i / ti / e / o / hi / ni / chi / nhw

Personal Pronouns

Level 1

Welsh pronouns: i/fi, ti, e/fe or o/fo, hi, ni, chi, nhw. The same word means both "I" and "me", "he" and "him", and so on.

How It Works

  • i / fi — I, me
  • ti — you (one person you know well; see Familiar Ti and Polite Chi)
  • e / fe (South), o / fo (North) — he, him; it (masculine noun)
  • hi — she, her; it (feminine noun)
  • ni — we, us
  • chi — you (more than one person, or polite)
  • nhw — they, them

Short and long forms. The short forms i, e and o usually follow a verb: Dw i, Mae e, Mae o. The longer forms fi, fe and fo are common on their own and after many prepositions: Pwy? Fi! (Who? Me!), gyda fi (with me, South), efo fo (with him, North). The North also says i mi where the South says i fi (to me).

"It" follows the noun's gender. Ble mae'r llyfr? Mae e ar y bwrdd. (Llyfr is masculine.) Ble mae'r allwedd? Mae hi yn y car. (Allwedd, key, is feminine.) See Masculine and Feminine Nouns. For weather and time, "it" is always hi: Mae hi'n oer (It's cold); see mae hi'n + weather.

Pronouns are also "echoed" after a possessed noun, as in fy nghar i (my car); see possessive + noun + echo pronoun. In the North you will also hear chdi for "you" after prepositions; see chdi.

Examples (6)

  1. Dw i'n hapus.

    I'm happy.

    I follows the verb dw.

  2. Mae e'n athro.

    He's a teacher.

    South: e means he.

  3. Mae o'n athro.

    He's a teacher.

    North: o means he.

  4. Mae hi'n byw yma.

    She lives here.

  5. Ble mae'r allwedd? Mae hi yn y car.

    Where's the key? It's in the car.

    Allwedd is feminine, so "it" is hi.

  6. Maen nhw'n dod gyda ni.

    They're coming with us.

    Nhw after maen; ni after gyda (South; the North says efo ni).

How It Connects

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i / ti / e / o / hi / ni / chi / nhwLevel 1Personal Pronouns

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Words in This Pattern

fiefochinhw