There are two ways of saying can 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 canu , to sing , will take soft mutation in the affirmative and interrogative, but do not mutate after dim . Medrwn is sometimes used with the affirmative particle mi which causes soft mutation.
Affirmative
English Welsh Alternative Examples I could medrwn i mi fedrwn i medrwn i ganu you could medret ti mi fedret ti medret ti ganu he could medrai fo mi fedrai fo medrai fo ganu she could medrai hi mi fedrai hi medrai hi ganu Carys could medrai Carys mi fedrai Carys medrai Carys ganu the girls could medrai’r merched mi fedrai’r merched medrai’r merched ganu we could medren ni mi fedren ni medren ni ganu you could medrech chi mi fedrech chi medrech chi ganu they could medren nhw mi fedren nhw medren nhw ganu
Interrogative
English Welsh Alternative Examples could I? fedrwn i? – fedrwn i ganu? could you? fedret ti? – fedret ti ganu? could he? fedrai fo? – fedrai fo ganu? could she? fedrai hi? – fedrai hi ganu? could Carys? fedrai Carys? – fedrai Carys ganu? could the girls? fedrai’r merched? – fedrai’r merched ganu? could we? fedren ni? – fedren ni ganu? could you? fedrech chi? – fedrech chi ganu? could they? fedren nhw? – fedren nhw ganu?
Negative
English Welsh Alternative Examples I could not fedrwn i ddim – fedrwn i ddim canu you could not fedret ti ddim – fedret ti ddim canu he could not fedrai fo ddim – fedrai fo ddim canu she could not fedrai hi ddim – fedrai hi ddim canu Carys could not fedrai Carys ddim – fedrai Carys ddim canu the girls could not fedrai’r merched ddim – fedrai’r merched ddim canu we could not fedren ni ddim – fedren ni ddim canu you could not fedrech chi ddim – fedrech chi ddim canu they could not fedren nhw ddim – fedren nhw ddim canu