Welsh/Useful Phrases

Useful phrases

Greetings
Cymraeg	English
Croeso (i Gymru)	Welcome (to Wales)
Helo/Shwmae	Hello
Bore da	Good morning
Prynhawn da; P'nawn da	Good afternoon
Noswaith dda	Good evening
Sut dych chi	How are you
Iawn	Right/Fine
Da iawn	Very good/Well done
Go lew	Fine
Ddim yn ddrwg	Not bad
Gwael!	Awful!
Diolch	Thanks
Beth amdanoch chi?	What about you?
Hwyl fawr!	Goodbye!
Hwyl fawr am nawr!	Goodbye for now!
Wela i chi!	See you later!

Please and thanks
Cymraeg	English
Da	Good
Drwg	Bad
Mae'n ddrwg gyda fi	I'm sorry
Esgusodwch fi	Excuse me
Iechyd da!	Cheers! (good health)
Dw i ddim yn deall	I don't understand
Dw i ddim yn gwybod	I don't know
Beth yw ... yn Saesneg?	What is ... in English?
Beth yw ... yn Gymraeg?	What is ... in Welsh?
Ydych chi'n siarad ...?	Do you speak?
Saesneg	English
Ffrangeg	French
Almaeneg	German
Sbaeneg	Spanish
Eidaleg	Italian
Beth yw hwn?	What is this?
Beth yw hwnnw?	What is that?
Beth yw hwn (hwnnw) yn Gymraeg?	What is this (that) in Welsh?
Sut ydych chi'n dweud ... yn Gymraeg?	How do you say ... in Welsh?
Os gwelwch yn dda	Please
Diolch yn fawr	Thanks very much
Dim problem	No problem
Croeso	(You're) welcome
Ydych chi'n iawn?	Are you OK?
Beth sy'n bod?	What's the matter?
Does dim ots	It doesn't matter
Dim byd	Nothing
Dim byd o gwbl	Nothing at all
Ble mae ...?	Where is ...?
Ble mae'r ty bach?	Where is the toilet?

Yes and No

Welsh doesn't have a single word to use every time for yes and no questions. The word used depends on the form of the question. You must generally answer using the relevant form of the verb used in the question, or in questions where the verb is not the first element you use either 'ie' / 'nage'. "Ie" is often pronounced "ia" in northern dialects of Welsh.

Cymraeg	English
Ie / Ia	Yes
Na	No
Oes	There is/are
Nag oes	There is/are not
Ydy	It is
Nag ydy	It isn't
Ydw	I am
Nag ydw	I'm not

Oes and Nag oes are used to answer questions regarding a quantity or existence of an object (i.e. the 3 sg. present indicative of the existential verb).
Ydy and Nag ydy are the 3 sg. present indicative of the substantive verb 'to be' used, e.g., where the sentence involves a predicate.
Ydw and Nag ydw are the 1 sg. present indicative of the substantive verb, used either existentially or in the case of predicates.

Examples

Cwestiwn ac Ateb	Question and Answer	Literal Translation
Oes ci gyda chi? Oes. (southern Welsh) Oes gennych chi gi? Oes. (northern Welsh)	Do you have a dog? Yes.	Is there a dog with you? There is. (southern Welsh) Do you have a dog? Yes. (northern Welsh)
Oes ci gyda chi? Nac oes. (southern Welsh) Oes gennych chi gi? Nag oes. (northern Welsh)	Do you have a dog? No.	Is there a dog with you? There is not.
Ydy hi'n oer? Ydy.	Is it cold? Yes.	Is it (fem.) cold? It is.
Ydy hi'n oer? Nag ydy.	Is it cold? No.	Is it (fem.) cold? It isn't.
Ydych chi'n hoffi siocled? Ydw.	Do you like chocolate? Yes.	Are you liking chocolate? I am.
Ydych chi'n hoffi siocled? Nag ydw.	Do you like chocolate? No.	Are you liking chocolate? I'm not.

Numbers

Numeral	Vigesimal System
1	un
2	dau (m.) dwy (f.)
3	tri (m.) tair (f.)
4	pedwar (m.) pedair (f.)
5	pum(p)
6	chwe(ch)
7	saith
8	wyth
9	naw
10	deg
11	un ar ddeg/Un deg un
12	deuddeg/Un deg dau
13	Un deg tri
14	Un deg pedwar
15	Un deg pump
16	un deg chwech
17	un deg saith
18	un deg wyth
19	un deg naw
20	ugain. Dau deg

Days of the week

When referring to the evening or night of a particular day, Nos precedes the name of the day (and a soft mutation takes place), otherwise the name of the day is preceded by Dydd.

English	Cymraeg (Dydd)	Cymraeg (Nos)
Monday	Dydd Llun	Nos Lun
Tuesday	Dydd Mawrth	Nos Fawrth
Wednesday	Dydd Mercher	Nos Fercher
Thursday	Dydd Iau	Nos Iau
Friday	Dydd Gwener	Nos Wener
Saturday	Dydd Sadwrn	Nos Sadwrn
Sunday	Dydd Sul	Nos Sul

Months of the year

Cymraeg	English
Ionawr	January
Chwefror	February
Mawrth	March
Ebrill	April
Mai	May
Mehefin	June
Gorffennaf	July
Awst	August
Medi	September
Hydref	October
Tachwedd	November
Rhagfyr	December

Seasons of the year

Cymraeg	English
Gwanwyn	Spring
Haf	Summer
Hydref	Autumn
Gaeaf	Winter

Common phrases

Welsh (language): Cymraeg (kum-RAig / kum-ra:g)
English (language): Saesneg (SAY-sneg / SIS-neg)
Good morning!: Bore da! (bo-re da)
Good afternoon!: P'nawn da! (p'nown da)
Welcome!: Croeso! (KROY-so)
Goodbye!: Da boch chi! (da BO-khi)
Cheerio!: Hwyl fawr! (hooil vowR)
Good night!: Nos da! (no:s da)
Please: Os gwelwch chi'n dda (oss GWEL-oo-khin dha)
Thank you: Diolch (DEE-olkh)
Thank you very much: Diolch yn fawr (DEE-olkh'n vowR)
You're welcome: Croeso (krojso)
No thank you: Dim diolch (dim dee-olkh)
Yes: Ie (EE-eh), Do (do:), Oes (oyss / o:s), Ydy (UD-ee) etc.

There are many different ways of saying “yes” or no, depending on the context

To answer “yes” you must use a response which is in grammatical agreement with the question.

“Oes...?” (Is there...?) is answered with “Oes” (Yes there is).

“Ydy...?” (Is he/she...?) is answered with “Ydy” (Yes he/she is).

“Ydw...?” (Am I...?) would however be answered appropriately with “Ydych” (Yes you are) and vice versa.

“Ie” (Yes) is used when the verb is not the initial element of the question.

“Do” (Yes I did, Yes you did, etc.) is used in reply to questions in the past tense, although in several dialects it is also used in the present tense.

No: Na (nah)

To contradict someone or to give a more definite “no” you can however precede the words for “yes” with “na” or “nag”, e.g. “Nag oes!” (No there isn’t!) (The opposite of Do is Naddo.)

(I’m) sorry!: Mae'n flin gen i! (mai'n vleen Gen ee)
Isn’t it? Wouldn’t it? Aren’t they? Won’t we? etc.: Ynte? (un-teh)
Cheers! Good health!: Iechyd da! (YEKH-id dah)