‘Have a good day!’ (or ‘Have a nice day!‘) is one of the most common ways in English to conclude a conversation or end a message on a positive note besides the various forms of goodbye. So, naturally, when an English person starts learning Welsh, it is also one of the first expressions he or she is eager to translate!
The first thing you should know is that you can’t translate ‘have a good day‘ word-for-word in Welsh when it is intended as an imperative rather than a neutral statement. A natural sounding alternative is to use the verb ‘enjoy’ instead which is mwynhau (northern) / joio (southern).
- Mwynha dy ddiwrnod! = Enjoy your day! (informal)
- Mwynhewch eich diwrnod! = Enjoy your day! (formal and plural)
- Joia dy ddiwrnod! = Enjoy your day! (informal)
- Joiwch eich diwrnod! = Enjoy your day! (formal and plural)
It is also very common to drop diwrnod entirely and use Mwynha! / Mwynhewch! / Joia! / Joiwch! on their own.
Dw i’n mynd i’r parti rŵan. – Oce, joia!
I’m going to the party now. – Ok, enjoy!
Note that the word da (good) may be replaced with other similar adjectives like braf (nice, fine) or gwych (great).
More often than not, you’ll hear a range of other expressions in Welsh that don’t translate as ‘have a good day‘ but serve more or less the same purpose in that they close off the conversation in a friendly manner. These include:
- pob hwyl (literally “every fun”)
- hwyl fawr (literally “big fun”)
- tan y tro nesa (literally “until next time”)
- wela i di (literally “I will see you”)
If you’re curious, you can discover all the different ways of saying goodbye in Welsh in our dedicated article.
In all other grammatical moods besides the imperative, it is safe to translate ‘have a good day‘ word-for-word (cael diwrnod da). Let’s take a look at a few examples now:
I had a good day.
- Ces i ddiwrnod da.
- ‘Wnes i gael ddiwrnod da.
I’ve had a good day.
- Dw i wedi cael diwrnod da.
I’m having a good day.
- Dw i’n cael diwrnod da.
Did you have a good day?
- Gaethoch chi ddiwrnod da? (formal / plural)
- Gest ti ddiwrnod da? (informal)
Have you had a good day?
- Dach chi wedi cael diwrnod da? (formal / plural)
- Wyt ti wedi cael diwrnod da? (informal)
Are you having a good day?
- Dach chi’n cael diwrnod da? (formal / plural)
- Wyt ti’n cael diwrnod da? (informal)
I hope you have a good day.
- Dw i’n gobeithio eich bod yn cael diwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Gobeithio bod chi’n cael diwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Dw i’n gobeithio dy fod yn cael diwrnod da. (informal)
- Gobeithio bod ti’n cael diwrnod da. (informal)
I hope you will have a good day.
- Dw i’n gobeithio y cewch ddiwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Gobeithio cewch chi ddiwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Dw i’n gobeithio y cei ddiwrnod da. (informal)
- Gobeithio cei di ddiwrnod da. (informal)
I hope you have had a good day.
- Dw i’n gobeithio eich bod wedi cael diwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Gobeithio bod chi wedi cael diwrnod da. (formal / plural)
- Dw i’n gobeithio dy fod wedi cael diwrnod da. (informal)
- Gobeithio bod ti wedi cael diwrnod da. (informal)
