Hi all,
I’m on challenge 2 of level 2 (North) and getting extremely frustrated. All of a sudden there are these new grammatical constructions which we’re somehow expected to know despite ZERO introduction, and they’re not even on the vocab list, so I have no idea what I’m supposed to be saying, or how to look up what’s going on! Can anyone else me?
Most of it I’ve been able to sound out and look up and figure out myself, but there’s one point (so far) I’m still really stuck on: In previous levels, we were taught that “Did you have a good time?” is “Ges ti amser da?”
…but now all of a sudden it’s…I’m struggling to make out what they’re saying, because I can’t find a construction like this anywhere online, but it sounds something like: “Gaitho chi amster da?”
Does anyone know what they’re actually saying (how it’s spelled), and why this is suddenly different/what the difference is? I’m guessing that it’s something to do with it being “chi” instead of “ti,” but I’m so confused because we’ve been using ti/di/chi interchangeably up to this point, and I didn’t think that Welsh verbs were conjugated like they are in English?
And then “Did you enjoy yourself?” is…“Naitho chi fynhau eich hunain?”?
Thank you so much in advance for any help!
1 Like
New constructions without introduction are thrown in from time to time - it seems unfair, but it keeps your ear tuned in!
It can be particularly difficult with the "you"s because English doesn’t tell you if it’s plural or singular whereas Welsh makes that distinction, so ti and chi are not entirely interchangeable. And yes, verbs conjugate differently for ti and chi, so what you’re hearing in the examples you gave is the plural ‘you’ where the verbs conjugate (in the past tense) with an -och ending:
Gaethoch chi amser da (and some would say “Cawsoch chi amser da” - but it’s the same thing)
Naethoch chi fwynhau eich hunain?
3 Likes
Thank you for those spellings. I have hearing problems and am very much a visual learner (and also find it extremely important to know how things are spelled, where there are breaks, etc.) so when I hear something and can’t find it written down it’s hard to make sense of it, internalize it, and move forward.
1 Like
Can I ask another question about this level?
“yes we’ve got” isn’t written down either… when I look it up, it says it should be “oes mae gennym ni…” but it sounds more like they’re saying “oes mae gynnon ni…” …which is it?
It can be both. gynnon ni is a less formal (more commonly spoken) way of saying gennym ni.
3 Likes
I feel your pain, but this really is the fastest way to learn, and of course its a brilliant idea to check the vocabulary section or ask on here after each Challenge if needed.
I found the Welsh challenges to be fine although I had a basic understanding before joining.
I then did the Manx Challenges. Again I learnt really quickly but I did have some headaches. I had to ask when to use the equivalents of: Dwi, Dwi 'di and Ydwi 
1 Like
I’m doing the Spanish challenges at the same time, and finding I’m learning much faster thanks to the videos that show the words while you say them. Makes them stick in my brain better. (But I’m sure it also helps I’d had much more exposure to Spanish than I had to Welsh going in.)