Weather Expressions in Welsh

In Brief

Welsh normally talks about the weather with mae hi'n followed by an adjective or a weather action: Mae hi'n oer (“It's cold”) and Mae hi'n bwrw glaw (“It's raining”). The pronoun hi literally means “she”, but in this pattern it is the conventional weather “it”. Use Ydy hi'n ...? for a question and Dyw hi ddim yn ... for a negative.

Overview

Weather expressions are among the most useful A1 patterns in Welsh. They let you make small talk, understand a forecast, and decide whether you need a coat or an umbrella. They also give you practical experience with the present tense of bod (“to be”), the central verb in Welsh.

English uses an “empty” it in sentences such as “It's cold” and “It's raining”. Welsh does something similar, but its weather pronoun is hi, the ordinary feminine singular pronoun. In a weather sentence, however, hi does not refer to a woman or to a previously mentioned feminine object. Learn mae hi'n as one complete opening rather than translating each word separately.

There are two main kinds of expression. A weather state uses an adjective (a describing word), as in oer (“cold”). A weather event uses a verb-noun (the basic Welsh verb form), most importantly bwrw in bwrw glaw (“to rain”) and bwrw eira (“to snow”). Both fit after the same opening.

How It Works

The basic statement

The beginner pattern is:

Mae + hi + yn + weather description

In ordinary writing and speech, hi + yn contracts to hi'n:

• Mae hi'n braf. — It's fine.
• Mae hi'n oer. — It's cold.
• Mae hi'n bwrw glaw. — It's raining.

Here mae is the third-person singular present form of bod. The small linking word yn connects that form of bod to the description or action that follows it. The apostrophe in hi'n matters: it shows that yn has been shortened, not omitted.

Describing conditions with adjectives

A weather adjective completes the pattern mae hi'n + adjective. It is best to learn the whole expression, because the form after yn may show soft mutation (a regular change to the first consonant of a Welsh word).

Dictionary form	Form in the expression	Complete sentence	Meaning
braf	braf	Mae hi'n braf.	It's fine / pleasant.
oer	oer	Mae hi'n oer.	It's cold.
cynnes	gynnes	Mae hi'n gynnes.	It's warm.
poeth	boeth	Mae hi'n boeth.	It's hot.
gwyntog	wyntog	Mae hi'n wyntog.	It's windy.
cymylog	gymylog	Mae hi'n gymylog.	It's cloudy.
gwlyb	wlyb	Mae hi'n wlyb.	It's wet.
sych	sych	Mae hi'n sych.	It's dry.

Some initial letters do not visibly change, while others do. Do not invent a mutation by analogy: store useful chunks such as hi'n wyntog and hi'n boeth in memory.

You can add degree words after the adjective:

• Mae hi'n oer iawn. — It's very cold.
• Mae hi'n eithaf braf. — It's fairly pleasant.

Rain and snow with bwrw

Welsh commonly expresses rain and snow with bwrw + weather noun:

• bwrw glaw — to rain; literally, “throw/strike rain”
• bwrw eira — to snow; literally, “throw/strike snow”

In the present weather pattern, bwrw follows the progressive yn, which presents an activity in progress:

• Mae hi'n bwrw glaw. — It's raining.
• Mae hi'n bwrw eira. — It's snowing.

Do not replace the whole expression with the noun glaw (“rain”). English happens to have a verb “rain” that looks exactly like its noun; the normal Welsh phrase is built differently.

To say that rain is heavy, add an adverb (a word describing how an action happens):

• Mae hi'n bwrw glaw'n drwm. — It's raining heavily.

The second apostrophe again represents a shortened yn: glaw + yn drwm becomes glaw'n drwm.

Questions, negatives, and short answers

A statement beginning with mae changes form when it becomes a direct question or a negative. Keep the rest of the weather phrase in place.

Function	Pattern	Welsh	English
Statement	Mae hi'n ...	Mae hi'n oer.	It's cold.
Question	Ydy hi'n ...?	Ydy hi'n oer?	Is it cold?
Negative	Dyw hi ddim yn ...	Dyw hi ddim yn oer.	It isn't cold.
Negative question	Dyw hi ddim yn ...?	Dyw hi ddim yn oer?	Isn't it cold?

In a negative, ddim marks the negation, and the full yn comes after it: ddim yn oer, not ddim 'n oer. With an action, the same pattern applies: Dyw hi ddim yn bwrw glaw (“It isn't raining”).

Welsh often answers a yes/no question by repeating the appropriate verb form rather than using a single universal word for “yes” or “no”:

• Ydy hi'n braf? — Ydy. — Is it fine? — Yes.
• Ydy hi'n bwrw glaw? — Nac ydy. — Is it raining? — No.

At first, it is also useful to give a full answer: Ydy, mae hi'n braf or Nac ydy, dyw hi ddim yn braf.

Adding a time or place

Time and place usually come after the weather description:

• heddiw — today
• nawr — now
• heno — tonight
• yfory — tomorrow
• y bore yma — this morning
• tu allan — outside
• yma — here

This produces phrases such as Mae hi'n oer yma heddiw (“It's cold here today”). For a simple observation about tomorrow, learners may hear the present, but a genuine forecast normally uses the future pattern Bydd hi'n ..., explained below under advanced use.

Examples in Context

Welsh	English	Note
Mae hi'n braf heddiw.	It's fine today.	Basic adjective pattern
Mae hi'n oer iawn y bore yma.	It's very cold this morning.	iawn strengthens the adjective
Mae hi'n gynnes yn y tŷ.	It's warm in the house.	cynnes appears as gynnes
Mae hi'n boeth yma.	It's hot here.	poeth appears as boeth
Mae hi'n wyntog ar yr arfordir.	It's windy on the coast.	Place phrase after the description
Mae hi'n gymylog ond yn sych.	It's cloudy but dry.	The second linked description keeps yn
Mae hi'n bwrw glaw nawr.	It's raining now.	Weather event with bwrw
Mae hi'n bwrw glaw'n drwm.	It's raining heavily.	yn drwm describes the rain
Mae hi'n bwrw eira yn y mynyddoedd.	It's snowing in the mountains.	eira means “snow”
Ydy hi'n oer tu allan?	Is it cold outside?	Present-tense question
Ydy hi'n bwrw glaw yng Nghaerdydd?	Is it raining in Cardiff?	Question about a place
Dyw hi ddim yn wyntog heddiw.	It isn't windy today.	Negative adjective pattern
Dyw hi ddim yn bwrw glaw nawr.	It isn't raining now.	Negative action pattern
Mae'r tywydd yn braf heddiw.	The weather is fine today.	Names y tywydd explicitly
Mae'r haul yn tywynnu.	The sun is shining.	Uses yr haul as the real subject

Common Mistakes

Using e for the weather “it”

• Wrong: Mae e'n oer heddiw.
• Right: Mae hi'n oer heddiw.
• Why: In the standard weather pattern, Welsh conventionally uses feminine hi. English “it” does not tell you which Welsh pronoun to choose.

Dropping the linker

• Wrong: Mae hi oer.
• Right: Mae hi'n oer.
• Why: The adjective needs the linking yn, contracted after hi. Learn the opening as mae hi'n.

Treating glaw as the verb

• Wrong: Mae hi'n glaw.
• Right: Mae hi'n bwrw glaw.
• Why: Glaw is the noun “rain”. The common weather action is the two-word expression bwrw glaw.

Keeping mae in a direct question

• Wrong: Mae hi'n wyntog?
• Right: Ydy hi'n wyntog?
• Why: A neutral present-tense question uses the question form ydy. A statement spoken with questioning intonation may occur in conversation, but ydy is the dependable pattern to learn.

Building the negative with English word order

• Wrong: Mae hi ddim yn oer.
• Right: Dyw hi ddim yn oer.
• Why: The negative changes mae to dyw and adds ddim. Both parts belong to the negative pattern.

Forgetting mutation in a learned weather phrase

• Wrong: Mae hi'n gwyntog.
• Right: Mae hi'n wyntog.
• Why: After the predicative linker yn, gwyntog has the soft-mutated form wyntog. Memorising the full phrase is easier than repairing each word while speaking.

Usage Notes

Braf is a broad, useful word for pleasant or fine weather. English “nice” can describe almost anything, but Mae hi'n braf is especially natural as a positive comment on the conditions. Sych and gwlyb describe dryness and wetness, while cymylog, wyntog, and oer identify more specific conditions.

Welsh can also name the weather directly: Mae'r tywydd yn braf means “The weather is fine.” This is useful when y tywydd is the topic of a longer comment. The noun tywydd and the impersonal weather pronoun hi belong to different constructions; the fact that the weather pattern uses hi does not mean every weather noun is grammatically feminine.

Some materials and speakers use different spoken or formal variants of forms of bod. For example, you may meet dydy alongside dyw, and formal writing may use a yw ...? and nid yw .... For everyday beginner speech, staying consistent with Mae hi'n ..., Ydy hi'n ...?, and Dyw hi ddim yn ... gives you a clear, widely understandable system.

English speakers should resist translating “It is” mechanically. Welsh does not use one all-purpose weather verb equivalent to English “is”: the rest of the construction still matters. Compare the adjective in Mae hi'n oer with the ongoing action in Mae hi'n bwrw glaw.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these patterns at A1, but they show how the same weather language extends into other tenses.

Time	Statement	Question	Meaning
Present	Mae hi'n bwrw glaw.	Ydy hi'n bwrw glaw?	It is raining. / Is it raining?
Past background	Roedd hi'n bwrw glaw.	Oedd hi'n bwrw glaw?	It was raining. / Was it raining?
Future	Bydd hi'n bwrw glaw.	Fydd hi'n bwrw glaw?	It will rain. / Will it rain?

The future is particularly useful for forecasts: Bydd hi'n braf yfory (“It will be fine tomorrow”). In an open future condition, Welsh commonly uses the future where English uses a present form: Os bydd hi'n bwrw glaw, byddwn ni'n aros gartref (“If it rains, we'll stay at home”). That tense contrast belongs to later study; for now, notice that hi'n bwrw glaw remains intact.

Welsh can coordinate descriptions without repeating the whole clause: Mae hi'n oer ond yn sych (“It's cold but dry”). The repeated yn keeps the second description connected to mae. More advanced conversation may add a confirmation tag: Mae hi'n oer heddiw, on'd ydy? (“It's cold today, isn't it?”).

Forecasts and reports also use sentences with an actual weather noun as subject: Mae'r haul yn tywynnu (“The sun is shining”) or Mae'r tywydd yn gwella (“The weather is improving”). These are not exceptions to the hi pattern. They are ordinary clauses whose stated subjects are yr haul and y tywydd.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-way sets. Choose one phrase and say its statement, question, and negative: Mae hi'n oer. Ydy hi'n oer? Dyw hi ddim yn oer. Repeat with braf, wyntog, and bwrw glaw.
2. Give a ten-second daily forecast. Look outside and make two true sentences, adding a time or place: Mae hi'n gymylog yma heddiw. Dyw hi ddim yn bwrw glaw nawr. Saying what you can actually see makes the pattern easier to retain.
3. Learn mutated forms as complete chunks. Put hi'n gynnes, hi'n boeth, hi'n wyntog, and hi'n gymylog on cards rather than learning isolated English–Welsh adjective pairs.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Bod – Present Tense — supplies mae, ydy, and the basic bod + yn structure used throughout weather expressions.