner. Don't they mean the same thing? And isn't "came with a partner" closer to the Welsh wording?

[ibisc]

Welsh often uses prepositions to modify the meanings of verb-nouns. This is an example where different meanings are created:

• dod â - bringing
• dod gyda/efo - coming with
• dod yn - becoming

[NScSu]

To what can I refer to discover the gender of a noun?

[Margaret885737]

A dictionary! Ap Geiriaduron is a dictionary app you can download to your phone or computer. There are dictionaries you can access through websites too.

[Siaron1]

How would you say "you and a partner came to the party Saturday night?

[shwmae]

I see what you're saying:

Daethoch chi â pharter "You brought a partner"

sounds just like:

Daethoch chi a phartner "You and a partner came"

So usually context would clear it up. Or you could reword to be clearer e.g.

Chi a pharter ddaeth "You and a partner came"

[Margaret885737]

So is it the singular 'phartner' that drags the verb to the 3rd person singular form there? Would it just sound weird to say 'chi a phartner ddaethoch'?

[shwmae]

Good question! In Welsh you have the option to emphasise part of a sentence by putting it at the front before the verb. When you do this with the subject (the bit that comes straight the verb in a normal sentence - here, chi a phartner), the verb reverts back to its "neutral" form, which is always the third person singular, whatever now comes before it. There's also a soft mutation on the verb.

Some examples:

Daeth Marian i mewn i'r siop "Marian came into the shop" (non-emphatic)

Marian ddaeth i mewn i'r siop "Marian came into the shop" (emphatic)

Daethon ni nos Wener "We came on Friday night"

Ni ddaeth nos Wener "We came on Friday night"

Dest ti heb ddigon o arian "You came without enough money"

Ti ddaeth heb ddigon o arian "You came without enough money"

Daethoch chi a'r plant "You can the kids came"

Chi a'r plant ddaeth "You and the kids came"

[Margaret885737]

ooh, diolch, shwmae! Yn gyffrous iawn! Really exciting to gain glimpses of the suppleness of Welsh and how it is used. Diolch am eich ateb yn glir.