cael

See also: cáel and Cael

Welsh

Alternative forms

• caffael, caffel

Etymology

A complex, suppletive merger of two separate Celtic verbs into one paradigm.

• The forms outside of the present first-person singular that contain an -f- or -ff-, and also cas, come from Middle Welsh caffael, from Old Welsh cephitor (pres. impersonal) and cepi (pres. 2sg.), from Proto-Celtic *gabyeti (“to take”). Compare Cornish kavos and Breton kavout.
• The other forms without an -f- or -ff- (and pres. 1sg. caf) are from Middle Welsh cael, from Old Welsh ci (pres. 2sg.), from Proto-Celtic *kageti (“to get”), a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *kagʰ- (“to hold”).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): (standard) /kaːɨ̯l/, (colloquial) /kaːl/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): (standard) /kai̯l/, (colloquial) /kaːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːɨ̯l, -aːl

Verb

cael (first-person singular present caf)

1. to get, receive; to have (experience)

   cael anrheg ― to get a present

   cael brecwast ― to have breakfast, to get breakfast

   cael gair ― to have a word

2. (chiefly future or conditional tense) to get to, be allowed to, may (with a verbal noun)

   Gawn ni weld y ffilm hwyr heno?

   Will we get to see/May we see the late film tonight?

   Cewch.

   Yes (you may).

   Gaen ni fynd allan pe tasen ni'n gorffen ein gwaith cartre?

   Might we go out/Would we be allowed to go out if we finished our homework?

   1. to be allowed to have, may have (with a noun)

      Cei di ddiod.

      You may have a drink.

      Ga i docyn i Gaerdydd?

      May I have a ticket to Cardiff?

3. (chiefly informal, colloquial) used with a possessive determiner (agreeing with the subject) and a verbal noun to form a construction with passive meaning

   Mae’r tŷ’n cael ei godi.

   The house is being built.

   (literally, “The house is having its building.”)

   Gaeth Terry ei tharo gan bêl eira.

   Terry was hit (got hit) by a snowball.

Usage notes

In more formal Welsh, the passive voice is formed using the impersonal verb forms:

Codir y tŷ. ― The house is being built. (literally, “[One] builds the house.”)

Conjugation

Conjugation

Literary forms	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	caf	cei	caiff	cawn	cewch	cânt	ceir
imperfect indicative/conditional	cawn	cait, caet	câi	caem	caech	caent	ceid
preterite	cefais, ces	cefaist, cest	cafodd, cas, cafas (obsolete), cadd (poetic)	cawsom	cawsoch	cawsant	cafwyd, caed, cad
pluperfect	cawswn	cawsit	cawsai	cawsem	cawsech	cawsent	cawsid
present subjunctive	caffwyf	ceffych	caffo	caffom	caffoch	caffont	caffer
imperfect subjunctive	caffwn, cawn	caffit, cait	caffai, câi	caffem, caem	caffech, caech	caffent, caent	ceffid
imperative	—	—	caffed, caed	—	—	caffent, caent	caffer, caer
verbal noun	cael, caffael, caffel
verbal adjectives	caffaeledig caffaeladwy

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
preterite	ces i, cetho i	cest ti	caeth o/e/hi cafodd o/e/hi cas e/hi	caethon ni cafon ni cawson ni ceson ni	caethoch chi cafoch chi cawsoch chi cesoch chi	caethon nhw cafon nhw cawson nhw ceson nhw
future	caf i, ca i	cei di	ceith o/e/hi caiff e/hi	cawn ni cewn ni	cewch chi	cân nhw, cewn nhw
conditional	cawn i celwn i celen i	caet ti celet ti	câi fo/fe/hi celai fe/hi	caen ni celen ni	caech chi celech chi	caen nhw celen nhw
imperative	—	—	—	—	—	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Derived terms

• cael i
• cael allan, cael mas (“to find out”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of cael

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cael	gael	nghael	chael

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cael”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies