Welsh Phrases

If you are heading to Wales for a holiday this summer it might be worth brushing up on a few Welsh sayings and learning a bit of the Welsh language. Though the country is officially bi-lingual (English and Welsh) and more people speaks English than Welsh it's always worth knowing a few phrases, especially when visiting some areas which predominantly use Welsh such as areas of the north or east, or to simple fit in with the local and impress them down the pub with your knowledge.



The Welsh has a slightly different alphabet to its English counterpart, some of the differences include:

C - is pronounced as a K, as in English 'kick'

CH - is pronounced as in the Scottish 'loch' and the composer Bach.

DD - is pronounced TH, as in English 'breathe'

G - is pronounced as a hard G, as in English 'get'

LL - is roughly pronounced THL

F - is pronounced as a V, as in English 'of'

FF - is pronounced as an F, as in English 'off'

W - is pronounced as an OO, as in English 'swoon'

Y - is a little more complicated as it has two different pronunciations. In all circumstances except when Y last syllable of a word it's pronounced as a U - as in English 'fun'. When Y is in the last syllable of a word it is pronounced as an i - as in English 'is'. Unfortunately in single syllable words, the Y is unpredictable!

Apart from a few slightly different vowels to English Welsh is a fairly easy language to learn as it is largely phonetic, it's pronounced as it looks.

Some of the most common phrases you will come across include:



Good morning - Bore da (Pronounced: Boh-reh dah)



Good afternoon - Prynhawn da (Prin-houn dah)



Good night - Nos da (nohs dah)



Welcome to Wales - Croeso i Gymru (Croesoh ee Gum-reeh)



Cheers! - Iechyd da! (Yeh-chid dah)



Pub - Tafarn (Tav-arn)



Thanks - Diolch (Dee-olch)



Thanks very much - Diolch Yn Fawr (Dee-olck unn vowr)



Very good - Da iawn (Dah ee-aw-n)



OK - Iawn (Yown (rhymes with gown))



1 - un



2 - dau



3 - tri



4 - pedwar



5 - pump



6 - chwech



7 - saith



8 - wyth



9 - naw



10- deg



Sunday - Dydd Sul



Monday - Dydd Llun



Tuesday - Dydd Mawrth



Wednesday - Dydd Mercher



Thursday - Dydd Iau



Friday - Dydd Gwener



Saturday - Dydd Sadwrn



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This article was written on behalf of Celtic Haven who provide Pembrokeshire Cottages perfect for a Self Catering Holiday in Wales