Beth (etc.) [d][d]wedaist ti? (currently on level 1 challenge 7)

Hello
I am confused by what I hear with this.
dwedaist ti, fine, got that.
However at different points in the challenges I am hearing (I think) wedaist ti, or ddwedaist ti. In particular after beth.
One of my (getting fewer) SSIW barriers is that to get stuff into my head I need to understand (roughly) what is making grammatical type things like this happen. I tend to sit there worrying about this rather than getting on with the next thing.
Would be grateful for some clarity on this - thanks.
Mandy Shaw

In spoken Welsh you will sometimes come across wedaist ti - it’s just a colloquial quirk common to some areas/dialects. SSiW will often vary the forms you hear so you get used to hearing them and it’s not such a shock ‘in the wild’.

The mutation to ddwedaist ti will occur in various places - e.g. when it’s a negative (ddwedaist ti ddim - you didn’t say), a question (ddwedaist ti be’? - you said what?), and as you’ve noticed, after ‘beth’ (because when ‘beth’ is the object of the sentence it causes the mutation in the verb).

Although we don’t over-egg the grammar in SSiW, many people do like to know the grammatical side of things (especially as they get further into the course), so if you do like to dip into grammar I can recommend Gareth King’s grammar books, but I’d also say that it’s best not to get bogged down in grammar - it’s great to learn reasons for things but it mustn’t stop you talking from fear of getting it wrong or because you can’t remember the ‘rules’. At the moment your brain will still be processing these differences and when they occur and will click them into place in time, and heaping a whole load of grammar on top (fascinating though it is!) can actually slow the process in the beginning. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Makes perfect sense thanks - at the moment it’s the combination of the colloquial quirks and the grammatical bits that is tripping me up I think. (I am used to seeing the written language in front of me, as I started on Duolingo - and there are many differences in usage between SSIW and Duolingo which are teaching me lots but which don’t always help in the short term!)
I will definitely look out the books you suggest.
And I really appreciate your getting back to me in such detail so quickly.
P.S. And I found a nice cheap copy of Gareth King’s Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar on Abebooks! Win win.

4 Likes

Also worth remembering you can see the vocabulary written out for each challenge by tapping the red icon at the top right hand side (immediately under the ‘challenge’ banner).

Hi, many thanks, but this is all I can see on the screen


and the logo/dragon do not appear to be clickable.
Not sure where I should be looking?

Is it an android phone? This thread may help Vocabulary on Android app

Indeed it is - thanks Siaron - I will continue to look at the vocab from the web browser instead of the app!

1 Like