Passive Voice in Different Tenses in Welsh

In Brief

Welsh commonly forms the passive with a tense of cael (“get” or “receive”), a possessive word, and a verb-noun (the basic action form used after many other verbs): Ces i fy nhalu means “I was paid.” To move the passive through time, change the form around cael, while the final verb-noun stays the same: Mae e'n cael ei dalu, Cafodd e ei dalu, Bydd e'n cael ei dalu.

Overview

A passive sentence presents the person or thing affected by an action as its subject. English contrasts “The committee approved the plan” with “The plan was approved.” Welsh can make the same change of viewpoint, but its everyday passive is not built by matching a form of “be” with an English-style past participle. Instead, it usually uses cael plus a possessive link and a verb-noun: Cafodd y cynllun ei gymeradwyo (“The plan was approved”).

At B2, knowing the basic cael passive is only the starting point. You also need to distinguish a completed event from an action in progress, a present result from an earlier past result, and a future fact from a hypothetical outcome. Compare Cafodd y bont ei chau (“The bridge was closed”), Roedd y bont yn cael ei chau (“The bridge was being closed”), and Roedd y bont wedi cael ei chau (“The bridge had been closed”). The event is similar, but its time and viewpoint change.

This construction is common in conversation, news, public information, and ordinary writing. It is especially useful when the doer is unknown, obvious, or less important than what happened: Bydd y ffordd yn cael ei hailagor yfory (“The road will be reopened tomorrow”).

How It Works

The core pattern

The basic structure is:

affected person or thing + tense of cael + matching possessive + verb-noun

In Cafodd e ei arestio, e is the person affected, cafodd puts the event in the completed past, ei refers back to him, and arestio names the action. A literal word-by-word reading such as “He got his arresting” may help you remember the Welsh structure, but the natural English translation is simply “He was arrested.”

Only the tense-bearing part changes. The action word itself does not acquire a different ending:

Time and viewpoint	Welsh	English
present or in progress now	Mae e'n cael ei dalu.	He is being paid.
completed past event	Cafodd e ei dalu.	He was paid.
action in progress in the past	Roedd e'n cael ei dalu.	He was being paid.
present perfect	Mae e wedi cael ei dalu.	He has been paid.
earlier result in the past	Roedd e wedi cael ei dalu.	He had been paid.
future	Bydd e'n cael ei dalu.	He will be paid.
conditional	Byddai e'n cael ei dalu.	He would be paid.

Choosing the tense

Present: mae ... yn cael

Use mae ... yn cael for a process happening now, a repeated procedure, or a general arrangement:

• Mae'r car yn cael ei drwsio ar hyn o bryd. — “The car is being repaired at the moment.”
• Mae'r post yn cael ei gasglu am bump bob dydd. — “The post is collected at five every day.”

English may use either “is being repaired” or “is collected.” Welsh uses the same mae ... yn cael frame; time expressions and context show whether the meaning is current or habitual.

Completed past: cafodd, ces, cest, cawson

For a bounded event that happened and finished, use the short past of cael. Common spoken forms include:

Person	Past of cael	Passive example
I	ces i	Ces i fy ngalw. — I was called.
you, singular	cest ti	Cest ti dy ddewis. — You were chosen.
he / she	cafodd e / hi	Cafodd hi ei chyfweld. — She was interviewed.
we	cawson ni	Cawson ni ein gwahodd. — We were invited.
you, plural or polite	cawsoch chi	Cawsoch chi eich rhybuddio. — You were warned.
they	cawson nhw	Cawson nhw eu rhyddhau. — They were released.

With a noun subject, the third-person form cafodd is usual: Cafodd y llyfr ei gyhoeddi llynedd (“The book was published last year”).

Past in progress: roedd ... yn cael

Use roedd ... yn cael when the passive action was unfolding, recurring, or forming the background to another past event:

Roedd y tŷ'n cael ei adeiladu pan symudon ni i'r ardal. “The house was being built when we moved to the area.”

This is not the same as Cafodd y tŷ ei adeiladu, which presents the building as a completed event.

Perfect forms: wedi cael

Wedi places the passive event before the reference point and often highlights its result.

• Mae'r plant wedi cael eu gwobrwyo. — “The children have been rewarded.”
• Roedd y drws wedi cael ei gloi cyn i ni gyrraedd. — “The door had been locked before we arrived.”

With present mae, the result matters now. With past roedd, the result was already in place at a past moment. English speakers should resist choosing between these forms solely by matching English words; ask whether your reference point is now or then.

Future and conditional

Use bydd ... yn cael for an expected future event and byddai ... yn cael for a hypothetical or conditional result:

• Bydd y gwaith yn cael ei orffen yfory. — “The work will be finished tomorrow.”
• Byddai'r cais yn cael ei wrthod heb y dogfennau cywir. — “The application would be rejected without the correct documents.”

The negative future is commonly ni fydd ... yn cael in more formal writing and fydd ... ddim yn cael in everyday Welsh: Fydd y trên ddim yn cael ei ganslo (“The train will not be cancelled”).

The possessive link and mutation

The small word before the verb-noun is essential. It refers back to the affected subject, not to the person doing the action. It can also cause an initial mutation (a regular change to the first sound of the following word).

Affected subject	Possessive	Typical effect	Example
I	fy	nasal mutation	fy nhalu — my being paid
you, singular	dy	soft mutation	dy dalu — your being paid
he / masculine singular noun	ei	soft mutation	ei dalu — his being paid
she / feminine singular noun	ei	aspirate mutation where possible	ei thalu — her being paid
we	ein	normally no consonant mutation	ein talu — our being paid
you, plural or polite	eich	normally no consonant mutation	eich talu — your being paid
they / plural noun	eu	normally no consonant mutation	eu talu — their being paid

The spelling of ei is the same for masculine and feminine reference, but its mutation pattern differs. Compare Cafodd e ei dalu (“He was paid”) and Cafodd hi ei thalu (“She was paid”). With a singular noun, grammatical gender controls the pattern: Cafodd y gân ei hysgrifennu (“The song was written”), where feminine cân is referred to by feminine ei, adding h- before the vowel. With a plural subject, use eu: Cafodd y caneuon eu hysgrifennu (“The songs were written”).

Not every initial letter visibly changes, so learn the whole sequence rather than expecting mutation to appear in every example.

Naming the doer

When the agent (the person or organization performing the action) matters, add gan (“by”):

Cafodd e ei arestio gan yr heddlu. “He was arrested by the police.”

After gan, articles and pronouns may produce combined or mutated forms, as elsewhere in Welsh. In many passive sentences, however, the agent is omitted because it is unknown or already clear. If the agent is the main new information, an active sentence may be more direct: Arestiodd yr heddlu e (“The police arrested him”).

Examples in Context

Welsh	English	Note
Cafodd e ei arestio neithiwr.	He was arrested last night.	A completed past event.
Ces i fy nhalu ddydd Gwener.	I was paid on Friday.	fy causes nasal mutation: talu → nhalu.
Cafodd y ferch ei dewis i'r tîm.	The girl was chosen for the team.	Feminine ei causes no visible change to initial d.
Mae'r adroddiad yn cael ei wirio nawr.	The report is being checked now.	A process happening at present.
Mae'r ystafelloedd yn cael eu glanhau bob bore.	The rooms are cleaned every morning.	A repeated procedure; plural eu.
Roedd y tŷ'n cael ei adeiladu pan oeddwn i'n blentyn.	The house was being built when I was a child.	Background action in progress.
Roedd y gweithwyr yn cael eu hyfforddi drwy'r wythnos.	The workers were being trained throughout the week.	Past ongoing passive with a plural subject.
Mae'r plant wedi cael eu gwobrwyo am eu gwaith.	The children have been rewarded for their work.	Present result of a completed action.
Roedd y ffenestr wedi cael ei thorri cyn y storm.	The window had been broken before the storm.	The result existed before another past point.
Bydd y gwaith yn cael ei orffen yfory.	The work will be finished tomorrow.	Neutral future passive.
Bydd y ffordd yn cael ei hailagor fore Llun.	The road will be reopened on Monday morning.	Future announcement.
Byddai'r cynllun yn cael ei newid pe bai angen.	The plan would be changed if necessary.	Hypothetical result.
Fydd y neges ddim yn cael ei hanfon heddiw.	The message will not be sent today.	Colloquial negative future.
Ydy'r ffurflen wedi cael ei llenwi?	Has the form been filled in?	Perfect passive in a question.
Cafodd y penderfyniad ei wneud gan y pwyllgor.	The decision was made by the committee.	The agent is introduced with gan.

Common Mistakes

1. Copying the English “be + past participle” pattern

• Wrong: Mae'r gwaith bod gorffen.
• Right: Mae'r gwaith yn cael ei orffen.
• Why: The ordinary Welsh construction needs the appropriate form of cael, the possessive ei, and the verb-noun gorffen. Do not build it word for word from English “is finished.”

2. Leaving out the possessive

• Wrong: Cafodd e arestio.
• Right: Cafodd e ei arestio.
• Why: Ei links the affected subject e to the action. It is a structural part of the cael passive, even when it has no obvious one-word equivalent in natural English.

3. Changing the final verb to mark tense

• Wrong: Bydd y gwaith yn cael ei orffennodd.
• Right: Bydd y gwaith yn cael ei orffen.
• Why: The time is carried by bydd ... yn cael. The final action remains the verb-noun gorffen.

4. Using the wrong possessive for the affected subject

• Wrong: Cawson nhw ei gwobrwyo.
• Right: Cawson nhw eu gwobrwyo.
• Why: Nhw is plural, so the matching possessive is eu, not singular ei.

5. Missing the mutation after a possessive

• Wrong: Ces i fy talu.
• Right: Ces i fy nhalu.
• Why: Fy causes nasal mutation, so talu becomes nhalu. Likewise, compare masculine ei dalu with feminine ei thalu.

6. Confusing a completed past event with a past process

• Wrong for “The house was being built”: Cafodd y tŷ ei adeiladu.
• Right: Roedd y tŷ'n cael ei adeiladu.
• Why: Cafodd presents the event as a completed whole. Roedd ... yn cael puts you inside the ongoing process.

Usage Notes

The Welsh cael passive often corresponds to both English “be” passives and “get” passives. Cafodd e ei ddewis can simply mean “He was chosen”; it does not necessarily carry the informal, accidental, or affected flavour that English “He got chosen” may suggest. Translate the whole construction according to context rather than translating cael separately.

The present form can be ambiguous without context. Mae'r drws yn cael ei gloi may mean “The door is being locked” right now or “The door is locked” as part of a regular procedure. Words such as nawr (“now”), bob nos (“every night”), and fel arfer (“usually”) make the intended viewpoint clear.

Spoken Welsh varies by region and register in pronouns and forms of bod: you may hear e or o for “he,” and different colloquial forms around byddai. The underlying passive pattern remains stable. In careful writing, make the possessive and its mutation explicit even if rapid speech makes small words difficult to hear.

English uses passives freely in formal prose, sometimes producing long and impersonal sentences. Welsh certainly allows passives, but an active sentence is often clearer when the agent matters. Compare Cafodd y polisi ei gymeradwyo gan y cyngor (“The policy was approved by the council”) with Cymeradwyodd y cyngor y polisi (“The council approved the policy”). Choose the viewpoint that serves the message, not the one that most closely copies the English syntax.

Beyond the Basics

Compact future forms of cael

Welsh also has short future forms of cael, such as caf i, cei di, and caiff e/hi. In suitable contexts, Caiff y cais ei ystyried yfory means “The application will be considered tomorrow.” This compact pattern is especially useful in formal or concise writing. The expanded Bydd y cais yn cael ei ystyried yfory expresses the same basic future passive and is often easier for learners to build consistently.

Be aware that cael also keeps its ordinary meanings “get,” “receive,” and “be allowed.” Only the complete pattern tells you whether it is passive. Cafodd hi anrheg means “She received a present,” while Cafodd hi ei gwahodd means “She was invited.”

The impersonal verb as an alternative

Formal and journalistic Welsh may use an impersonal form (a verb form that reports an action without naming a grammatical subject), often ending in -wyd: Arestiwyd y dyn (“The man was arrested”) or Cyhoeddwyd y canlyniadau (“The results were published”). This is not simply another tense of the cael construction; it is a separate passive-like strategy.

The two patterns can overlap, but their emphasis and register differ. Cafodd y dyn ei arestio presents what happened to the man and is broadly natural in speech and writing. Arestiwyd y dyn is compact and is particularly at home in reports and formal prose. Learn to recognize both, but keep their grammar separate.

Passive inside more complex tense frames

Once the core sequence is secure, it can fit into other time relationships:

• Bydd y gwaith wedi cael ei orffen erbyn pump. — “The work will have been finished by five.”
• Basai'r broblem wedi cael ei datrys petai rhywun wedi gwrando. — “The problem would have been solved if someone had listened.”

These forms stack several pieces, so build them from the outside in: establish the time frame first (bydd ... wedi, basai ... wedi), then insert cael + possessive + verb-noun. The principle does not change, even when the sentence becomes longer.

Practice Tips

1. Make a seven-line timeline. Choose one useful verb-noun, such as gwahodd (“invite”), and write present, completed past, past ongoing, present perfect, pluperfect, future, and conditional passive sentences. Keep ei gwahodd unchanged while you alter the tense frame.
2. Rotate the affected person. Say “I was paid,” “you were paid,” “he was paid,” and “she was paid”: Ces i fy nhalu, cest ti dy dalu, cafodd e ei dalu, cafodd hi ei thalu. This trains the possessives and mutations together rather than as separate lists.
3. Retell short news items twice. First name the agent in an active sentence; then make the affected person or thing the subject of a cael passive. Add gan only if the agent is still worth mentioning.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice — introduces the core cael + possessive + verb-noun construction.