Cysyllteiriau, Arddodiaid ac ati - Conjunctions, Prepositions etc FAQ

Admittedly 'other' is not a part of speech. We have grouped conjunctions , adverbs , prepositions and pronouns on one page for ease of access. 

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are linking words e.g. and, but, because, or. They are used to connect clauses or sentences to form more complex sentences. e.g. 'I want to go out tomorrow but it is going to rain all day.' In this respect conjunctions perform the same function in Welsh as they do in English.

Many conjunctions in Welsh use a particular construction to join the conjunction to what comes after. Broadly speaking there are three kinds:-

• Those which take the 'i' form. (most 'time' conjunctions)
• Those which take the 'bod' form
• Those which take neither (or either under appropriate circumstances)

Welsh conjunctions which take the above forms are linked below.  Details of the 'i' and 'bod' forms can be found on the individual word listing pages. Most 'time' conjunctions take the 'i' form but a few take the 'bod' construction.

Time conjunctions ( mostly taking the 'i' form)

Other conjunctions ( mostly taking the 'bod' form)

Conjunctions which take neither (or either)

Adverbs

Adverbs usually modify i.e - limit or restrict the meaning of - verbs . English adds a suffix 'ly' to the adjective in order to form the adverb. In Welsh we simply add 'yn' before the adjective. See examples below:

hawdd - easy                                  yn hawdd - easily
anffodus - unfortunate                    yn anffodus - unfortunately

It should be borne in mind that some words are adverbs by definition e.g.

yfory - tomorrow , nawr - now , yna - then

There are also phrases (adverbial phrases) which function as adverbs e.g

trwy'r amser - always , ymhen mis - in a month , in a month's time , tu draw - beyond , over there

Prepositions

Prepositions are words which express a relation to another word or element in a sentence or clause e.g. 'he arrived after breakfast' , 'the man on the bus'.

Simple prepositions

Most of the Welsh prepositions in common usage are listed in the Geiriadur. It is important to remember that many Welsh prepositions have several meanings dependent upon context. For instance the Welsh preposition am frequently translates to for , but it can also mean about, around, of and at . 

Inflected prepositions

Inflected prepositions ( a.k.a. conjugated prepositions ) are conjugated similarly to verbs. Basically the preposition adds a syllable which varies with each pronoun. For an example see:-  ar (on)

Other inflected prepositions:-    ar ,  at ,  am ,  dan ,  dros ,  drwy ,  heb ,  gan ,  rhwng ,  o ,  wrth ,  yn

Compound prepositions

Compound prepositions have the form - preposition+noun e.g. ar draws (across). These are common in English e.g. on top of, outside of, in front of - but slightly less so in Welsh. Usage is fairly straightforward and they do not cause mutation.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that stand in place of nouns. They refer to the participants in a sentence/phrase e.g. I or you , or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere e.g., she, it, or this.

Personal Pronouns

Welsh personal pronoun forms:- 

It will be noted that Welsh does not distinguish between subject and object forms. Consequently the word ni means both we and us in Welsh.

Welsh has no equivalent to the English pronoun it . Consequently we employ the pronoun which is appropriate for the gender of the object referred to e.g.

Allwch chi ganu'r gân? - Can you sing the song?

Na ... mae hi'n rhy caled i mi. - No ... it's too hard for me.

In cases where the gender of the noun referred to is not known, the feminine form - hi - is always used. 

Demonstrative Pronouns

These are pronouns when they stand alone and do not have a following noun e.g. 

Faint yw hwn? - How much is this?

When used with a noun they are demonstrative adjectives .

Hyn and hynny above are used to refer to abstract or non-tangible objects or ideas. e.g .

Efallai fod hynny'n wir. - Perhaps that is true.