â / ê / î / ô / û / ŵ / ŷ

The Circumflex (To Bach)

Level 1

The little roof you see on letters like â, ô and ŵ is called the to bach. It tells you to make the vowel long.

How It Works

To bach means "little roof". It can sit on any of the seven vowels: â, ê and î; ô and û; and also ŵ and ŷ, because w and y are vowels in Welsh.

It makes the vowel long. Say tân (fire) with a long "aah", but tan (until) with a short a. More words with the mark: tŷ (house), dŵr (water), môr (sea), sâl (ill), cân (song), gêm (game), ffôn (phone).

It can tell words apart. tân (fire) and tan (until); â (with) and a (and). See A and Ac for the word a.

Not every long vowel has one. Hen (old) has a long e with no mark. The to bach is used mainly where the spelling could fool you into reading a short vowel.

It can disappear when a word changes. tŷ (house) → tai (houses); cân (song) → caneuon (songs). On most phones you can hold down a vowel key to find the to bach.

Examples (5)

  1. Mae'r tân yn gynnes.

    The fire is warm.

    Tân (fire) has a long vowel; tan without the mark means until.

  2. Dw i eisiau dŵr.

    I want water.

    Ŵ in dŵr is a long oo sound.

  3. Mae'r tŷ ger y môr.

    The house is near the sea.

    Ŷ in tŷ and ô in môr are long vowels.

  4. Mae hi'n sâl heddiw.

    She is ill today.

    Â in sâl is a long "aah".

  5. Hwyl, tan yfory!

    Bye, see you tomorrow!

    Tan (until) has no mark and a short vowel.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the to bach off a word that needs it.

    Mae'r tan yn gynnes.
    Mae'r tân yn gynnes.

    Without the mark, tan is a different word meaning until. Write tân when you mean fire.

How It Connects

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

â / ê / î / ô / û / ŵ / ŷLevel 1The Circumflex (To Bach)

Learn This First

The to bach marks length on vowel letters, including w and y.