Telling the time in Welsh
Telling the time uses the traditional Welsh numbers, and three little words that each cause a mutation: yn, am (at) and i (to). Once you know those, every time on the clock falls into place.
When a word changes, it's in bold, with the word it started as in brackets. For more on the numbers themselves, see Welsh numbers.
Asking the time
What time is it?
Faint o'r gloch yw hi? · Faint o'r gloch ydy hi?
Literally "how much of the clock is it?". You'll hear yw and ydy: both are right, and different areas favour one or the other. Cloch is a bell or clock; it's gloch (cloch) after 'r because it's feminine.
It's …
Mae hi'n …
Time is hi (she) in Welsh. The 'n causes a soft mutation on the word after it, which is why the table below says ddau (dau).
At what time …?
Am faint o'r gloch mae'r ffilm yn dechrau?
At what time does the film start?
On the hour
The hours use the masculine numbers (dau, tri, pedwar) and the full forms pump and chwech, since there's no noun straight after them. After Mae hi'n (it's) and am (at), which both cause a soft mutation, six of them change:
| Hour | The time | After Mae hi'n or am |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | un o'r gloch | no change |
| 2 | dau o'r gloch | ddau |
| 3 | tri o'r gloch | dri |
| 4 | pedwar o'r gloch | bedwar |
| 5 | pump o'r gloch | bump |
| 6 | chwech o'r gloch | no change |
| 7 | saith o'r gloch | no change |
| 8 | wyth o'r gloch | no change |
| 9 | naw o'r gloch | no change |
| 10 | deg o'r gloch | ddeg |
| 11 | un ar ddeg o'r gloch | no change |
| 12 | deuddeg o'r gloch | ddeuddeg |
So: Mae hi'n dri (tri) o'r gloch. (It's three o'clock.) Mae'r wers am ddeg (deg) o'r gloch. (The lesson is at ten o'clock.)
Past and to
Wedi means "past" and i means "to". The minutes use the traditional numbers: ugain is twenty, and pum munud ar hugain is twenty-five ("five minutes on twenty").
| Time | Welsh | English |
|---|---|---|
| :05 | pum munud wedi | five past |
| :10 | deg munud wedi | ten past |
| :15 | chwarter wedi | quarter past |
| :20 | ugain munud wedi | twenty past |
| :25 | pum munud ar hugain wedi | twenty-five past |
| :30 | hanner awr wedi | half past |
| :35 | pum munud ar hugain i | twenty-five to |
| :40 | ugain munud i | twenty to |
| :45 | chwarter i | quarter to |
| :50 | deg munud i | ten to |
| :55 | pum munud i | five to |
Then add the hour. Here's the one difference between them:
wedi (past): no change
chwarter wedi dau · hanner awr wedi tri · ugain munud wedi pedwar
i (to): soft mutation
chwarter i ddau (dau) · deg munud i dri (tri) · ugain munud i bedwar (pedwar)
Not every hour changes: pum munud i saith, chwarter i naw.
Putting it together
After Mae hi'n, the soft mutation lands on whatever comes first, sometimes a minute, sometimes the hour:
It's ten past nine.
Mae hi'n ddeg (deg) munud wedi naw.
It's five to ten.
Mae hi'n bum (pum) munud i ddeg (deg).
Two changes in one sentence: 'n mutates pum, and i mutates deg.
It's quarter past three.
Mae hi'n chwarter wedi tri.
Chwarter, hanner and ugain don't change: ch, h and vowels never take a soft mutation.
It's half past seven.
Mae hi'n hanner awr wedi saith.
Morning, afternoon and night
in the morning
saith o'r gloch y bore
in the afternoon
tri o'r gloch y prynhawn
In speech, prynhawn is often shortened to pnawn.
in the evening
wyth o'r gloch yr hwyr
at night
un ar ddeg o'r gloch y nos
midday, midnight
hanner dydd · hanner nos
Useful little words
tua (about)
tua thri (tri) o'r gloch · tua phump (pump) o'r gloch
Tua causes an aspirate mutation.
rhwng … a (between … and)
rhwng dau a thri (tri) o'r gloch
A (and) causes an aspirate mutation.
erbyn (by)
erbyn pump o'r gloch
No change after erbyn.
In everyday speech
- You'll often hear hanner wedi without the awr: hanner wedi tri.
- The aspirate mutation after tua and a is often left out in speech: tua tri o'r gloch, rhwng dau a tri.
- Some people, especially those who learnt the decimal numbers, say dau ddeg munud wedi for twenty past. Ugain munud wedi is the usual form.
Your course or tutor will tell you which forms they'd like you to use.
Common questions
How do you ask the time in Welsh?
Faint o'r gloch yw hi? or Faint o'r gloch ydy hi? Literally "how much of the clock is it?". The answer starts Mae hi'n…, for example Mae hi'n dri o'r gloch (it's three o'clock).
How do you say half past in Welsh?
Hanner awr wedi, followed by the hour: hanner awr wedi tri is half past three. Welsh counts half past from the hour that has gone, as English does.
Why is it am ddau o'r gloch and not am dau o'r gloch?
Am (at) causes a soft mutation, so dau becomes ddau. The same happens after yn in Mae hi'n ddau o'r gloch, and after i (to) in chwarter i ddau. More in Welsh mutations.
Practise with your own words
Flashcards Cymraeg turns the vocabulary from your course into flashcards, and writes example sentences at your level, and you can ask for sentences that practise telling the time.