Important little words

Geiriau bach pwysig

All the little things ...

Sometimes, the smallest words can be the most difficult to learn, and Welsh has its fair share of them. The first 3 that we need to look at in detail are:

A and Ac - "and"
Y, Yr and 'r - "the"
Yn and Mewn - "in"

See below for the examples of how each of these should be used, as well as some other words (mostly connectives and prepositions) that you will need to be aware of. As always, there are mutations involved and some exceptions to the rules!

A and Ac

The Welsh word for ‘and’ depends on what comes after it. The rule is:

· a before a consonant, e.g. afal a banana.

· ac before a vowel, e.g. banana ac afal.

There are no mutations involved with the ac form of 'and', but the word a will cause a Treiglad Llaes/Aspirate Mutation on words that follow it, e.g.

· ci a cath > ci a chath

· ffrindiau a teulu > ffrindiau a theulu

· sglodion a pysgod > sglodion a physgod

Y, Yr and 'r

The Welsh word for ‘the’ depends on what comes before and after it.

The rule is:

· y before all consonants except h, e.g. y tîm, y bachgen.

· yr before all vowels and h, e.g. yr eliffant, yr haul, yr ysgol.

· ‘r after a vowel, e.g. Es i i’r sinema, Mae’r banc a’r ysgol yn y pentref.

Feminine singular nouns take a Treiglad Meddal/Soft Mutation after ‘the’, e.g.

· cacen > y gacen

· taith > y daith

· pont > y bont

· dawns > y ddawns

· gardd > yr _ardd

· merch > y ferch

Nouns that start with ll or rh don’t take a Treiglad Meddal/Soft Mutation even though they are usually part of it, e.g. y llinell.

Yn and Mewn

The Welsh word for ‘in’ depends on the context in which it is being used. The rule is:

· yn is used when something is in a definite location, e.g. yn Sbaen, yn y parc

· mewn is usually used as a translation of ‘in a’. It refers to a less specific location or a given period of time, e.g. mewn gwesty, mewn awr

Place names following directly after yn (only when meaning 'in') will take a Treiglad Trwynol/Nasal Mutation, e.g.

· yn + Tonyrefail > yn Nhonyrefail (yn Honyrefail)

· yn + Caerdydd > yng Nghaerdydd (yng Haerdydd)

· yn + Pontypridd > ym Mhontypridd (ym Hontypridd)

· yn + Bangor > ym Mangor (ym Angor)

· yn + Gorseinon > yng Ngorseinon (yng Orseinon)

· yn + Dolgellau > yn Nollgellau (yn Olgellau)

The word yn will also change to help make the places easier to say with the mutation. Stuck with the pronunciation? Read the two words (yn + place name) together as one. Emphasise the form of yn slightly, and start pronouncing the place name from the first letter after the yn/ym/yng sound until you get used to it. As the letter sound is repeated across both words, it can be easier to practise without having to repeat the same initial sound - the examples of this are above in the brackets.

There are also some exemptions to the rule where the use of mewn in idioms can change its meaning slightly, instead of it meaning 'in a'. Some of the more common phrases used are:

· mewn angen in need

· mewn cariad in love

· mewn difrif in all seriousness

· mewn gair briefly (literal translation – ‘in a word’)

· mewn gwirionedd in fact

· mewn pryd in time/on time

· mewn trafferth in trouble

It's about making links ...

Connectives allow us to add more details into our sentences, which is great news for both our speaking and writing exam questions. Below are some of the more useful connectives, some of which you should definitely be using already:

• a - and

• a hefyd - and also

• achos - because (Keep a look out for oherwydd in the exams as well!)

• fel - such as, for example

• felly - therefore

• neu - or

• ond - but

• pan - when

Treigladau/Mutations

There will be a Treiglad Meddal/Soft Mutation on words that follow after the connectives neu and pan.
As mentioned earlier, there will be a Treiglad Llaes/Aspirate Mutation on words that follow after a.

... and knowing where everything is!

Prepositions are another set of small but important words because they show us the relationship between things.

They can:

· refer to a place, e.g. Mae’r llyfr ar y ddesg.

· refer to a time, e.g. Mae Eastenders am wyth o’r gloch.

· follow verbs, e.g. chwarae dros

The list of prepositions includes:

• am - at / about

• ar - on

• at - to, towards

• dan - under

• dros - over

• drwy / trwy - through

• gan - by (a person), from

• heb - without

• hyd / tan - until

• i - to

• o - from

• rhwng - between

• wrth - by (a location)

• yn - in

In a similar way to the list of connectives, there are mutations that come into play with this list of words. It's somewhat easier to remember the list this time, as there will be a Treiglad Meddal/Soft Mutation on words that follow every word except rhwng.

Whilst you won't have time to remember them all in time for the exams, just look twice at any words that follow them - you may have to reverse the mutation to work out what it means!

As well as having a Treiglad Meddal to contend with, there are also verb-preposition pairings that can cause some confusion. Sometimes, a verb is followed by the same preposition in Welsh and English – e.g. 'edrych ar' / 'to look at' – but at other times, they’re translated a little differently. Some of the key phrases that you will likely come across are written below:

· gwrando ar = listen to

· chwarae dros = play for

· dweud wrth = tell (a person)

· ysgrifennu at = write to

· ysgrifennu am = write about

· diolch i = thank (a person)

· diolch am = thank for

· gofyn i = ask (a person)

· gofyn am = ask for

· siarad â = talk to

· siarad am = talk about

· cysylltu â = contact (a person)

· mynd at = go to (a person – e.g. Dr)

· ymweld â = pay a visit to (a place or a person)