Welsh Grammar

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Welsh Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Welsh grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Welsh and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Welsh and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Welsh.

Prepositions	Welsh
and	a
above	uwch ben
under	dan
before	cyn
after	ar ôl
in front of	o flaen
behind	tu ôl i
far from	yn bell o
near	ger
in	yn
inside	tu mewn
outside	tu allan i
with	gyda
without	heb
about	am
between	rhwng
but	ond
for	am
from	o
to	i

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules	Welsh
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun]	dw i'n bwyta heb cyllell
she lives near the church [verb + preposition]	mae hi'n byw ger yr eglwys
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition]	mae e'n dalach na hi
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun]	daeth e gyda'i gi bach
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun]	allwch chi ddod gyda mi?

Negation in Welsh

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules	Welsh
I understand you [affirmative form]	dw i'n eich deall chi
I don't understand you [negation + verb]	dw i ddim yn eich deall chi
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective]	nid y gair cywir yw hwn
don't leave me [imperative negation]	peidiwch â fy ngadael i
no problem [negation + noun]	dim problem

Negative Sentences	Welsh
I don't speak French [negation + present tense]	dydw i ddim yn siarad ffrangeg
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense]	wnaeth hi ddim ymweld â'r almaen
he cannot see us [negative modal verb]	all e ddim ein gweld ni
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation]	all hi ddim chwarae gwyddbwyll?
we will not come late [negation + future tense]	fyddwn ni ddim yn dod yn hwyr

Questions in Welsh

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English	Welsh
how?	sut?
what?	beth?
who?	pwy?
why?	pam?
where?	ble?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules	Welsh
where do you live? [interrogative + verb]	ble dych chi'n byw?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb]	ydy hi'n siarad tseinëeg?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition]	faint yw hyn?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb]	alla i eich helpu chi?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition]	beth yw eich enw?

Adverbs in Welsh

It's time to learn the adverbs in Welsh. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs	Welsh
now	nawr
yesterday	ddoe
today	heddiw
tonight	heno
tomorrow	yfory
soon	yn fuan
quickly	yn gyflym
slowly	araf
together	gyda'i gilydd
very	iawn
almost	bron
always	bob amser
usually	fel arfer
sometimes	weithiau
rarely	yn anaml
never	byth

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules	Welsh
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb]	ydych chi'n fy neall i nawr?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb]	mae angen cymorth arnaf ar unwaith
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective]	mae hi'n ddeallus iawn
I will always love you [verb + adverb]	bydda' i bob amser yn caru chi
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question]	allwn ni ddysgu almaeneg gyda'n gilydd?

Pronouns in Welsh

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Welsh. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns	Welsh
I	i
you	chi
he	ef
she	hi
we	ni
they	nhw

Object Pronouns	Welsh
me	fi
you	chi
him	ef
her	ei
us	ni
them	nhw

Possessive Pronouns	Welsh
my	fy
your	eich
his	ei
her	ei
our	ein
their	eu

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns	Welsh
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb]	eich ffrind ydw i
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb]	dych chi'n siarad yn gyflym iawn
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb]	mae gyda fe dri chi
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb]	mae hi'n siarad almaeneg
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun]	fdydwn ni ddim yn dod yn hwyr
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun]	prynon nhw laeth a bara

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns	Welsh
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun]	allwch chi ddweud eich enw wrtho'i?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun]	rhoia' i'r arian i chi
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun]	ysgrifennodd hi lythyr ato
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun]	ymwelon nhw â hi ddoe
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun]	allwch chi ein helpu ni?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun]	rhoddodd e fwyd iddyn nhw

Possessive Pronouns	Welsh
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun]	fy enw i yw maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun]	mae eich brawd yn byw yma
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun]	mae ei mam yn coginio i ni
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun]	ei hobi yw darllen llyfrau
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun]	ein breuddwyd yw ymweld â pharis
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun]	dyw eu tŷ nhw ddim yn bell

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns	Welsh
this is my house	hwn yw fy nhy i
that restaurant is far	mae'r bwyty'na yn bell
these apples are delicious	mae'r afalau'ma'n flasus
those stars are shiny	mae'r sêr'ma'n pefrio

I hope you learned a lot about the Welsh grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!

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