Relative y + Preposition

Relatives with Prepositions: Y ... Ynddo

Level 4

English says "the house she lives in". Welsh says "the house that she lives in it": y tŷ y mae hi'n byw ynddo. The little word at the end points back to the noun.

How It Works

With a preposition. The preposition goes at the end in its personal form, matching the noun's gender and number. See Prepositions With Personal Forms.

  • y tŷ y mae hi'n byw ynddo — the house she lives in (tŷ is masculine → ynddo)
  • y ferch roeddwn i'n siarad amdani — the girl I was talking about (merch is feminine → amdani)
  • y cwmni y mae hi'n gweithio iddo — the company she works for
  • y bobl dw i'n gweithio gyda nhw — the people I work with (gyda has no personal forms, so it simply takes nhw)

Whose. Put a possessive before the thing owned: y dyn y mae ei gar yn goch (the man whose car is red), y ferch y mae ei thad yn feddyg (the girl whose father is a doctor). The possessive brings its usual mutation.

The object of a verb-noun. A verb-noun takes a possessive for its object (Dw i'n ei weld e), so this pattern is also used for "the man she knows": y dyn y mae hi'n ei nabod.

Careful Welsh and everyday speech

  • Careful: y ferch yr oeddwn i'n siarad amdani, y dyn y rhoddais i'r llyfr iddo
  • Speech: y ferch ro'n i'n siarad amdani, y dyn roddais i'r llyfr iddo

Both are correct. Speech drops y; with a short verb it softens the verb instead (rhoddais → roddais).

When the noun is simply the subject or object of a short verb, use a + soft mutation. For places, lle is often easier: y tŷ lle mae hi'n byw.

Examples (6)

  1. Dyma'r tŷ dw i'n byw ynddo.

    This is the house I live in.

  2. Pwy ydy'r ferch roeddet ti'n siarad amdani?

    Who's the girl you were talking about?

    Merch is feminine, so the preposition ends in -i: amdani.

  3. Mae'r dyn y mae ei gar yn goch yn byw drws nesaf.

    The man whose car is red lives next door.

  4. Dyna'r bobl dw i'n gweithio gyda nhw.

    Those are the people I work with.

  5. Dyna'r athrawes ges i'r llyfr ganddi.

    That's the teacher I got the book from.

    Everyday speech: y is dropped and ces softens to ges. Careful Welsh: y cefais i.

  6. Dyma'r dyn mae hi'n ei nabod.

    This is the man she knows.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving a bare preposition at the end.

    y tŷ mae hi'n byw yn
    y tŷ mae hi'n byw ynddo

    A Welsh preposition cannot be left hanging on its own. Use its personal form that matches the noun: ynddo for a masculine noun.

  • Making the preposition match the wrong gender.

    y ferch roeddwn i'n siarad amdano
    y ferch roeddwn i'n siarad amdani

    Merch is feminine, so the preposition must be the "her" form: amdani.

How It Connects

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

Relative y + PrepositionLevel 4Relatives with Prepositions: Y ... Ynddo

Learn This First

Other relatives use y with a personal preposition or possessive.

Words in This Pattern

y