-wr / -wraig / -ydd / -es

People Nouns: -wr, -wraig, -ydd, -es

Level 4

Welsh builds many job and people words with endings: gweithio (to work) → gweithiwr (worker); cyfieithu (to translate) → cyfieithydd (translator).

How It Works

-wr: a person who does (plural -wyr)

  • gweithio → gweithiwr (worker), plural gweithwyr
  • pysgota → pysgotwr (angler)
  • adeiladwr (builder), cyfreithiwr (lawyer)

-wraig: a woman who does: gweithwraig, cyfreithwraig. Many people now use the -wr word for everyone, so you will hear Mae hi'n adeiladwr.

-ydd: a person (or a machine) that does (plural usually -wyr or -yddion)

  • ysgrifennu → ysgrifennydd (secretary)
  • cyfieithu → cyfieithydd (translator), plural cyfieithwyr
  • cadeirydd (chair of a meeting), cigydd (butcher), gwyddonydd (scientist)

-es: a female person (plural -au)

  • athro → athrawes (female teacher)
  • Cymro → Cymraes (Welshwoman); Sais → Saesnes (Englishwoman)
  • canwr → cantores (female singer)

Mutations. These nouns mutate like any other: Mae hi'n gyfieithydd (see Describing With Yn), y gantores (see y + feminine noun).

The stem often changes a little: athro → athrawes, gweithio → gweithiwr → gweithwraig. Learn each word as you meet it.

Examples (6)

  1. Mae fy mrawd yn gweithio fel cyfieithydd.

    My brother works as a translator.

  2. Athrawes ydy hi.

    She's a teacher.

    The South and formal Welsh say Athrawes yw hi.

  3. Mae hi'n Gymraes, ond mae ei gŵr hi'n Sais.

    She's Welsh, but her husband is English.

  4. Mae'r gweithwyr ar streic.

    The workers are on strike.

  5. Hi ydy cadeirydd y pwyllgor.

    She's the chair of the committee.

    Cadeirydd is used for anyone, whatever their gender.

  6. Roedd y gantores yn wych neithiwr.

    The singer was great last night.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting the mutation after predicative yn.

    Mae hi'n cyfieithydd.
    Mae hi'n gyfieithydd.

    A noun describing someone after yn takes soft mutation: c becomes g.

  • Treating an -es word as masculine.

    y cantores
    y gantores

    Words ending in -es are feminine, so they soften after y.

How It Connects

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

-wr / -wraig / -ydd / -esLevel 4People Nouns: -wr, -wraig, -ydd, -es

Learn This First

People nouns are formed with gendered suffixes, often from verb stems.

Words in This Pattern

-wr-wraig-ydd-es