The word for 100 (one hundred) in Welsh is either can or cant depending on what follows. An easy way to remember these two variations is to think of the English words can and can’t! 😉
When 100 is followed by a singular noun, it loses the word-final t and becomes can. For example:
can dyn = one hundred men
can milltir = one hundred miles
When it is followed by the preposition o (of) and a plural noun, it remains cant. For example:
cant o ddynion = one hundred men
cant o filltiroedd = one hundred miles
There is no difference in meaning between the two styles, so my advice is to use the one you feel most comfortable with!
Below are a few more examples that demonstrate how to use can and cant:
- a hundred pounds = canpunt OR cant o bunnau / bunnoedd
- a hundred thousand = canmil OR cant o filoedd
- a hundred times = canwaith OR cant o weithiau
- a hundred years = can mlynedd OR cant o flyneddoedd
- a hundred days = can niwrnod OR cant o ddiwrnodau
In order to say that someone or something is 100 years old, you can use either cant oed or the more lengthy can mlwydd oed.
Now that you know how to say 100, you may be curious to try your hand at all the numbers between 200 and 900. Let’s take a look at them now! (Be aware of the mutations that follow 2, 3 and 6!)
- 200 (two hundred) = dau gant
- 300 (three hundred) = tri chant
- 400 (four hundred) = pedwar cant
- 500 (five hundred) = pum cant
- 600 (six hundred) = chwe chant
- 700 (seven hundred) = saith cant
- 800 (eight hundred) = wyth cant
- 900 (nine hundred) = naw cant
Did you know that…?
The Welsh for 50 (fifty) can be either pum deg (literally ‘five tens‘) or hanner cant (literally ‘half of one hundred‘).
Cant is also the word for percentage in Welsh, so the way you’d say 100% (one hundred percent) is cant y cant!
A useful word in Welsh is cannoed, which literally means one hundred years, but is often used figuratively to mean a very long time.