Cafodd and Roedd

Welsh
1

These two sentences mean the same thing. Can someone explain when to use roedd and when to use cafodd?

Cafodd y car ei wneud gan Ford

Roedd y car ei wneud gan Ford

2

Although they seem to mean the same thing, there is a subtle difference.

Cafodd y car ei wneud gan Ford - “the car was made by Ford”. This is a “dynamic passive” which implies ‘action’ so can be thought of literally as “the car received it’s making by Ford”.

Roedd y car wedi (cael) ei wneud gan Ford - “the car was made by Ford”. This is a “static passive” which implies a state of being so can be thought of literally as “the car had been made by Ford”

  • you need the ‘wedi’ in there although the ‘cael’ can be omitted. You can’t have a ‘roedd’ sentence without an yn or a wedi.

So when you use which depends on whether you are referring to an ‘action’ or a ‘state’.

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3

Thanks Siaron, to the rescue as always.

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