Demonstratives in Welsh

In Brief

Welsh commonly expresses this/these + noun as y + noun + yma, and that/those + noun as y + noun + yna: y llyfr yma “this book”, y llyfrau yma “these books”. When the pointing word stands alone, Welsh distinguishes masculine hwn, feminine hon, and general or abstract hyn; common “that” forms include hwnna, honna, and hynna.

Overview

A demonstrative is a pointing expression: a word or phrase that identifies which person, object, place, or idea you mean. English uses this, that, these, and those. Welsh makes the same basic near-versus-far distinction, but it organizes the forms differently.

There are two patterns to learn first. A demonstrative pronoun (a word that replaces a named thing) can stand alone: Beth ydy hwn? “What is this?” A demonstrative can also identify a noun (a naming word such as “book” or “chair”): y llyfr yma “this book”. With a noun, the pointing word normally follows it, and the phrase also contains the Welsh definite article y/yr/'r, even though the natural English translation does not include “the”.

This is an A1 topic, but it draws on noun gender. Standalone hwn and hon refer back to masculine and feminine nouns respectively. The useful beginner shortcut is that y...yma and y...yna do not themselves change for gender or number. You still need the correct noun form and any mutation required by the article.

How It Works

Standalone forms: “this one” and “that one”

Use a standalone demonstrative when the object is visible, has already been mentioned, or is clear from the situation, so you do not need to repeat its noun.

Reference	Near the speaker	Farther away or less immediate
masculine singular thing	hwn	hwnnw; commonly hwnna in speech
feminine singular thing	hon	honno; commonly honna in speech
idea, situation, or general reference	hyn	hynny; commonly hynna in speech

The masculine and feminine labels describe the grammatical gender of the understood noun, not necessarily the sex of a person or animal. Llyfr “book” is masculine, so a speaker choosing between books can say Dw i eisiau hwn “I want this one”. Cadair “chair” is feminine, so Dw i eisiau hon means “I want this one” when a chair is understood.

Hyn is useful when “this” means a fact, action, situation, or unspecified material rather than one named masculine or feminine object:

• Dw i ddim yn deall hyn. — “I don't understand this.”
• Mae hyn yn bwysig. — “This is important.”

Traditional descriptions also list hyn and hynny as plural demonstrative forms. In present-day everyday Welsh, you will additionally meet y rhain “these ones” and y rheini “those ones”, especially when a clear group of countable things is meant. At A1, first become comfortable with hwn, hon, and hyn and learn to recognize the alternatives.

With a noun: y + noun + yma or yna

The most productive everyday pattern places the demonstrative after the noun:

Meaning	Welsh structure	Example
this + singular noun	y/yr/'r + noun + yma	y llyfr yma — this book
that + singular noun	y/yr/'r + noun + yna	y tŷ yna — that house
these + plural noun	y/yr/'r + plural noun + yma	y llyfrau yma — these books
those + plural noun	y/yr/'r + plural noun + yna	y tai yna — those houses

Unlike English, Welsh does not switch from one word to another to mark singular versus plural in this pattern. Both “this” and “these” use yma; both “that” and “those” use yna. The noun itself carries the number contrast: llyfr “book” versus llyfrau “books”.

The article takes its normal form:

• y before most consonants: y car yma — this car
• yr before a vowel or h: yr ysgol yma — this school
• 'r after a preceding vowel: Mae'r llyfr yna... — That book is...

An adjective normally remains with the noun and comes before the final demonstrative: y car coch yma “this red car”, y tai mawr yna “those big houses”. A preposition (a word such as “in”, “on”, or “with”) comes before the whole phrase: yn y siop yma “in this shop”, gyda'r bobl yna “with those people”.

Where mutation enters the pattern

A mutation is a change to the beginning of a Welsh word in a particular grammatical setting. Yma and yna do not independently trigger a mutation. However, all the ordinary rules inside the noun phrase still apply.

Most importantly, the definite article causes a soft mutation in a feminine singular noun when its initial consonant can mutate:

Welsh	English	What happens
y gath yma	this cat	feminine cath becomes gath after the article
y gadair yna	that chair	feminine cadair becomes gadair
y ferch hon	this girl	feminine merch becomes ferch
y llyfr yma	this book	masculine llyfr does not mutate here

A feminine singular noun can also cause soft mutation of a following adjective: y gath fach yma “this small cat”, from cath + bach. These are gender and article rules operating inside the phrase—not special mutations caused by “this” or “that”.

A more formal gendered pattern with nouns

Alongside everyday yma/yna, Welsh has a pattern in which the forms related to hwn/hon/hyn follow the noun. It is especially common in careful writing, formal language, fixed wording, and some speakers' everyday usage.

Number and gender	This / these	That / those
masculine singular	y llyfr hwn	y llyfr hwnnw
feminine singular	y gadair hon	y gadair honno
plural	y llyfrau hyn	y llyfrau hynny

This pattern requires agreement: the demonstrative matches the noun's gender or plural number. The everyday y llyfr yma / y gadair yma / y llyfrau yma pattern is therefore easier for a beginner because yma stays unchanged.

The beginner rule to keep

If you are naming the thing, build article + noun + yma/yna. If you are replacing the thing, use hwn/hon/hyn or the corresponding “that” form. This distinction will produce natural, useful Welsh without requiring you to master every written and regional variant at once.

Examples in Context

Welsh	English	Note
Beth ydy hwn?	What is this?	A masculine object is understood.
Dw i'n hoffi hon.	I like this one.	A feminine object is understood.
Mae hyn yn bwysig.	This is important.	Refers to a fact or situation.
Mae hynny'n syniad da.	That's a good idea.	hynny refers to what was said.
Pa un wyt ti eisiau—hwn neu hwnna?	Which one do you want—this one or that one?	Contrasts two masculine items.
Y llyfr yma ydy fy un i.	This book is mine.	Everyday noun pattern with yma.
Rho'r cwpan yna ar y bwrdd.	Put that cup on the table.	yna identifies the cup.
Mae'r gath yma'n gyfeillgar.	This cat is friendly.	cath undergoes soft mutation after the article.
Dw i'n prynu'r esgidiau yma.	I'm buying these shoes.	A plural noun still takes yma.
Pwy ydy'r bobl yna?	Who are those people?	A plural noun with yna.
Mae'r car coch yma'n ddrud.	This red car is expensive.	The adjective comes before yma.
Dyn ni'n aros yn y gwesty yna.	We're staying in that hotel.	The whole demonstrative phrase follows yn.
Yr ysgol hon yw'r un hynaf.	This school is the oldest one.	Gendered hon in a more formal pattern.
Mae'r llyfrau hynny ar werth.	Those books are for sale.	Plural hynny in the gendered pattern.

Common Mistakes

Putting the demonstrative before the noun

• Wrong: yma llyfr
• Right: y llyfr yma
• Why: In the common Welsh construction, the noun comes first and yma or yna follows it. Do not copy the English order “this + book”.

Leaving out the article

• Wrong: llyfr yma (as a full standard phrase meaning “this book”)
• Right: y llyfr yma
• Why: Welsh normally uses the definite article in this construction. English translates the whole phrase simply as “this book”, not “the book this”. Very reduced speech and labels can look different, but the full pattern is the right one to learn.

Treating hwn and hon as interchangeable

• Wrong: Dw i'n hoffi hwn when referring to cadair “chair”
• Right: Dw i'n hoffi hon.
• Why: Cadair is feminine, so its standalone “this one” is hon. English “this one” gives no gender clue, so learn a Welsh noun together with its gender.

Changing yma for the plural

• Wrong: inventing a different form of yma for “these books”
• Right: y llyfrau yma
• Why: Yma works with both singular and plural nouns. The change from llyfr to llyfrau already marks the plural.

Blaming the demonstrative for every mutation

• Wrong: assuming yma itself changes cath to gath
• Right: analyze y gath yma as article + mutated feminine noun + demonstrative
• Why: The article causes the soft mutation of a feminine singular noun. The same mutation appears in y gath without any demonstrative.

Mixing the two noun patterns

• Wrong: y llyfr hwn yma when you simply mean “this book”
• Right: y llyfr yma or y llyfr hwn
• Why: These are two alternative patterns. Welsh can combine pointing expressions for special emphasis in real speech, but beginners should not stack them automatically.

Usage Notes

Distance is not only physical

Yma often points to something near the speaker and yna to something farther away, but conversation is not measured with a ruler. Yna can refer to an item the listener has, something just mentioned, or an idea treated as less immediate: y syniad yna can mean “that idea” even when no one is physically pointing.

Spoken and written forms vary

You may hear hwnna, honna, hynna where a course or formal text writes hwnnw, honno, hynny. In very informal speech, final yma and yna are also frequently reduced to 'ma and 'na: y llyfr 'ma, y tŷ 'na. These are ordinary spoken forms, but the full spellings are safest in neutral writing.

Welsh has regional variation, so it is better to recognize both sets than to treat one as the only “real” Welsh. Follow the forms used by your course or local speakers when choosing your own everyday style.

Dyma and dyna present something

Welsh also uses dyma and dyna to present or introduce people and things:

• Dyma fy ffrind. — “This is my friend” or “Here is my friend.”
• Dyna'r bws. — “There's the bus” or “That's the bus.”

They are useful, but their job is different from modifying a noun. Say y bws yma for “this bus” inside a larger sentence; use dyma'r bws when presenting it: “Here is the bus.”

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master all of this at A1, but later reading will expose you to a richer system than the simple y...yma / y...yna rule suggests.

The agreement pattern y llyfr hwn, y gadair hon, y llyfrau hyn preserves gender and number distinctions explicitly. Its more distant series is y llyfr hwnnw, y gadair honno, y llyfrau hynny. Recognizing these forms is important for reading formal prose, public information, literature, and older texts. They are not different meanings so much as a different grammatical way to package the same pointing contrast.

For countable groups, y rhain and y rheini are widespread standalone expressions meaning “these (ones)” and “those (ones)”:

Welsh	English	Note
Dw i'n hoffi'r rhain.	I like these.	A visible or known group.
Mae'r rheini'n well.	Those are better.	Contrasts a more distant group.

You may also encounter acw for something distinctly “over there” or “yonder”, such as y tŷ acw “that house over there”. This gives Welsh more than a rigid two-box system in actual use: speakers can choose forms according to physical distance, shared attention, what has already been mentioned, register, and region.

Finally, demonstratives can refer to whole stretches of speech. In Mae hynny'n wir “That is true”, hynny may summarize a previous sentence or claim rather than replace one concrete plural noun. This discourse use is extremely common and explains why word-for-word labels such as “plural demonstrative” do not always predict the best English translation.

Practice Tips

1. Learn gender through choices. Put two object pictures side by side and ask Pa un? “Which one?” Answer with hwn for a masculine noun and hon for a feminine noun. Always say the noun afterward to reinforce the connection.
2. Transform noun pairs. Take five singular/plural pairs, such as llyfr/llyfrau, and build four phrases: y llyfr yma, y llyfr yna, y llyfrau yma, y llyfrau yna. This makes the unchanged demonstrative and changing noun easy to notice.
3. Listen for endings. In conversation, note whether speakers use -ma/-na, hwnna/honna, or the fuller written forms. Recognition matters before imitation; you can keep using full yma/yna while your ear adjusts to regional speech.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Gender of Nouns — explains why a standalone object may be hwn or hon, and why feminine singular nouns can mutate after the article.