Faint o'r gloch?
Telling the Time
Faint o'r gloch ydy hi? means "What time is it?". Answer with Mae hi'n + the time: Mae hi'n chwarter wedi naw (It's quarter past nine).
How It Works
Asking: Faint o'r gloch ydy hi? (South: yw hi; North: ydi hi). O'r gloch means o'clock, literally "of the bell".
On the hour: Mae hi'n + number + o'r gloch. The number softens after yn: un, ddau, dri, bedwar, bump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, ddeg, un ar ddeg, ddeuddeg o'r gloch. Also hanner dydd (midday) and hanner nos (midnight).
Past the hour: wedi (no mutation).
- pum munud wedi — five past
- deg munud wedi — ten past
- chwarter wedi — quarter past
- ugain munud wedi — twenty past
- pum munud ar hugain wedi — twenty-five past
- hanner awr wedi — half past (always with awr)
To the hour: i, which softens the hour: chwarter i dri (quarter to three), deg munud i bedwar (ten to four), pum munud i ddeg (five to ten).
At a time: am + soft mutation: am ddau o'r gloch, am bump. Ask Am faint o'r gloch...? (At what time...?). See am ar at dan dros drwy gan heb i o wrth + soft mutation.
Numbers. Clock times keep the traditional numbers: un ar ddeg, deuddeg, ugain, pum munud ar hugain. See traditional numbers un ar ddeg ugain.
Examples (6)
- Faint o'r gloch ydy hi?
What time is it?
Word by Word: How-much of-the clock is it?
South: Faint o'r gloch yw hi? North: ydi hi?
- Mae hi bron yn ddau o'r gloch.
It's nearly two o'clock.
Dau softens to ddau after yn.
- Mae hi'n hanner awr wedi tri.
It's half past three.
Wedi causes no mutation.
- Mae hi'n chwarter i bump.
It's quarter to five.
I softens pump to bump.
- Roedd hi'n ugain munud wedi pedwar pan gyrhaeddon ni.
It was twenty past four when we arrived.
The same pattern in the past, with roedd hi.
- Mae'r trên yn gadael am ddeg munud wedi saith.
The train leaves at ten past seven.
Am softens deg to ddeg.
Common Mistakes
Leaving out awr in "half past".
Mae hi'n hanner wedi tri.Mae hi'n hanner awr wedi tri.Half past is always hanner awr wedi (half an hour past).
Forgetting the soft mutation after i (to).
Mae hi'n chwarter i tri.Mae hi'n chwarter i dri.I (to) causes soft mutation of the hour: tri → dri, pump → bump.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Clock times use numbers, impersonal hi and softening am.
- un, dau, tri ... degNumbers One to Ten
The hours are numbers.
Level 1 - Mae hi'n + WeatherTalking About the Weather
Mae hi'n ddau o'r gloch uses impersonal hi, as in weather sentences.
Level 1 - am, ar, at, dan, dros, drwy, gan, heb, i, o, wrth + Soft MutationSoft Mutation After Prepositions
Am ddeg o'r gloch uses the softening preposition am.
Level 2
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice Faint o'r gloch? in Bubblegum
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