How to Use ‘Cael’ in Welsh

Cael is a very common verb in Welsh. But it can also be a minefield! Fret no longer – let’s take a detailed look at the do’s and don’ts of cael in Welsh.

There are two main verbs in English that can be translated as cael – these are ‘to get’ and ‘to have’. However, sometimes cael is not the most appropriate translation for these verbs in Welsh. Today we’ll take a look at both these verbs in order, and lay out when and why cael should be used to translate them.

1. Cael = Get

‘Get’ is a very versatile verb in English, and it has far more uses than native speakers typically realise.

Many of these uses can be readily translated using ‘cael’ in Welsh, whereas others cannot.

This section will detail the main correspondences between get and ‘cael’ – please see the appendix for some less common meanings of get that can also be translated using ‘cael’.

Some of the most common cases where ‘cael‘ means get are:

Acquire, obtain, receive or catch

I need to get a new phone. ⮕ Mae angen i mi gael ffôn newydd.

She got a letter this morning. ⮕ Mi gafodd hi lythyr y bore ‘ma.

I hope I don’t get a cold. ⮕ Dw i’n gobeithio na fydda i’n cael annwyd.

He got the blame for what happened. ⮕ Fe gafodd e’r bai am yr hyn ddigwyddodd.

We got the impression he was happy. ⮕ Mi gawsom ni’r argraff ei fod e’n hapus.

Fetch or bring

Could you get me a glass of water? ⮕ Elli di gael gwydraid o ddŵr i mi?

She went to get the children from school. ⮕ Aeth hi i gael y plant o’r ysgol.

Note here ‘nôl’ is also common.

Cause to become; to bring about

He got his hands dirty in the garden. ⮕ Mi gafodd e’i ddwylo’n fudr yn yr ardd.

We need to get the house ready. ⮕ Mae angen i ni gael y tŷ’n barod.

Cause to do

I can’t get the car to start. ⮕ Alla i ddim cael y car i gychwyn.

She got her brother to help her with her homework. ⮕ Mi gafodd hi ei brawd i’w helpu hi gyda’i gwaith cartref.

We finally got them to agree. ⮕ Mi gawsom ni nhw i gytuno yn y diwedd.

Able or permitted to do something desirable

We get to leave early on Fridays. ⮕ Rydyn ni’n cael mynd adref yn gynnar ar ddydd Gwener.

Passive construction

The window got broken in the storm. ⮕ Cafodd y ffenestr ei thorri yn y storm.

My bike got stolen yesterday. ⮕ Cafodd fy meic ei ddwyn ddoe.

He was invited to the party. ⮕ Cafodd e ei wahodd i’r parti.

We need to be careful with using ‘cael’ for a passive though, as we will see in the next section.

A deeper look at ‘cael’ passives

Note that we can always use ‘to be’ instead of ‘to get’ for passives in English:

The window was broken in the storm.

My bike was stolen yesterday.

She was expected to apply for the position.

However, note that some verbs can’t take ‘get’ in the passive in English, and instead must take ‘to be’.

He got expected to resign. (Incorrect)
He was expected to resign. (Correct)

The mayor got loved by everyone. (Incorrect)
The mayor was loved by everyone. (Correct)

This depends on whether the verb is dynamic or stative – in other words, whether it is a one-time action or a continuous state of affairs.

Dynamic (one-time) verbs can be translated using the passive in Welsh:

The window got/was broken. ⮕ Cafodd y ffenest ei thorri.

Whereas stative (continuous) verbs cannot:

He was expected to resign. ⮕
Cafodd ei ddisgwyl i ymddiswyddo. (Incorrect)
Roedd disgwyl iddo ymddiswyddo. (Correct)

I will discuss further in a later article the various ways of translating stative passives into Welsh.

Having detailed the correspondences between ‘get’ and ‘cael’, now let’s take a look at when ‘get’ should not be translated using ‘cael’.

‘Get’ cannot be translated as ‘cael’ when it means:

To own

I’ve got two dogs. ⮕ Mae gen ddau gi.

To become, or cause oneself to become

Instead of cael, typically, the best translation here will be a mynd yn + adjective or dod yn + adjective structure:

I’m getting hungry. ⮕ Dw i’n mynd yn llwglyd.

It’s getting dark. ⮕ Mae’n dod yn dywyll.

Sometimes there will be a verb or expression that does the trick:

They’re going out to get drunk. ⮕ Maen nhw’n mynd allan i feddwi.

To position oneself, arrive at or progress towards (a position, location or state)

We got behind a wall. ⮕ Aethon ni tu ôl i wal.

When are we going to get to Cardiff? ⮕ Pryd dan ni’n mynd i gyrraedd Caerdydd?

I’m getting into a muddle. ⮕ Dw i’n mynd i benbleth.

To begin (doing something or to do something)

We should get moving. ⮕ Dylwn ni fynd.

We got chatting over lunch. ⮕ Dechreuon ni sgwrsio dros ginio.

I’m getting to like her better now. ⮕ Dw i’n dechrau hoffi hi mwy nawr.

To understand

I don’t get this question. ⮕ Dw i ddim yn deall y cwestiwn hwn.

Note that colloquially ‘cael’ is sometimes used here:

I’m leaving. Have you got that? ⮕ Dw i’n gadael. Wyt ti ‘di cael hwnna?

The case of ‘Have/has got’

I’m a passionate believer that in order to learn a second language, we must first understand our native language.

With that in mind, notice that the sentence ‘I’ve got a car’ can be used in two similar but subtly different contexts:

I’ve got a car, so I can give you a lift.

I’ve just got a nice car for £1,000. What a bargain!

In a), ‘I’ve got’ means ‘I own’.

In b), it means ‘I’ve bought’ or ‘I’ve acquired’.

This distinction is vital in Welsh – sentence a) cannot be translated using ‘cael’, as ‘I’ve got’ means ‘I have’ in this sentence. We need to use ‘gen’, ‘gyda’ or ‘efo’:

Mae gen i gar, felly galla i roi lifft i ti.

Sentence b) can be translated using ‘cael’, as here ‘got’ means ‘acquired’:

Dw i newydd gael car da am £1,000. Am fargen!

2. Cael = Have

You can translate ‘have’ using ‘cael’ when it means:

Consume or use up (a particular substance or resource, especially food or drink)

I have breakfast at six o’clock. ⮕ Dw i’n cael brecwast am 6 o’r gloch.

You’ve already had five drinks! ⮕ Rwyt ti wedi cael pum diod yn barod!

She had a great time. ⮕ Cafodd hi amser gwych.

Undertake or perform (an action or activity)

I’ll have a look at your article. ⮕ ‘Wna i gael golwg ar dy erthygl.

He’s having a tantrum about it. ⮕ Mae o’n cael tantrwm amdano fo.

I’m going to have a bath now. ⮕ Dw i’n mynd i gael bath rwan.

Let’s have a game of tiddlywinks. ⮕ Gad i ni gael gêm o tiddlywincs.

Experience, go through, undergo

We had a hard year last year. ⮕ ‘Wnaethon ni gael blwyddyn anodd llynedd.

He had surgery on his hip yesterday. ⮕ ‘Wnaeth o gael llawdriniaeth ar ei gul ddoe.

I’m having the time of my life! ⮕ Dw i’n cael amser gorau fy mywyd.

Give birth to

Megan has had a baby. ⮕ Mae Megan wedi cael baban.

Accommodate

Thank you for having me. ⮕ Diolch am gael fi.

Accept; tolerate

I won’t have that. I don’t tolerate that. ⮕ Ga i ddim o hynna. Dw i ddim yn cael hynna.

Cause to be

He had him arrested for theft. ⮕ Cafodd o fo wedi’i arestio am ladrata.

I’ll have my watch repaired today. ⮕ Ga i fy oriawr wedi’i trwsio heddiw.

I had my hair cut. ⮕
Cefais i fy ngwallt wedi torri.
Cefais dorri fy ngwallt.

When ‘have’ is not ‘cael’

To own, to possess (and similar meanings)

To express ‘have’ as in ‘own’ or ‘possess’, and similar meanings, we should use ‘mae’ combined with gyda, efo or gan:

Mae gyda fi gar. ⮕ I have a car.

Mae gennyn nhw athro llym. ⮕ They have a strict teacher.

Mae problem efo ni. ⮕ We have a problem.

Using ‘cael’ here is a common beginner error. Note the meanings of these sentences if we use cael:

Dw i’n cael car. ⮕ I’m getting a car.

Maen nhw’n cael athro llym. ⮕ They’re getting a strict teacher.

Dan ni’n cael problem. ⮕ We’re having (i.e. experiencing) a problem.

Perfect aspect

To express ‘have’ as in ‘have done’ something, we must use wedi.

Dw i wedi bwyta’n barod heddiw. ⮕ I’ve already eaten today.

Roedd o wedi gadael erbyn i mi gyrraedd. ⮕ He’d left by the time I arrived.

Dw i’n cael bwyta and Roedd o’n cael gadael would mean ‘I get to eat’ and ‘He got to leave’ respectively.

Other uses of ‘cael’

May I…?

Cael is also used to form may I…? questions and answers. Here we use the short future ga i…? to ask the question. The answer is cei (you may) or na chei (you may not).

Ga i fynd i’r toiled? ⮕ May I go to the toilet?

Cei. ⮕ You may.

Na chei. ⮕ You may not.

Find

Cael can also be used to mean ‘find’ as in ‘find something hard/easy’ and ‘find someone innocent/guilty’:

Mae Megan yn ei chael hi’n anodd ynganu geiriau hir. ⮕ Megan is finding it hard to pronounce long words.

Mae’r dyn wedi ei gael yn euog o ddwyn y siocled. ⮕ The man has been found guilty of stealing the chocolate.

Phrases

There are also many phrasal verbs and idiomatic phrases that use cael, including:

ar gael (available)
cael gwared o (to get rid of)
cael benthyg (to borrow)
cael gafael ar (to get hold of)
cael a chael (to just manage it; touch-and-go).
cael allan (to find out)
cael cam (to be wronged; to be hard done by)
cael y gorau ar (to get the better of)
cael ofn (to be afraid)

Appendix: Other meanings of ‘get’ that can be translated with ‘cael’

You get some strange people here. ⮕ Dach chi’n cael ambell i berson rhyfedd yma.

Sometimes ‘cael’ is a good translation in such cases even where a verb other than ‘get’ sounds better in English:

I’m the strongest guy you’ll meet. ⮕ Fi ‘di’r dyn cryfa gei di.

These are the best chips ever. ⮕ Rhein ydy’r sglodion gorau gei di.

To find as an answer

What did you get for question 3? ⮕ Beth gest ti ar gyfer cwestiwn 3?

I got the wrong answer. ⮕ Ges i’r ateb anghywir.

To catch

The police have finally got him. ⮕ Mae’r heddlu wedi’i gael o o’r diwedd.

To take or catch (transport)

Note ‘dal’ (to catch) is also common here.

I get the bus to work every day. ⮕ Dw i’n cael y bws i’r gwaith bob dydd.

We got a taxi home last night. ⮕ Mi gawsom ni dacsi adref neithiwr.

What time do you get your train? ⮕ Pa amser wyt ti’n cael dy drên?

To respond to (a phone call, doorbell, etc.)

Could you get the phone, please? ⮕ A alli di gael y ffôn, os gwelwch yn dda?