Using Content Clauses in Welsh

Content clauses (previously called noun clauses) are a special type of dependent clause. In Welsh, they are called cymalau enwol.

Content clauses often function as the object of a verb. This is usually a verb of communication or mental state such as know, think, say, believe, understand, acknowledge. 

In English, such clauses are optionally linked to the verb with the word ‘that’.

For example: 

• I know that you are busy. 
• We think that he is great. 
• They understand that the school is closed. 

In the above cases, no head noun is specified. If a head noun is specified, it is usually a word like fact, idea, concept, belief. 

• I like the fact that you speak Welsh. 
• The belief that coffee is addictive is widespread. 
• We don’t understand the idea that exercise is unhealthy. 

The process of linking content clauses to the rest of the sentence is straightforward in English – we simply have an optional ‘that’ to include if we want to.

In Welsh, this linking process can be more or less complicated depending on whether we are using standard or colloquial language.

In the following, I use the term ‘standard’ to mean ‘not especially colloquial; grammatically correct’. 

Content Clauses in Standard Welsh 

As in English, content clauses in Welsh are often preceded by verbs of thinking, feeling or saying, like dweud, gwybod, meddwl, teimlo and so on. 

They can also be linked to a head noun such as ffaith, syniad, dywediad and so on. 

There are certain other words that may not trigger content clauses in English, but do trigger content clauses in Welsh. These include: 

• achos; oherwydd; oblegid (because)
• gan; am (when they mean ‘because’) 
• er (even though) 
• tra (while)
• rhaid (must)

For example: 

• achos mai Paris yw prifddinas Ffrainc… = because Paris is the capital of France…
• gan mai fo yw’r athro… = as he is the teacher…
• er mai fo yw’r athro… = even though he is the teacher…
• tra dy fod ti yma… = while you’re here…
• rhaid mai fo yw’r talaf… = he must be the tallest…
• tybed mai fi oedd yn iawn? = I wonder if I was right?

Introduction

We should note at the beginning that colloquially, any content clause can simply be stated without any equivalent of the linking word ‘that’. For example:

• Dw i’n deall rwyt ti’n brysur.
• I understand that you are busy.

However, there are common alternative ways of expressing content clauses in standard Welsh, especially in the present and past tenses, and this article is about those alternatives.

In the standard language, content clauses that are not in the present or past tenses are also usually straightforward. We don’t include any sort of translation of ‘that’, and just state the clause as normal (with the optional addition of the formal ‘y‘):

Content clauses in the present tense, imperfect, and simple past tense require the ‘bod‘ transformation. Simple past verbs can take the bod + wedi structure. We will take a deeper look at such sentences in a moment.

• Dw i’n gobeithio + mae Iwan yn hapus. = Dw i’n gobeithio bod Iwan yn hapus.
• I hope Iwan is happy.

• Dw i’n gwybod + ‘wnest ti lwyddo = Dw i’n gwybod (dy) fod ti wedi llwyddo.
• I know you succeeded.

• Maen nhw’n deall + (r)oedd yr ysgol ar gau = Maen nhw’n deall bod yr ysgol ar gau. 
• They understand the school was closed. 

Be aware, however, that in colloquial Welsh, some people (especially young people) will simply state the past tense or imperfect clauses without any link or version of the English ‘that’. Compare the examples below with the examples above.

• Dw i’n gwybod ‘wnest ti lwyddo.
• I know you succeeded. 

• Maen nhw’n deall (r)oedd yr ysgol ar gau. 
• They understand the school was closed.

In formal Welsh, you can expect to see the ‘i pattern’ for the simple past instead:

• Dw i’n gwybod i ti lwyddo.
• I know that you succeeded.

This i-pattern is gradually becoming less common, however, and some native speakers who have not been exposed to formal Welsh extensively have never heard or used this structure.

The use of ‘bod’ 

In standard Welsh, when present-tense affirmative content clauses use ‘bod’ as a helping verb, the verb is generally not conjugated and is simply left in verbnoun form – in other words, it stays as ‘bod.’ However, instead of conjugating ‘bod’, we need to put the verb into a possessive structure, as if the subject is ‘owning’ the verb ‘bod’.

When the subject is not a pronoun as in the following examples, we just need to leave bod in its verbnoun form and the possessive structure just makes itself. ‘bod John‘ is ‘John’s bod‘, just as ‘castell John‘ is ‘John’s castle‘ – and the same goes for ‘bod bara‘ and ‘bod Elin‘.

See the examples below:

• Dw i’n meddwl + Mae John yn athro. = Dw i’n meddwl bod John yn athro. 
• I think John is a teacher. 

• Maen nhw’n dweud + Mae bara yn ddrwg i hwyiaid = Maen nhw’n dweud bod bara’n ddrwg i hwyiaid. 
• They say that bread is bad for ducks.

• Do’n i ddim yn credu + Mae Elin wedi methu’r prawf = Do’n i ddim yn credu bod Elin wedi methu’r prawf. 
• I couldn’t believe Elin had failed the test. 

When the subject is a pronoun, we need to add in the correct possessive adjective and the correct mutation:

• Dw i’n meddwl + Dw i’n dy garu di = Dw i’n meddwl fy mod i’n dy garu di.
• I think (that) I love you. 

• Ydych chi’n gwybod + Maen nhw‘n anghywir = Ydych chi’n gwybod eu bod nhw’n anghywir? 
• Do you know that they are wrong? 

• Mae’r cwmni’n cydnabod y ffaith + Rwyt ti‘n help i’r prosiect = Mae’r cwmni’n cydnabod y ffaith dy fod ti’n help i’r prosiect. 
• The company acknowledges the fact that you are assisting the project.

• Mae’r ysgol yn cydnabod y ffaith + Mae hi‘n ddwyieithog = Mae’r ysgol yn cydnabod y ffaith ei bod hi’n ddwyieithog. 
• The school acknowledges the fact that she is bilingual. 

This use of the possessive structure might seem strange at first, but the logic may make somewhat better sense if you consider that with this structure, we are simply saying ‘my being’, ‘your being’, ‘John’s being’, ‘the bear’s being’ and so on. 

Note that no special additional treatment is needed if the content clause is introduced by a head noun such as fact, idea, belief. For example:

• Mae’r ysgol yn deall y ffaith bod problem gyda’r to. 
• The school understands the fact that there’s a problem with the roof.

In very colloquial Welsh, when the content clause begins with present-tense bod, we can use the colloquial possessive structure, noun + pronoun, so for example, fy mod i becomes bod fi and dy fod ti becomes bod ti. Note that this is very informal Welsh, just as ‘car fi’ (my car), ‘tŷ nhw’ (their house) and so on are extremely colloquial. Before a consonant, bod often becomes bo’ in this structure.

For example:

• Dw i’n meddwl bo’ fi’n dy garu di.
• I think I love you. 

• Mae o’n dweud bod e’n ddoctor. 
• He says he’s a doctor. 

• Dw i’n me’l bo’ Twm yn hoffi ti. 
• I think Twm likes you.

• ‘Wedodd yr athro bod y dosbarth yn boncyrs. 
• The teacher said the class was bonkers. 

Another very colloquial option is simply to conjugate bod:

• Dw i’n meddwl mae John yn athro. 
  I think John is a teacher.

• Maen nhw’n dweud mae bara’n ddrwg i hwyiaid. 
  They say that bread is bad for ducks.

• Ydyn nhw’n deall (dyn) ni’n hwyr?
  Do they understand that we are late?

Keep in mind that in spoken Welsh, we often omit fy but keep the mutation, and so say ‘mod i instead of ‘fy mod i’, just as we might say ‘mag i (my bag) or ‘nghar i (my car). We do not generally say ‘fod ti‘ or ‘fod e‘, just as we don’t say ‘fag di‘ or ‘gar e‘.

Emphatic content clauses with mai/taw

The possessive structure with bod is not used when the content clause is emphatic, or in other words, when you place the focus on a specific part of the sentence. Here are a few examples of emphatic sentences in Welsh:

• Fe yw’r gorau = He is the best (not someone else)
• Cacen dw i’n (ei) fwyta = I eat cake (not something else)
• Ti sy’n anghywir, dim fi = You are the one who is wrong, not me
• Yma dw i’n byw = I live here (as opposed to somewhere else)
• Gweithio mae o = He’s working (as opposed to doing something else)

With emphatic content clauses, mai or taw (and informally na) can optionally be inserted before the clause. The rest of the sentence is as normal. There is no possessive structure.

Mai is the standard Northern form, and taw is the Southern form. Na is mainly heard in the north and is considered informal. In formal contexts, mai is more appropriate than taw. Whilst it is usually fine to omit mai / taw colloquially, it is good practice to include it in formal contexts.   

Here are some examples. Note that I’ve adjusted the English grammar to reflect the emphatic nature of the Welsh sentences. In English, we often place extra stress on the word we wish to emphasise rather than changing the word order.

• Dw i’n meddwl mai/taw/na fo ydy’r un sy’n dy garu di mwyaf. 
• I think that he is the one who loves you the most. 

• Maen nhw’n deall mai/taw athro ydy hi. 
• They understand that a teacher she is (and not something else). 

• Dywedodd e mai’r/taw’r llyfr fydd o eisiau. 
• He said it’s the book is what he will want.

• Dw i’n meddwl mai/taw am chwech ddechreuodd o. 
• I think it’s at six that he started.

• Mae hi’n honni mai/taw gweithio oedd hi’r diwrnod hynny. 
• She claims that working is what she was doing that day.

• Dw i’n meddwl mai/taw’r gath sydd yn yfed y cwrw. 
• I think it’s the cat who’s drinking the beer. 

Examples with no mai/taw in colloquial Welsh:

• Mae hi’n honni gweithio oedd hi’r diwrnod hynny. 
• She claims she was working that day.

• Dw i’n meddwl y gath sy’n yfed y cwrw. 
• I think it’s the cat who’s drinking the beer. 

Negation of Content Clauses 

In formal Welsh, na and nad are used to negate dependent clauses, including content clauses. Na is used before a consonant (including h); nad is used before vowels. (In spoken Welsh, the standard colloquial methods of negation are used.) These are followed by the copular form (y-form) of bod.

• Roeddwn i’n meddwl nad oedd hi’n barod. 
• I thought she wasn’t ready. 

• (Colloquially: (R)o’n i’n meddwl bod hi ddim yn barod. / (R)o’n i’n meddwl doedd hi ddim yn barod.) 

• Dw i’n meddwl na welwn seren wîb heno.
• I think we won’t see a shooting star tonight. 

• (Colloquially: Dw i’n meddwl ‘nawn ni ddim gweld seren wîb heno.) 

• Maen nhw’n meddwl nad ydy hi’n hapus. 
• They think she isn’t happy.

If the dependent clause is emphatic, nad is used irrespective of whether it is followed by a vowel. Informally, you may also hear dim in the place of nad.

• Dw i’n gwybod nad feddyg yw hi. 
• I know she isn’t a doctor.

• (Colloquially: Dw i’n gwybod dim feddyg yw hi.)

Interrogative Content Clauses

An interrogative content clause is essentially a question that is embedded within a larger sentence. Instead of asking a question, it reports the question.

For example, instead of asking “Where is the car?”, you might say “I don’t know where the car is.” The italicized part is the interrogative content clause.

In Welsh, no linking element is required with such clauses – the original question is used as the subordinate clause without any modification. In other words, the Welsh way of phrasing Do you know if it will rain? is simply Do you know will it rain?

Wh-questions

These question words cause a soft mutation to the following verb or noun.

Some examples:

Direct question: Ble mae’r orsaf? (Where is the station?)
Content clause: Dw i’n gwybod ble mae’r orsaf. (I know where the station is.)

Direct question: Pwy wnaeth hynna? (Who did that?)
Content clause: Gofynnodd hi pwy wnaeth hynna. (She asked who did that.)

Direct question: Sut mae gwneud bara brith? (How does one make bara brith?)
Content clause: Wyt ti’n gwybod sut mae gwneud bara brith? (Do you know how to make bara brith?)

Yes/No Questions

Clauses that report ‘yes/no’ questions can optionally be introduced by a or os. Both translate to ‘if’ or ‘whether’. The use of os here is very common colloquially, but its use in written Welsh is considered substandard by some speakers.

For the sake of clarity, if we are not using a or os, it can be a good idea to include neu beidio (or not) at the end of such clauses – though this too is optional.

Let’s look at some example sentences.

Example 1: I don’t know if she’s coming (or not).

In standard Welsh:
Dydw i ddim yn gwybod a ydy hi’n dod.
Dydw i ddim yn gwybod ydy hi’n dod (neu beidio).

Colloquially:
Dw i’m yn gwbo’ os mae’n dod. (North Wales)
Sai’n gwbo’ os mae’n dod. (South Wales)

Example 2: Go and ask her if she needs help.

In standard Welsh:
Cer i ofyn iddi hi a ydy hi angen help.
Cer i ofyn iddi hi ydy hi angen help (neu beidio)

Colloquially:
Cer i ofyn iddi hi os mae hi angen help.

Note that where such questions are introduced by a head noun such as question, problem, issue, confusion, English usually has of as a linking word – Welsh does not have such a link:

Mae angen i ni ystyried y cwestiwn pwy oedd yn gyfrifol.
We have to consider the question of who was responsible.

Mae dal gen i’r broblem beth i wneud am y ci.
I still have the problem of what to do about the dog.