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!
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
That’s amazing thank you! That’s going to be so helpful
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.
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.
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!
So often the correct option, Siaron.
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
Very good point.