So much is made of the differences between the North and South of Cymru (Wales) that gogledd (north) and de (south) themselves are words that many learners become acquainted with early on in their Cymraeg (Welsh) journey. Today, we’ll learn more about the word gogledd. It means both north in general as a noun and …
Today, our Welsh word of the day is uchel. This is an adjective which means both high and loud. Its antonyms are isel (low) and tawel (quiet), respectively. Uchel means high in a physical sense, like a mynydd (mountain), and high in the sense of status and rank, like a brenin (king), but it also …
There’s a popular theory that any medr (skill) can be learnt to the level of an arbenigwr (expert) if you put in 10,000 hours of ymarfer (practice). When I first heard the rhif (number) I thought great, that doesn’t sound like that long – but actually if you ymarfer (practise) something for dwy awr (every …
Our Welsh word of the day today may not be particularly pleasant, but it’s useful to know as it’s often found in the newyddion (news), in llyfrau (books), and on teledu (television). Llofrudd means murderer or sometimes assassin. The plural of llofrudd is usually llofruddion. Occasionally in older literature you may see llofruddwyr or llofruddiaid …
One wonderful thing about learning a new language is all the words you can encounter that can’t necessarily be said in quite the same way in your first. One word I like in Welsh that English can’t capture is adflas, which means an unpleasant aftertaste. It’s a masculine noun with the plural form adflasau. adflas …
Did you know that around 84% of the British population drink at least one paned (cuppa, usually of tea) a day? All that te (tea) going down is often paired with a sweet treat – Brits eat by far more bisgedi (biscuits) than the population of any other country in the world. Like a lot …
Language is more than just a way of communicating about the world – it is a way of understanding it. Often words don’t map neatly onto each other from one language to another. I find that this is particularly the case for adjectives. Parhaol is a great example of this, as it can mean lasting, …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is ymostwng. It has two meanings, one of which is a literal version of the other – it means either to bend down, or, more figuratively, to submit oneself / to capitulate. As with most Welsh words that begin with y, that first vowel is sometimes clipped off in …
Today’s word of the day may not be used in everyday ordinary conversation, but since it’s actually a grammatical term itself, it’s an excuse for us to talk a bit about one of the most crucial concepts to grasp in a new language – how to use adferfau (adverbs). Adferfau is the plural form of …
Today’s word of the day is llif, a word with many different meanings including flow, flood and even saw! llif flood, flow, current, saw Llif is only susceptible to the soft mutation. Soft mutationlif Nasal mutationN/A Aspirate mutationN/A The gender of llif varies according to its meaning. When llif means flow, current or flood, it …