y / yr / 'r

The Article: Y, Yr and 'R

Level 1

Welsh has one word for the, with three forms: y, yr and 'r.

How It Works

y before a consonant: y tŷ (the house), y car (the car), y plant (the children).

yr before a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, and w or y when they are vowels) or h: yr afal (the apple), yr ysgol (the school), yr wythnos (the week), yr haul (the sun), yr haf (the summer). When w is a consonant, as in wlad (from gwlad), use y: y wlad (the country), y wraig (the wife).

'r after a word ending in a vowel. It joins onto that word with an apostrophe: mae'r plant (the children are), i'r dref (to the town), o'r gwaith (from work), a'r gath (and the cat). This rule comes first: it is mae'r ysgol, not mae yr ysgol.

A quick way to decide:

  • Does the word before it end in a vowel? Use 'r.
  • If not, does the noun start with a vowel or h? Use yr.
  • Otherwise, use y.

Watch the noun too. A feminine singular noun softens after the article: y gath. If the change removes a g, the noun now starts with a vowel, so the article becomes yr: gardd → yr ardd (the garden). See Soft Mutation After Y With Feminine Nouns.

Welsh sometimes uses "the" where English does not: yn yr ysgol (at school), yn y gwely (in bed), i'r gwaith (to work). There is no word for "a"; see No Word for A.

Examples (6)

  1. Mae'r plant yn yr ysgol.

    The children are at school.

    'r after mae, which ends in a vowel; yr before ysgol, which starts with a vowel.

  2. Dw i'n mynd i'r dref.

    I'm going to town.

    'r after i. Tref is feminine, so it softens to dref.

  3. Dyn ni'n mynd i Sbaen yn yr haf.

    We're going to Spain in the summer.

    Yr before haf, which starts with h. South: dyn ni. In the North: Dan ni'n mynd i Sbaen yn yr haf.

  4. Ble mae'r tŷ bach?

    Where's the toilet?

    Tŷ bach (literally "little house") means toilet.

  5. Mae'r afalau ar y bwrdd.

    The apples are on the table.

    The plural afalau takes the same article; y before bwrdd, which starts with a consonant.

  6. Mae'r ci a'r gath yn ffrindiau.

    The dog and the cat are friends.

    A'r means "and the".

Common Mistakes

  • Writing y after a word that ends in a vowel.

    Mae y plant yn chwarae.
    Mae'r plant yn chwarae.

    After a vowel, the article is always 'r, joined to the word before it.

  • Using y before a vowel.

    Mae Siân yn y ysgol.
    Mae Siân yn yr ysgol.

    Ysgol starts with a vowel, so the article is yr. (Yn ends in a consonant, so 'r is not used here.)

How It Connects

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

y / yr / 'rLevel 1The Article: Y, Yr and 'R

Words in This Pattern

y