Gwen is a freelance Welsh tutor from Powys, Wales. She was raised in a bilingual family speaking both Welsh and English, which gave her a love of languages. She recently graduated from Oxford University and now uses her free time to learn French and Turkish.
Today’s word of the day is pili-pala, which is the Welsh word for butterfly. These insects are many people’s favourite due to their adenydd lliwgar (colourful wings). It’s also a fun word to say out loud! pili-pala butterfly Pili-pala is a masculine noun and is susceptible to all three types of mutation: Soft mutationbili-pala Nasal …
Today’s word of the day is ci, which in English translates to dog. These furry friends are the most popular anifail anwes (pet or literally caress animal) in the UK, with 28% of British adults welcoming one or more dogs into their home, so it’s worth learning to talk about them in Welsh! ci dog …
While Welsh is in many ways more regular than English (for example, in its spelling system), lluosogion, or plurals are unfortunately an area in which Welsh is very irregular indeed! In Welsh, there are several ways of forming plurals, which are often used in combination with each other. BBC Bitesize provides a helpful list, which …
You may have heard the word llawn in the chorus of one of the best-known Welsh songs, Calon Lân: Calon lân yn llawn daioni. This translates to: a pure heart full of goodness. Having grown up in Wales, I’ve been singing these words since primary school, but it wasn’t until more recently that I gave …
Today’s word of the day is dafad, which is the Welsh word for sheep. These animals are an iconic part of the Welsh landscape, especially where I grew up in mid Wales. dafad sheep Dafad, not to be confused with dafaden (wart), is a feminine noun and is susceptible to the soft and nasal mutations. …
Today’s word of the day is mam which means mum or mother. This is one of the first words anyone will learn in Welsh, whether as a native speaker or as a learner. Mam is also a common first word for Welsh children to say (although, personally, mine was het, meaning hat… I was an …
The genitive or y genidol is the term for words and grammatical structures that denote possession. In Welsh, possession works quite differently from in English. For instance, take a look at these two English phrases: How would you translate these into Welsh? In my experience, most learners have an easier time translating the first phrase …
Today’s word of the day is cariad which is the Welsh word for love. If you’ve ever been to a souvenir shop in Wales, you’ve probably seen this word plastered on mugs, teddies and all sorts of little trinkets, but did you know cariad actually has a few different meanings and uses? Maybe there’s a …
