How does one distinguish in Welsh between "eating" and being "eaten"?
In everyday conversation this is the pattern that is used:
The dog is eating the cat - Mae'r ci yn bwyta'r gath
The cat is being eaten by the dog - Mae'r gath yn cael ei bwyta gan y ci
(literally: the cat is getting eaten by the dog)
In formal contexts impersonal short forms of the verb are used:
Bwyteir y gath gan y ci The cat is being eaten by the dog
Bwytawyd y gath gan y ci The cat was eaten by the dog
These endings -ir and -wyd create versions of the verb which can roughly be translated as:
Bwyteir - there is an eating
Bwytawyd - there was an eating