Impersonal Forms in Welsh

In Brief

Welsh impersonal verb forms describe an action without naming the person who performs it. Their main endings are -ir for present or future meaning, -wyd for a completed past action, and -id for conditional or past habitual meaning: Siaradir Cymraeg yma means “Welsh is spoken here,” while Gwelwyd y car means “The car was seen.” They often correspond to an English passive, but English “people,” “they,” “one,” or “you” can also be the most natural translation.

Overview

An impersonal verb form is a form that does not identify a grammatical person such as “I,” “you,” or “they.” It lets the speaker focus on the action, result, rule, or report rather than on whoever carries out the action. In Cyhoeddwyd yr adroddiad ddoe (“The report was published yesterday”), the publication matters; the publisher is left unmentioned.

These forms are introduced around B1 because they build on Welsh inflected, or short-form, verbs. Unlike a phrase built with bod (“to be”), an impersonal form carries its meaning in a compact ending. There is only one impersonal form for each tense or mood: it does not change for singular or plural, and it has no separate form for “he,” “she,” or “they.”

For an English-speaking learner, the closest first comparison is the passive: “is spoken,” “was announced,” or “should be done.” The match is useful but not exact. Welsh grammar does not build these forms from “be” plus a past participle. A single verb form such as dywedir can mean “it is said,” “people say,” or “they say,” depending on what sounds natural in English.

How It Works

The basic pattern

Start with the verb’s inflected stem—the part used before short-form endings—and add the impersonal ending. The stem is not always identical to the verbal noun (the dictionary form used after words such as yn), so it is safer to learn frequent forms as complete words.

Time or meaning	Typical ending	Form	Core meaning
Present, habitual, or general	-ir	siaradir	is spoken; people speak
Future, from context	-ir	cyhoeddir	will be published
Completed past	-wyd	gwelwyd	was seen
Conditional	-id	gwelid	would be seen
Past habitual or background	-id	gwelid	used to be seen; could be seen then

The labels “present” and “conditional” give the most useful B1 rule, but Welsh uses the same -ir form for present and future contexts, and the same -id form for imperfect past and conditional contexts. Time words and the surrounding sentence normally make the intended reading clear.

Finding the stem

With some verbs, the join is transparent:

• siarad (“speak”) → siarad-ir → siaradir
• agor (“open”) → agor-wyd → agorwyd
• trafod (“discuss”) → trafod-ir → trafodir

With others, spelling or the stem changes:

• gweld (“see”) → gwelir, gwelwyd, gwelid
• dweud (“say”) → dywedir, dywedwyd, dywedid
• cyhoeddi (“publish; announce”) → cyhoeddir, cyhoeddwyd
• gallu (“be able”) → gellir (“it is possible; one can”)
• dylu (“ought”) → dylid (“one should; it should be done”)

This is why simply adding an ending to the full dictionary form can produce a form that does not exist. When reading, first learn to recognise the endings. When writing, check the stem of an unfamiliar verb rather than guessing.

Sentence structure

The normal compact pattern is:

impersonal verb + thing affected or content + other information

In Agorwyd y drws am naw o’r gloch, the verb comes first, y drws (“the door”) is the thing affected, and the time comes later. English normally turns that affected thing into the subject: “The door was opened at nine o’clock.”

The verb remains unchanged whether the following noun phrase is singular or plural:

• Cyhoeddwyd y canlyniad. — “The result was announced.”
• Cyhoeddwyd y canlyniadau. — “The results were announced.”

There is no Welsh equivalent here of English was versus were. The form cyhoeddwyd does not agree with the number of y canlyniad or y canlyniadau.

Some impersonal forms introduce a whole clause rather than an affected thing:

• Dywedir bod... — “It is said that...”
• Credir bod... — “It is believed that...”
• Disgwylir i... — “It is expected that...”

Here bod (“that ... is/are”) or i introduces what is said, believed, or expected. These are especially useful in reports and careful writing.

Modal-like forms: gellir and dylid

Two extremely common forms are best learned as frames followed by a verbal noun:

• gellir + verbal noun — “one can ...”; “it is possible to ...”; “... can be done”
• dylid + verbal noun — “one should ...”; “... should be done”

For example, Gellir talu â cherdyn can be translated as “You can pay by card” or “Payment can be made by card.” Dylid darllen y cyfarwyddiadau means “The instructions should be read” or, more directly, “You should read the instructions.” English chooses a personal or passive translation according to context; Welsh keeps the performer in the background.

Questions and negatives

In formal written questions, the particle a may come before the verb and cause an initial mutation (a change to the first consonant):

• A welwyd y digwyddiad? — “Was the event seen?”

Formal negative statements commonly use ni before the form. The verb’s first consonant may change after it, so learn frequent combinations as units:

• Ni welwyd neb. — “Nobody was seen.”
• Ni ellir cadarnhau hyn. — “This cannot be confirmed.”
• Ni ddylid agor y drws. — “The door should not be opened.”
• Ni chaniateir parcio yma. — “Parking is not permitted here.”

These compact negatives are common on signs and in administrative prose. Everyday spoken Welsh may choose a different, more conversational construction.

Examples in Context

Welsh	English	Note
Siaradir Cymraeg yma.	Welsh is spoken here.	General present; no speaker is named.
Dywedir bod y castell yn hen iawn.	It is said that the castle is very old.	bod introduces the reported claim.
Trafodir y mater bob mis.	The matter is discussed every month.	Habitual present.
Cyhoeddir y canlyniadau yfory.	The results will be announced tomorrow.	-ir receives future meaning from yfory.
Gwelwyd y car ger yr orsaf.	The car was seen near the station.	Completed past.
Agorwyd y drws am naw o’r gloch.	The door was opened at nine o’clock.	The affected thing follows the verb.
Cyhoeddwyd yr adroddiad ddoe.	The report was published yesterday.	Compact news or report style.
Ni welwyd neb yn yr adeilad.	Nobody was seen in the building.	Formal negative.
Gellir talu â cherdyn.	You can pay by card.	A natural personal translation in English.
Ni ellir cadarnhau’r wybodaeth eto.	The information cannot yet be confirmed.	Negative of gellir.
Dylid darllen y cyfarwyddiadau’n ofalus.	The instructions should be read carefully.	Advice or an official recommendation.
A welwyd y digwyddiad gan unrhyw un?	Was the event seen by anyone?	Formal question with an expressed agent phrase.
Dyma’r llyfr a gyhoeddwyd y llynedd.	This is the book that was published last year.	Impersonal form inside a relative clause.

Notice that the best English version is not always a word-for-word passive. Gellir talu â cherdyn sounds natural as “You can pay by card,” even though Welsh does not contain a word for “you.” Translation should preserve the focus and meaning, not force one English structure onto every example.

Common Mistakes

1. Adding the ending to the full dictionary form

• Wrong: Dweudir bod y siop ar gau.
• Right: Dywedir bod y siop ar gau.
• Why: Dweud uses the inflected stem dywed- here. Learn dywedir as a complete high-frequency form rather than constructing it from the dictionary form each time.

2. Using -ir for a completed past event

• Wrong: Gwelir y car ddoe.
• Right: Gwelwyd y car ddoe.
• Why: Ddoe (“yesterday”) places the event in the completed past, so use -wyd. The -ir form is present/general or future according to context.

3. Making the impersonal form agree with a plural noun

• Wrong: Cyhoeddwydon y canlyniadau.
• Right: Cyhoeddwyd y canlyniadau.
• Why: The impersonal form has no singular-versus-plural agreement. The same cyhoeddwyd works with one result or several results.

4. Treating the following noun as the performer

• Wrong: Siaradir pobl Cymraeg yma for “People speak Welsh here.”
• Right: Mae pobl yn siarad Cymraeg yma.
• Also right: Siaradir Cymraeg yma.
• Why: An impersonal form deliberately leaves the performer unnamed. If pobl is the performer you want to mention, use an active sentence. After siaradir, Cymraeg supplies what is spoken.

5. Translating every impersonal form with a stiff English passive

• Awkward translation: Gellir prynu tocynnau ar-lein → “Tickets are able to be bought online.”
• Natural translation: “You can buy tickets online” or “Tickets can be bought online.”
• Why: Welsh impersonal forms and English passives overlap, but translation is guided by natural usage. English often prefers generic “you,” “people,” or “they.”

6. Using the compact form in every conversational setting

• Overly formal in casual conversation: Hysbyswyd fi fod y trên yn hwyr.
• More conversational: Ces i wybod bod y trên yn hwyr.
• Why: The first sentence is grammatical, but its compact impersonal form sounds more like a written notification. In ordinary speech, Welsh often uses personal verbs or a construction with cael. Register is part of choosing the right form.

Usage Notes

Impersonal forms are especially visible in news reports, official notices, instructions, academic writing, and public information. They are efficient because they avoid repeatedly naming an institution or an unknown group of people. Forms such as cyhoeddwyd (“was announced/published”), caniateir (“is permitted”), gwaherddir (“is prohibited”), credir (“it is believed”), and disgwylir (“it is expected”) are worth recognising on sight.

They are not confined to old or literary Welsh. Several are part of normal modern formal Welsh, and familiar expressions such as gellir and dylid occur frequently. Nevertheless, spontaneous conversation often prefers an active clause with pobl (“people”) or nhw (“they”), or a passive built with cael. Compare:

• Agorwyd y drws. — “The door was opened.” Compact and report-like.
• Cafodd y drws ei agor. — “The door got/was opened.” Often more natural when narrating what happened to the door.
• Agorodd Rhys y drws. — “Rhys opened the door.” Best when the performer matters.

An agent can sometimes be added with gan (“by”), as in gan unrhyw un in the question above. However, if the agent is central information, an active sentence is often clearer. The impersonal construction is strongest when the performer is unknown, obvious, general, or deliberately irrelevant.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

At a more advanced level, -ir and -id need to be understood as forms whose time reference depends on context, not as simple one-to-one equivalents of English tenses. Cyhoeddir y penderfyniad yfory is future because of yfory (“tomorrow”), although the same ending gives a present or habitual reading in Trafodir y mater bob wythnos (“The matter is discussed every week”).

Likewise, -id can describe a hypothetical result or a repeated/background situation in the past. A conditional clause or the wider narrative normally tells you whether “would be” or “used to be” is intended. This form is less urgent for everyday production than -ir, -wyd, gellir, and dylid, but recognising it prevents confusion in formal and literary texts.

Impersonal forms also fit inside larger sentence structures. Relative clauses use them to identify something by what happened to it: y llyfr a gyhoeddwyd y llynedd (“the book that was published last year”). Report frames such as Credir bod... allow a writer to present a claim without committing to a named source. That distancing can be useful, but it may also hide responsibility. In clear writing, use an active sentence when readers need to know who made a decision or claim.

Finally, do not assume that every English passive must become an impersonal form in Welsh. Welsh can choose among an active sentence, a cael passive, and an impersonal form. The choice depends on register, focus, and what information is known. Learning that contrast is more useful than replacing English “was/were + past participle” mechanically.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-form sets. Take five common forms and write the -ir, -wyd, and -id versions where available, together with one time phrase: for example, gwelir heddiw, gwelwyd ddoe, and gwelid bryd hynny. Check the stems rather than guessing.
2. Collect complete frames from real texts. On Welsh news and public-service pages, look for dywedir bod, disgwylir i, ni ellir, and dylid. Save the whole phrase plus its complement, not just the ending.
3. Rewrite for focus. Start with an active sentence such as Cyhoeddodd y cyngor y cynllun (“The council announced the plan”). Then remove the performer: Cyhoeddwyd y cynllun. Ask what changed: the second version puts the plan and the announcement at the centre.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Inflected Verb Forms — provides the short-form verb system and stems on which impersonal endings build.