There are two ways of saying could in Welsh, using gallwn (south) and medrwn (north). It’s best to be aware of both, and let local usage dictate which one you use.
Do not use yn , and following verbnouns such as bwyta , to eat , will take soft mutation in the affirmative and interrogative, but do not mutate after dim . Gallwn is sometimes used with the affirmative particle fe which causes soft mutation.
Affirmative
English Welsh Alternative Examples I could gallwn i fe allwn i gallwn i fwyta you could gallet ti fe allet ti gallet ti fwyta he could gallai fe fe allai fe gallai fe fwyta she could gallai hi fe allai hi gallai hi fwyta Carys could gallai Carys fe allai Carys gallai Carys fwyta the girls could gallai’r merched fe allai’r merched gallai’r merched fwyta we could gallen ni fe allen ni gallen ni fwyta you could gallech chi fe allech chi gallech chi fwyta they could gallen nhw fe allen nhw gallen nhw fwyta
Interrogative
English Welsh Alternative Examples could I? allwn i? – allwn i fwyta? could you? allet ti? – allet ti fwyta? could he? allai fe? – allai fe fwyta? could she? allai hi? – allai hi fwyta? could Carys? allai Carys? – allai Carys fwyta? could the girls? allai’r merched? – allai’r merched fwyta? could we? allen ni? – allen ni fwyta? could you? allech chi? – allech chi fwyta? could they? allen nhw? – allen nhw fwyta?
Negative
English Welsh Alternative Examples I could not allwn i ddim – allwn i ddim bwyta you could not allet ti ddim – allet ti ddim bwyta he could not allai feddim – allai feddim bwyta she could not allai hi ddim – allai hi ddim bwyta Carys could not allai Carys ddim – allai Carys ddim bwyta the girls could not allai’r merched ddim – allai’r merched ddim bwyta we could not allen ni ddim – allen ni ddim bwyta you could not allech chi ddim – allech chi ddim bwyta they could not allen nhw ddim – allen nhw ddim bwyta