Week 79 - Main grammatical points

There are 3 different words for the word 'year' in Welsh, but unfortunately they are not interchangeable because they are used in different contexts. Let's look at when we use which words:

The main word for "year" is "blwyddyn" as in Blwyddyn Newydd Dda - happy new year! Blwyddyn is a feminine noun and the plural is "blynyddoedd".

Blwyddyn yn ôl - a year ago
Yn y flwyddyn 2000 - in the year 2000

If you want to say how many years old someone or something is, you use the word "blwydd":

Blwydd oed - a year old
tair blwydd oed - 3 years old

However, after dwy a soft mutation is required, so:

Dwy flwydd oed - 2 years old

And after pum, saith, wyth, naw and deg, the nasal mutation is used:

Pum mlwydd oed - 5 years old
Naw mlwydd oed - 9 years old

Note that if "dau" is used in combination with another number, usually you stick to the nasal mutation "mlwydd" - but in speech only:

Pedwardeg dau mlwydd oed - 42 years old
Pumdeg dau mlwydd oed - 52 years old

The third word for year is "blynedd" and this is only used after cardinal numbers, for example 1, 2, 3 - and for when you're not referring to someone's age. For example:

Dwy flynedd yn ôl - 2 years ago
Tair blynedd yn gynt - 3 years earlier
Can mlynedd ers marw Mrs Jones - 100 years since the death of Mrs Jones.

Brian's new employee asks plenty of questions about Jenny and is delighted to hear that Arwyn is no longer her 'gŵr' (husband) but her 'cyn-ŵr' (her ex-husband). You can use this form with other words too:

Gwraig (wife) > Cyn-wraig - (ex-wife)
Disgybl (pupil) > Cyn-ddisgybl - (ex-pupil)
Cariad (girl-/boyfriend) > Cyn-gariad - (ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend)

Remember there's no getting away from mutations and you need to use a soft mutation after cyn!