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. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!