am, ar, at, dan, dros, drwy, gan, heb, i, o, wrth + Soft Mutation

Soft Mutation After Prepositions

Level 2

After these prepositions (little words such as to, from and on) the next word takes soft mutation: o Gaerdydd (from Cardiff), heb fara (without bread), am ddau (at two).

How It Works

The prepositions

  • am at (a time), about, for: am ddau o'r gloch (at two o'clock)
  • ar on: ar ben y mynydd (on top of the mountain)
  • at to, towards: at ddrws y tŷ (to the door of the house)
  • dan (also o dan) under: dan goeden (under a tree)
  • dros over, for: dros bont (over a bridge)
  • drwy through: drwy goedwig (through a forest)
  • gan by, from: gan bawb (from everyone)
  • heb without: heb fara (without bread)
  • i to: i Gaerdydd (to Cardiff)
  • o from, of: o Fangor (from Bangor)
  • wrth by, at: wrth ddrws y siop (by the shop door)
  • hyd and tan until: tan ddydd Llun (until Monday)

All the soft changes. Ll and rh change too: heb laeth (without milk), o Rufain (from Rome). See Soft Mutation.

With the article. Y, yr and 'r never change, and they stop the preposition's mutation: ar y bwrdd, o'r gwaith (from work). A feminine noun still softens after y: i'r dref.

Other prepositions. Not every preposition softens. Gyda and â cause aspirate mutation (see Aspirate Mutation After Â, Gyda, Tua and Na), yn (in) causes nasal mutation (see In: Yn + Nasal Mutation), and efo, mewn and ger (near) cause none.

With pronouns. Most of these prepositions add personal endings before a pronoun: arna i, iddi hi. See Prepositions With Personal Forms. For going to and coming from places, see Going To and Coming From.

Examples (6)

  1. Dewch am ddau o'r gloch.

    Come at two o'clock.

    am softens dau to ddau.

  2. Dw i'n yfed te heb laeth.

    I drink tea without milk.

    heb softens llaeth to laeth: ll changes after prepositions.

  3. Mae'r ci'n cysgu dan fwrdd y gegin.

    The dog is sleeping under the kitchen table.

    dan softens bwrdd to fwrdd.

  4. Cerddon ni dros bont fach.

    We walked over a little bridge.

    dros softens pont to bont.

  5. Mae'r trên o Fangor yn hwyr.

    The train from Bangor is late.

    o softens Bangor to Fangor.

  6. Mae'r siop ar gau tan ddydd Llun.

    The shop is closed until Monday.

    ar softens cau to gau, and tan softens dydd to ddydd.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting the soft mutation after a preposition.

    Mae hi'n dod o Pontypridd.
    Mae hi'n dod o Bontypridd.

    O causes soft mutation: p becomes b.

  • Mutating a masculine noun after the article.

    Mae'r llyfr ar y fwrdd.
    Mae'r llyfr ar y bwrdd.

    The article stops the preposition's mutation. Bwrdd is masculine, so it does not change after y.

How It Connects

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am, ar, at, dan, dros, drwy, gan, heb, i, o, wrth + Soft MutationLevel 2Soft Mutation After Prepositions

Learn This First

The full list of softening prepositions extends the first two, i and o.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

danhebtan