Advanced Relative Clauses in Welsh

In Brief

Welsh does not use one all-purpose equivalent of English who, which, and that. Use sy(dd) for a direct affirmative relative with present-tense bod, a (often less visible in speech) in many other direct affirmative relatives, y/yr plus a form such as ynddo or ei for an indirect relationship, and na/nad for a negative relative: y ferch nad oedd yn hapus means “the girl who was not happy.”

Overview

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or describes a noun: “the neighbour who called,” “the book that I bought,” or “the house we lived in.” The noun being described is called the antecedent—in plain terms, the person or thing that the relative clause points back to. At A2, Welsh learners usually meet present-tense patterns such as y dyn sy'n gweithio yma (“the man who works here”). At B2, that basic pattern expands into different tenses, negative clauses, possession, and relationships involving prepositions.

The main challenge for an English-speaking learner is that English lets who, which, or that cover several different jobs. Welsh chooses its construction according to the job that the antecedent would perform inside the clause. If it is simply the subject or direct object, the relationship is direct. If English would use “whose,” “to whom,” “with whom,” “in which,” or a stranded preposition such as the in in “the house we lived in,” the relationship is indirect.

In indirect relatives, Welsh normally keeps a resumptive form—a pronoun-like element inside the clause that points back to the antecedent. This may be a conjugated preposition such as ynddo (“in it/him”) or a possessive form such as ei (“his/her/its”). English often leaves a gap instead, so learning to hear and supply this Welsh “pointer back” is the key B2 skill.

How It Works

1. First decide whether the relationship is direct or indirect

Ask what role the antecedent would have if you turned the relative clause back into an ordinary sentence.

Relationship	Ordinary idea	Relative phrase	What Welsh does
Subject	“The man works here.”	y dyn sy'n gweithio yma	Direct: present affirmative bod becomes sy(dd)
Direct object	“I bought the book.”	y llyfr a brynais i	Direct: a construction; no object pronoun is repeated
Object of a preposition	“We lived in the house.”	y tŷ y buon ni'n byw ynddo	Indirect: y plus resumptive ynddo
Possessor	“I saw the man's car.”	y dyn y gwelais i ei gar	Indirect: y plus possessive ei

A subject performs the action; a direct object is the person or thing directly affected by it. An object of a preposition comes after an idea such as “in,” “with,” “to,” or “about.” You do not need to label every sentence aloud, but this quick analysis tells you which Welsh pattern to choose.

2. Direct affirmative relatives

With present-tense bod (“to be”), use sy or the fuller sydd. Before yn, the normal written forms are sy'n and sydd yn:

• y myfyriwr sy'n aros y tu allan — “the student who is waiting outside”
• y llyfr sydd ar y bwrdd — “the book that is on the table”

In many other affirmative direct relatives, standard Welsh uses the relative particle a. A particle is a short grammatical word that marks the kind of clause. It normally causes soft mutation in the following verb:

• y llyfr a brynais i — “the book that I bought” (prynais → brynais)
• y wraig a ddaeth gyntaf — “the woman who came first” (daeth → ddaeth)
• y bobl a fydd yma yfory — “the people who will be here tomorrow” (bydd → fydd)

The antecedent itself fills the missing subject or object position. Do not normally add an independent object pronoun merely because English could say “the book that I bought it.” In informal spoken Welsh, a is frequently omitted, and mutation or context may carry much of the signal: y llyfr brynais i. For dependable formal writing, however, the explicit a pattern is a useful model.

3. Indirect relatives with y or yr

Use the indirect relative particle y before a consonant sound and yr before a vowel sound. The particle introduces a clause containing a resumptive element:

• y tŷ y buon ni'n byw ynddo — “the house we used to live in”
• y gadair yr oedd hi'n eistedd arni — “the chair she was sitting on”

The paired elements matter: y/yr marks the clause as indirect, while ynddo, arni, ag ef, iddi, or another suitable form shows the precise relationship. The form agrees with the antecedent where Welsh marks gender or number:

Antecedent	Useful resumptive form	Meaning in context
masculine singular	ynddo (fe/fo)	in him/it
feminine singular	ynddi (hi)	in her/it
plural	ynddyn nhw	in them
masculine singular	iddo (fe/fo)	to him/it
feminine singular	iddi (hi)	to her/it
plural	iddyn nhw	to them

Welsh has many conjugated prepositions—prepositions whose endings change for person, gender, or number. Choose the preposition required by the meaning or by the verb: siarad â (“speak with”), edrych ar (“look at”), rhoi i (“give to”), byw yn (“live in”). In speech, an echo pronoun such as fe/fo, hi, or nhw commonly follows the conjugated preposition.

4. Possession: the Welsh equivalent of “whose”

Welsh does not need a separate relative word meaning “whose.” It uses y/yr and a possessive form inside the clause:

• y dyn y gwelais i ei gar — “the man whose car I saw”
• y ferch y darllenais i ei herthygl — “the girl whose article I read”
• y cymdogion yr aethon ni i eu tŷ — “the neighbours whose house we went to”

The possessive points back to the owner. It also controls mutation in the following word: masculine singular ei causes soft mutation (car → gar), while feminine singular ei causes aspirate mutation where possible (car → char). Plural eu causes no mutation. Spoken Welsh often adds an echo pronoun after the possessed noun: ei gar e/fo, ei char hi, eu tŷ nhw.

Because masculine and feminine ei look identical, the mutation—and sometimes the echo pronoun—helps identify the owner. With words that cannot show the relevant mutation, context becomes especially important.

5. Negative relatives with na and nad

Use na before a consonant sound and nad before a vowel sound. These introduce a negative relative clause whether the relationship is direct or indirect:

• y dyn na ddaeth i'r cyfarfod — “the man who did not come to the meeting”
• y ferch nad oedd yn hapus — “the girl who was not happy”
• y tŷ nad oedden ni'n byw ynddo — “the house we were not living in”

Notice the mutation after na: in na ddaeth, daeth becomes ddaeth. In careful formal Welsh, the negative particle traditionally has a mixed pattern—p, t, and c take aspirate mutation, while other mutable consonants take soft mutation—although everyday speech varies. Before vowel-initial oedd, use nad. Do not combine the standard negative relative marker with affirmative sy(dd): the basic contrast is y dyn sy'n dod (“the man who is coming”) versus y dyn nad yw'n dod or, commonly in speech, y dyn sydd ddim yn dod (“the man who is not coming”).

The na/nad construction is particularly useful in careful writing. Colloquial Welsh also uses ordinary negative wording inside a relative, including sydd ddim and oedd ddim. Recognise both patterns, but keep one register consistent within a polished sentence.

6. Relative clauses in different tenses

The relative relationship does not fix the time. Put the verb in the tense that expresses the intended meaning, then choose the direct, indirect, or negative pattern.

Time or aspect	Direct affirmative model	Indirect or negative model
Present	y dyn sy'n gweithio yma	y swydd y mae e'n ymgeisio amdani
Imperfect / habitual past	y ferch a oedd yn byw yma	y tŷ yr oedden ni'n byw ynddo
Completed past	y llyfr a brynais i ddoe	y dyn y rhoddais i'r llyfr iddo
Perfect	y gwaith sydd wedi gorffen	y person yr ydym ni wedi siarad ag ef
Future	y bobl a fydd yn dod	y gadair y bydd hi'n eistedd arni
Negative past	y bws na ddaeth	y gwesty nad oedden ni wedi aros ynddo

You may encounter both a more explicit standard form such as a oedd and a shorter form such as oedd, especially in speech. What stays constant is the semantic distinction: direct relatives leave a gap, while indirect relatives retain a prepositional or possessive pointer back to the antecedent.

Examples in Context

Welsh	English	Note
Dyma'r athrawes sy'n dysgu'r dosbarth nos.	This is the teacher who teaches the evening class.	Direct, present affirmative with sy'n
Y llyfr a brynais i ddoe oedd yr un olaf.	The book that I bought yesterday was the last copy.	Direct object in the completed past
Cwrddon ni â'r fenyw a drefnodd y digwyddiad.	We met the woman who organised the event.	Direct subject; trefnodd is softly mutated
Dw i'n adnabod y bobl a fydd yn symud i'r tŷ.	I know the people who will move into the house.	Direct relative in the future
Dyna'r tŷ y buon ni'n byw ynddo am bum mlynedd.	That is the house we used to live in for five years.	Indirect; ynddo resumes masculine tŷ
Hon yw'r gadair yr oedd hi'n eistedd arni.	This is the chair she was sitting on.	Indirect; arni resumes feminine cadair
Pwy yw'r dyn y rhoddaist ti'r allwedd iddo?	Who is the man you gave the key to?	Indirect; iddo means “to him”
Y gydweithwraig y siaradais i â hi oedd Ceri.	The colleague I spoke with was Ceri.	Indirect; â hi identifies a feminine antecedent
Y dyn y gwelais i ei gar yw'r perchennog.	The man whose car I saw is the owner.	Possessive relative; masculine ei mutates car to gar
Enillodd y ferch y darllenais i ei herthygl y wobr.	The girl whose article I read won the prize.	Possessive relative; the noun begins with a vowel
Mae'r plant yr aethon ni i'w hysgol yn dysgu Cymraeg.	The children whose school we went to are learning Welsh.	i'w combines i with plural possessive eu
Y ferch nad oedd yn hapus aeth adref yn gynnar.	The girl who was not happy went home early.	Negative before vowel-initial oedd
Does dim ateb gan y cwmni na ddanfonodd y pecyn.	There is no answer from the company that did not send the parcel.	Negative na plus soft mutation
Dyma'r fflat nad oedden ni'n cael cadw ci ynddo.	This is the flat in which we were not allowed to keep a dog.	Negative indirect relative with ynddo
Bydd y rhai sydd wedi cofrestru yn cael neges.	Those who have registered will receive a message.	Perfect aspect inside the relative clause

Common Mistakes

Using sy(dd) for every English “who” or “that”

• Wrong: y tŷ sy'n buon ni'n byw ynddo
• Right: y tŷ y buon ni'n byw ynddo
• Why: Sy(dd) is not a universal relative pronoun. Here the house belongs after the preposition yn, so Welsh uses an indirect relative with y and resumptive ynddo.

Dropping the resumptive preposition

• Wrong: y gadair yr oedd hi'n eistedd
• Right: y gadair yr oedd hi'n eistedd arni
• Why: English can strand “on” at the end of “the chair she was sitting on.” Welsh keeps the required relationship inside the clause with arni (“on it,” feminine).

Repeating a pronoun in a direct object relative

• Wrong: y llyfr a ddarllenais i ef
• Right: y llyfr a ddarllenais i
• Why: In a direct relative, y llyfr already fills the object role. Resumptive forms belong to indirect relationships, not to an ordinary direct object in the standard pattern.

Treating “whose” as if Welsh had one matching word

• Wrong: y dyn pwy gar welais i
• Right: y dyn y gwelais i ei gar
• Why: Welsh puts a possessive inside the relative clause. The ei points back to y dyn, and its soft mutation changes car to gar.

Keeping the affirmative marker in a negative relative

• Wrong: y ferch sy'n oedd ddim yn hapus
• Right: y ferch nad oedd yn hapus
• Why: Use na before a consonant and nad before a vowel in the standard negative construction. Do not place sy'n before another finite form of bod.

Forgetting mutation after a

• Wrong: y llyfr a prynais i
• Right: y llyfr a brynais i
• Why: The direct relative particle a normally triggers soft mutation, so p changes to b. Spoken forms may hide or omit the particle, but the mutation remains part of the standard pattern.

Usage Notes

Spoken and written forms differ. Formal and careful written Welsh tends to show particles such as a and y/yr clearly. Everyday speech often omits a, and speakers may favour constructions such as sydd ddim over nad yw. These are register choices, not evidence that the underlying direct–indirect distinction has disappeared.

North–south variation affects pronouns, not the basic system. After a conjugated preposition, northern speech may use fo where southern speech uses fe: ynddo fo and ynddo fe both point back to a masculine singular antecedent. The echo pronoun can make speech clearer, though style and context affect whether it is expressed.

Gender matters with inanimate nouns too. Welsh grammatical gender is not limited to people. A house (tŷ, masculine) can be resumed by ynddo; a chair (cadair, feminine) by arni. Learn a noun's gender with the noun, because it can reappear later in a relative clause.

Do not copy English preposition placement mechanically. English allows both formal “the person to whom I spoke” and conversational “the person I spoke to.” Welsh normally expresses the relation through the appropriate prepositional form inside the clause, such as y person y siaradais i ag ef/â hi.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

In more formal Welsh, relative particles are retained more consistently, and you will see literary pronouns such as ef as well as more colloquial fe/fo: y dyn y siaradais ag ef. Formal writing may also omit the independent subject pronoun after an inflected verb where speech keeps it: compare y llyfr a brynais with conversational y llyfr a brynais i. Both express the same direct relationship.

Relative clauses can be nested, but clarity should come before display. For example, y dyn y gwelais i ei gar yn y garej can mean “the man whose car I saw in the garage”; adding another relative immediately after it can make the ownership chain hard to follow. In demanding prose, repeat a noun or divide the information into two sentences rather than relying on several consecutive ei forms.

The choice of resumptive form can also reveal information that English leaves unstated. English “the company I work for” ends with a bare preposition. Welsh must select the construction required by the Welsh expression for working for someone or an organisation. This means that advanced relative clauses test vocabulary and verb–preposition pairings as much as they test clause grammar.

Finally, relative clauses interact with focus. Y dyn a ddaeth simply identifies “the man who came,” whereas y dyn sy'n dod uses the present bod pattern, and y dyn na ddaeth identifies him by a negative event. Pay attention to the tense and polarity—whether the clause is affirmative or negative—before deciding which visible marker to use.

Practice Tips

1. Rebuild the ordinary sentence first. Start with Buon ni'n byw yn y tŷ, circle yn y tŷ, and then replace it with ynddo: y tŷ y buon ni'n byw ynddo. Repeat with ar y gadair → arni and i'r dyn → iddo.
2. Practise in contrast sets. Make three related phrases: y dyn sy'n dod (present affirmative), y dyn a ddaeth (completed past), and y dyn na ddaeth (negative past). This prevents sy(dd) from becoming your default for every relative clause.
3. Collect nouns with gender and a matching resumptive form. Record tŷ (m.) → ynddo, cadair (f.) → arni, and plural nouns → ynddyn nhw/arnyn nhw. Say the complete relative phrase aloud so the agreement becomes automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Relative Clauses — introduces present-tense affirmative relatives with sy and sydd.