Discovering Wales and Welsh: first steps

2.2 Pronunciation practice

Now you will hear how the greetings are pronounced and practise your pronunciation.

Activity 4

Listen to the following phrases and try repeating them to practise your pronunciation.

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Greeting people

When greeting somebody, you can say:

  • Bore da. Good morning.

    Prynhawn da. Good afternoon.

    Noswaith dda. Good evening.

These expressions are often followed by:

  • Sut mae? How are things / How are you?

    Sut dych chi? How are you?

To which you could respond:

  • Da iawn, diolch. Very well, thanks.

Note that the common greeting Sut mae? is pronounced shwmai in some places in South Wales.

When parting from people, you can say:

  • Nos da. Good night.

    Hwyl. Goodbye. (informal)

    Da boch chi. Goodbye. (formal)

Sut mae? can be used as a greeting on its own at any time during the day. Nos da can also be used to say good night to someone before going to bed.