‘Because’ alternative

Hi! Im looking for some alternative words for ‘because’ in welsh; instead of ‘achos’ or ‘ohewydd’.

I’d be really grateful if you could suggest some and if you wouldn’t mind, leaving an example in context please. Thanks!

am bod (/ am fod) is one -
e.g. am bod ni isio dysgu mwy - because we want to learn more

You can also say gan bod (/gan fod) which is very similar in meaning and works in the same way.

Another word is oblegid, though this one is not commonly heard in speech -
e.g. Wnaeth o golli’r gwyliau oblegid salwch ei blentyn - he missed the holiday because of his child’s illness

An even rarer one in speech is canys -
e.g. Canys gwell gennyf beidio â mynd - because I prefer not to go

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That’s amazing thank you! That’s going to be so helpful :slight_smile:

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When is it am bod and when am fod?

I think it’s a case of am fod being the technically correct way (because am always causes a soft mutation) and am bod, although not technically correct, being in common use in speech (and the same goes for gan bod/fod), but to be honest, I’m not 100% sure on this one, so I’m tagging @garethrking for his expert help.

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Well it could be of course that the dominant part of the construction here is felt (unconsciously, no doubt) to be the bod/fod… part, rather than the gan, which would make sense - this is a subordinate clause (for which either bod or fod is correct with a following noun) rather than a preposition phrase, isn’t it? So I am not sure that am bod is technically incorrect here - you would expect native speakers to routinely mutate after the preposition am, so I then wouldn’t expect them NOT to unless there was a reason. And I suspect that’s what the reason is. I’ve certainly heard plenty of native speakers say am bod…
In fact, it might even be that the am fod… is a hypercorrection. What a thought.

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Thanks Gareth - I did check Working Welsh and Modern Welsh before answering, but there wasn’t a definitive “this one in this case, that one in that case”, so I went with gut feeling!

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So often the correct option, Siaron. :wink:

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Hello, I’m a native speaker and I may have an answer as to what that reason may be.

I agree that I would expect native speakers to say "am fod" / "gan fod" when they mean "because." (bearing in mind none of us mutate correctly 100% of the time)

However, one reason you may be hearing "am bod" / "gan bod" is because of context:

Pronouns come in pairs in Welsh and the mutations show the person/thing being talked about:

he is = ei fod o/e

she is = ei bod hi

etc.

The pronouns that come before are often dropped in conversation, but we tend to keep the mutation.

Therefore, e.g. "because she is"

correctly: "gan ei bod hi"

spoken: "gan bod hi"

I hope this helps :slight_smile:

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Very good point.