y ddau / y ddwy / ill dau

Both: Y Ddau, Y Ddwy, Ill Dau

Level 5

Both is y ddau (two males, two masculine things or a mixed pair) or y ddwy (two feminine ones): y ddau frawd (both brothers), y ddwy chwaer (both sisters).

How It Works

Y ddau and y ddwy. Welsh has no separate word for both. It says "the two": y ddau or y ddwy. In standard Welsh, dau and dwy take soft mutation after the article (d becomes dd); relaxed speech sometimes leaves dwy unchanged. The noun after them softens as well, as it does after any dau or dwy:

  • y ddau fachgen — both boys (bachgen)
  • y ddwy ferch — both girls (merch)
  • y ddau gar — both cars (car)

Use y ddau for masculine nouns and for a mixed pair, such as a man and a woman. Use y ddwy only when both are feminine.

Both of us, both of them. Add o with its personal forms: y ddau ohonon ni (both of us), y ddwy ohonyn nhw (both of them, both female); see Forms of O. Y ddau can also stand alone: Dw i'n hoffi'r ddau (I like both).

Ill dau. After a plural pronoun, ill dau (feminine ill dwy) means both of them. Dau does not mutate after ill. Daethon nhw ill dau means They both came. Ill tri and ill tair mean all three of them.

The two of us. Speech often uses a possessive + dau: ein dau (the two of us), eich dau (you two), eu dau (the two of them). After a vowel, ein shortens to 'n and eich to 'ch: ni'n dau, chi'ch dau.

Examples (6)

  1. Mae'r ddau ohonyn nhw'n athrawon.

    Both of them are teachers.

  2. Mae'r ddwy chwaer yn byw yn Nhreorci.

    Both sisters live in Treorchy.

    Chwaer is feminine, so both is y ddwy.

  3. Daethon nhw ill dau i'r parti.

    They both came to the party.

  4. Dw i'n hoffi'r ddau.

    I like both of them.

  5. Mae'r ddau gar yn goch.

    Both cars are red.

    Car softens to gar after dau.

  6. Diolch i chi'ch dau!

    Thank you both!

    Chi'ch dau is the everyday way to say "you two".

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving dau unmutated after the article.

    Mae'r dau frawd yn chwarae rygbi.
    Mae'r ddau frawd yn chwarae rygbi.

    After y or 'r, dau softens to ddau (and dwy to ddwy).

  • Using y ddau for two feminine nouns.

    Mae'r ddau chwaer yn byw yma.
    Mae'r ddwy chwaer yn byw yma.

    Chwaer (sister) is feminine, so both sisters is y ddwy chwaer.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

y ddau / y ddwy / ill dauLevel 5Both: Y Ddau, Y Ddwy, Ill Dau

Learn This First

Both uses the article with dau/dwy and personal forms of o.

Words in This Pattern