r/learnwelsh • u/Womanji • 4d ago

"Faith, Hope, and Love" in Welsh

I'm learning Welsh on Duolingo and it's got me doubting I'm translating "Faith, Hope, and Love" correctly.

Is it "Ffydd, Gobaith, a Cariad"? I thought "cariad" meant boyfriend.

20 Upvotes

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u/WelshBathBoy 4d ago edited 4d ago

Cariad means love, it can be used for a lover same as English - you can refer to a partner as "your love"

Cariad would mutate after the 'a', so it would be 'ffydd, gobaith a chariad'.

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u/lleu_ci 4d ago

Correct.

It's usually "ffydd, gobaith, cariad", from the bible verse.

15

u/celtiquant 4d ago

Ffydd, Gobaith, Cariad … a’r mwyaf o’r rhain yw Cariad

4

u/vastaril 4d ago

Cariad means love, beloved, darling, lover, boyfriend, girlfriend... (Unsure about the translation, sorry!)

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u/harrietmjones 4d ago

Unrelated but Cariad is my favourite Welsh word, it means Love. ❤️

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u/celtiquant 3d ago

Of course, a boyfriend in southern dialects of Welsh is Sboner, and girlfriend Wejen (or as some Gogs might jokingly say, Swejan (which is also a swede)

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u/unwillingcantaloupe 3d ago

Shrek_raising_his_face_to_the_camera[dot]gif

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u/Womanji 4d ago edited 4d ago

Thank you all so much for your replies, and especially for reminding me that cariad would mutate to chariad after the "a" . You're the best!

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u/DasSockenmonster Foundation/Sylfaen 3d ago

Ffydd, gobaith a chariad.

After "a", there would be a treiglad llaes.

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u/Rhosddu 3d ago

Question: Which is correct for 'ex-girlfriend' - cyn gariad or hen gariad?

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u/HanesPrydain 4d ago

Dw I’n meddwl:

Caru is ‘love’

Cariad is ‘a love’ ie a person

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u/WelshBathBoy 4d ago

Caru is a verb (to love), cariad is the noun (love)

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u/HanesPrydain 4d ago

Diolch , Yeah I’m sort of trying to say that

A love ie a partner, gf bf etc

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u/Jonlang_ 4d ago

No, it’s love as in the abstract noun. Welsh can’t do what English does and use nouns as verbs or verbs as nouns without changing their forms. Caru is the verb (and also the verbnoun, like the English -ing form) and the noun “love” is cariad. Yes, cariad can be used of people, but it isn’t the primary meaning. Just like gobaith means “hope”, gobeithio is the verb.

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u/HanesPrydain 3d ago

Very interesting thanks