The Verb-Noun (Berfenw)

Level 1

The verb-noun (in Welsh, berfenw) is the form of a verb you find in the dictionary: mynd, bwyta, dysgu.

How It Works

The Welsh name berfenw joins berf (verb) and enw (noun), because this form does both jobs.

How to spot one. Many verb-nouns have a typical ending:

  • -u: dysgu (learn), canu (sing)
  • -i: codi (get up, lift)
  • -io: gweithio (work)
  • -ed: cerdded (walk), yfed (drink)
  • -eg: rhedeg (run)
  • -an: hedfan (fly)
  • no special ending: mynd (go), dod (come), gweld (see), darllen (read)

Where it goes. The verb-noun stays the same while other words change around it:

After some words, such as i (to), a verb-noun takes soft mutation: Dw i'n mynd i brynu car (I'm going to buy a car). See mynd i + verb-noun.

Many verbs also have short forms with personal endings, like prynais i (I bought). These are built on the verb's stem; see verb stems.

Examples (6)

  1. Dw i'n mynd adref.

    I'm going home.

    Mynd has no special ending.

  2. Mae hi wedi bwyta.

    She has eaten.

    The verb-noun bwyta after wedi.

  3. Dw i eisiau cysgu.

    I want to sleep.

    The verb-noun cysgu after eisiau.

  4. Wyt ti'n hoffi cerdded?

    Do you like walking?

    Cerdded ends in -ed.

  5. Mae dysgu Cymraeg yn hwyl.

    Learning Welsh is fun.

    Here the verb-noun dysgu acts like a noun: it is the subject of the sentence.

  6. Maen nhw'n gweithio yn Llandudno.

    They work in Llandudno.

    Gweithio ends in -io.

How It Connects

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

The Verb-Noun (Berfenw)Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.