The sentences containing ‘mae eisiau fi’ from challenge 22 sound absolutely Chinese to me. Is there someone who can give me the ‘lyrics’ please. That would be extremely helpful.
Hi @vincent-wibier,
So, it’s the construct which is probably at the root of this, as having had a quick listen, this lesson has things built on top of it…
Mae - eisiau - i fi…
…literally means…
There is - a want - for me to…
…and this translates into a meaning of ‘need’.
English used to have the same sort of interpretation in times gone by as illustrated by the poem/saying…’for the want of a nail a shoe was lost, for the want of a shoe the horse was lost’…and so on…but this sense has withered over time.
So this construct in Welsh is using Mae - without ‘yn’ or ‘r’ - to mean ‘there is’ (mae is a hard working word!)
By contrast for negatives and questions Welsh is a bit more up front and uses ‘Oes’ - a word which refers to lifetimes/ ages…and therefore existence. ‘Oes?’ means - ‘Is there?’ …and ‘does dim’ means ‘There isn’t’,
So…for example, the first instance I hear in the lesson is…
‘Nobody needs to tell me ‘
In Welsh this turns into…,
‘There isn’t - a want/ need for nobody - to tell me…
So:
Does dim - eisiau I neb - ddweud wrtha I
I’m hoping with the ‘rules’ the other examples drop into place - but let me know.
Rich 
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Since I find this version of need quite complicated to learn, I’d add ask about another one that’s later in the challenge (that I have as a note, but can’t find exact minute right now):
Everyone needs to drink something - Mae eisiau pawb (bawb?) yfed rhywbeth
Everyone needs to do enough to help - Mae eisiau pawb gnewd digon i helpu
I’m quite sure the sequence is correct, not sure about mutations in general, and especially if I’m hearing…pawb or bawb?
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So this would be.,.
There is a want/ need for - everyone - to drink something
Mae eisiau I - bawb - yfed rhwybeth
( pawb → bawb - soft mutation after ‘i’)
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Hi, I’m doing the Northern course but I’m quite sure it is: Mae eisiau i bawb, the “i” causes the soft mutation.
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There is a need for - everyone- to do enough to help
Mae eisiau I - bawb - wneud digon I helpu
(Gwneud → wneud - soft mutation because it it is right next to the subject of the sentence - which could equally be ni, chi, i or e…)
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…I think the eisiau I fi, rhaid I fi type of structures… along with the similar ‘something’ arna I…and well da fi / gen I is an area where Welsh is a bit different on a day-to-day basis in a low grade, not too radical sort of way…
…but once you’ve got your head around that sort of idea you’re half way there! 
Rich
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Oh thanks @rich and @brigitte.
Looks like I should always trust my ears for mutations!
I was hearing bawb and wneud.
But I doubted because the i melted into the u of eisiau, and there was no pronoun before gwneud so i couldn’t figure why they should mutate (turns out there was an extra i, and it’s not a matter of pronoun but of subject).
So now it’s clear!
However, I’m still planning to permanently adopt a more straightforward angen here, no matter if it’s more Northern-flavored! 
Even though I believe I’ll get to master the rhaid i fi and well da fi at some point so might as well do it for eisiau as well!
By the way, to add a little confusion…if you heard:
sdim eisiau esgus
Would you understand no need or no wanting excuse? 
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( However, despite the explanation, I would also say ‘don’t worry about it’ because these things seem to resolve themselves and evaporate as ‘problems’ as you go through…SSIW is a very surprising and impressive method of learning)
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Yes I would.
Edit:
Sdim (=does dim) - eisiau - esgus
There isn’t - need for - an excuse
I agree, angen and gorfod have a lot going for them (but don’t tell those gogs 
)
Rich
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From one datblygu fan to another, I would hear that as “don’t need an excuse”
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Yeah, I always tended to think it this way.
And I see also @rich,now. 
However some days I wonder if it’s a sort of “I don’t want [to hear] any excuse” (i gael amser da, just for non fans to be aware of how the verse ends!)
p.s. By the way I just LOVE the way he says eisiau and da! I want to always pronounce them just like Dave!! 
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Gan fy mod i’n Gog,’swn i ddeud…’sdim angen esgus’
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I found that baffling at first, its really sunk in now and the “weird” sentence construction feels very natural to me after a year or so of practice (it happened sooner than a year).
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I’ll let you know when it ‘hits’ me…
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