georgian

Nouns

Pronouns

Personal

1st person and 2nd person pronouns do not decline, except when they are possessive pronouns. That is, they are always 1SG:მე, 2SG:შენ, 1PL:ჩვენ, 2PL:თქვენ.

The 3rd person pronouns, however, do decline when not in NOM.

The optional prefix ი- on the 3SG and 3PL pronouns often just means someone far away from the speaker. In educated or formal speech it more specifically implies someone who is a stranger to the speaker. By reflection, in colloquial speech, one may hear ა- as the prefix, to imply someone who is close at hand.

Possessive

Possessive pronouns decline in some, but not all cases.

VOC forms for 2nd person and 3rd person are rare or non-existant in regular speech. Anything's possible in poetry though.

Demonstrative

ეგ is used when the object in question is in possession by the person being spoken to. Ex. ეგ წიგნი:that book implies the book is owned by the person being spoken to.

In non-NOM situations, ეს becomes ამ and ის becomes იმ. For example, ეს ქალი → ამ ქალს ⧸ this woman (NOM) → this (DAT) woman.

Interrogative and Relative

Relative pronouns are formed by affixing -ც to interrogative pronouns.

Relative pronouns form relative clauses that are often formed with "who" or "which" in English. For example, from Kurtsikidze, pg 97, კაცი, რომელიც ზის, ჩემი მასწავლებელია ⧸ The man, that is sitting, is my teacher. Here, რომელიც:that, which sets off the relative clause "that is sitting". Another example reflects how these can be used to form more complex noun phrases, რა ჰქვია რაღაც, რაშიც არის ალუბლები ⧸ What is called the thing in which there are cherries? (a კალათა:basket!). These types of structures are particularly useful for learner who are practicing circumlocution when they don't know a word.

More formally, relative pronouns, in particular რაც, most often refer to an indefinite antecedant. For example, რაც ვიცი, გეტყვი ⧸ That which I know, I will tell youVogt §1.67 or მე იქ 6 წელია რაც ვმუშაობ ⧸ It has been 6 years that I have been working here. In these cases, it often works better to translate რაც as "that (which)".

When suffixed with -მე, the interrogative pronouns function as the prefix some- in English. Thus, ვინმე:someone, სადმე:somewhere, etc.

Prefixes

Prefixes are mostly used with verbs to indicate direction, but may appear elsewhere, especially if derived from verbs which contain them. In many cases, their meaning is not obvious (or perhaps, never had a directional component at all). See the list of preverbs here for more information.

ვაი

so-called, implies something is worse than bad, used with nouns

Suffixes

In many cases, the final ი in the NOM are removed, ex. გაკვეთილი:lesson → გაკვეთილები:lessons.

ა

functions as the 3SG copula (and colloquially, as 3PL copula), meaning that "is" in a simple sentence like "She is a girl", "is" is attached to the noun. Using this example, rather than ის არის გოგო (არის:is.3SG.PRS), instead one can say ის გოგოა. When attached to an adjective, it is equivalent to "it is", ex. კარგია:it is good. For the words ეს, ის, აქ, იქ, არ, სად, and ვინ, two აs at the end are used.Kurtsikidze, p19

ა

"the euphonic ა", it is attached to some words, such as არ:negative marker, in front of one syllable words. For example, არა ვარ ⧸ I am not.

ად (ADV)

adverbializer. Drop the final ი if exists and add ად, otherwise, keep the final vowel and add დ. This form is used for languages as well, ქართულად:in Georgian. For example, კარგი:good → კარგად:well.

ებ

plural. If the word ends in ა or ი, the final vowel is dropped, otherwise it is preserved. Plural forms always end in -ი in NOM, as in the following examples. For example, გაკვეთილი:lesson → გაკვეთილები:lessons and სამუშაო:workplace → სამუშაოები:workplaces

თან

near to, next to, together with (when used with ერთად:together), "chez".Vogt §1.98 When used with a possessive pronoun, such as ჩემი:mine, it indicates towards the location one is at. For example, სახლი ძალიან ცივია! მე მძინავს ჩემ ძაღლთან ერთად. ⧸ The house is cold! I am sleeping (together) with my dog. or ჩემთან მოდის. ⧸ (S/he) is coming to me (e.g. my house, chez moi).

თან ახლოს

near/close to a thing, when near to a person, use "გან ახლოს"

თვის (GEN)

for, around/about, by. This is mutually exclusive with object markings on verbs (ex. -უ-). Can be used with POSS pronouns. For example, ჩემთვის:for me. When used with time phrases, it indicates "by TIME", ex. კვირისთვის:by Sunday.

დან (INST)

from (a location, for a direction use გან). For example, გერმანია:Germany → გერმანიიდან:from Germany. Note the double იი from the removal of the final -ა and the -ი from the INST case. When used with something living, it indicates that the thing came physically out of the living thing. Thus, ძროკიდან would indicate something akin to manure. Compare this with -გან.

დან, ...ად

from X, to Y, but for conversions or translations. For example, between languages, or from Celsius to Fahrenheit. See also, დან, ...ენაზე.

დან, ... ენაზე

from X, to Y, but where both X and Y are languages and Y is a language that is of the form "abc ენა", e.g. ქართულიდან ოსურ ენაზე ⧸ from Georgian to Ossetian.

X გავლით (GEN)

through X, via X.

მდე (ADV)

up to, till, until, before doing X. The დ from ADV is dropped. Often used when driving to a place that you won't go into, such as when dropping off people (e.g. სადგურამდე:to the station). Commonly heard with time phrases, for example, 8 საათიდან 5 საათამდე ⧸ From 8 until 5.

ზე

on, about. Traditionally regarded as a DAT suffix, in modern Georgian, it is unmarked.Kurtsikidze 84 ი is dropped before ზე. For example,მაგიდაზე:on the table and პირველი საათზე:at 1 o'clock. When used with a verb of motion, it indicates the purpose of the motion. For example, პურზე მივდივარ ⧸ I'm going to get bread.

ში

to, in, into. Traditionally regarded as a DAT suffix, in modern Georgian, it is unmarked.Kurtsikidze 84 ი is dropped before ში. For example, მანქანა:car → მანქანაში:in a/the car and ოფისი:office → ოფისში:to/in the office. When listing multiple items ending in -ში, the 2nd to last one will be -ისა rather than -ში. For example, -ში, -ში, -ში, -ისა, და -ში.

კენ (GEN)

towards. For example, შინისაკენ გაემართა ⧸ He hurried homeward.

ც

too, also. Can only be attached to pronouns. It is also makes a question word into a relative pronoun. For example, მეც:me too.Vogt §2.198

ჯერ

frequency, number of times.

წინ

in front, ago.

უკან

behind.

შუა (DAT)

between.

გან (GEN)

from how many parts, from (a direction/something, when from a location, use -დან). It is almost exclusively used over -დან for living things. When used with something living that is also used when dead (such as animal), it indicates "derived/made from". Thus, ძროკიგან, (made) from a cow, e.g. meat/cheese/leather.

გან შორს (GEN)

far (away) from.

გან ახლოს (GEN)

near/close to a person, when close to a thing use "-თან ახლოს".

ვე

the sameVogt §2.199, see also the section on cardinal numbers, below.

ნი (root)

collective groups. Used with numbers, thus ორნი:group of two, სამნი:group of three. When used with a noun to further specify what it is a group of, both the number and the noun are suffixed with ნი (სამნი დანი:three sisters). You may also see the forms ბევრნი:a lot (from ბევრი) and ცოტანი:few (from ცოტა).Kurtsikidze, p73

ავით (DAT)

like, or resembling. მისავით ჭკვიანი ხარ ⧸ You're smart like him/her.

ოდე

approximate number, such as ორიოდე:approximately two. Compare -ვე, which implies exactly that number.

Word Formation

-იანი

"...-y". For example, მზე → მზიანი ⧸ sun → sunny. Often equivalent to the "noun with noun" phrasing in English, such as ქარაქიანი პური:bread with butter (lit. buttery bread).

მე...ე/მე...ური

occupations, ბაღი → მებაღე ⧸ garden → gardener

მოყვარული

fan of, ex. კინომოყვარული:film fan

მო...ო

-ish, ex. მოთეთრო:whitish

-ნარი

grove of, group of plants, ფიჭვი → ფიჭვარი ⧸ pine tree → grove of pine trees

ნა...ევი/არი/ალი

the remains of something, ნგრევა → ნანგრევი ⧸ ruining → a ruin

-ობა/ება

abstract nouns, თავისუფალი → თავისუფლება ⧸ sun → sunny

სა...ო/სა...ე

creates nouns out of other nouns, most often with an additional -ე or -ო suffix. Generally has the meaning of "the place for the thing" For example, ფული:money → საფულე:wallet or კაცი:man → საკაცე:stretcher.Vogt §3.29

სი...ე

abstract nouns, ნამდვილი → სინამდვილე ⧸ real → reality

უ...ო

without, "...-less". For example, ღრუბელი → უღრუბლო ⧸ cloud → cloudless.

უ...ესი

the most X. For example, ყვალეზე ლამაზი:the most beautiful is equivalent to ულამაზესი.

Grammatical Cases

If the noun ends in an ი in NOM, then it is dropped when forming all other cases. If the noun ends in ა or ე, the final vowel is dropped in GEN and DAT. If the noun ends უ or ო, the final vowel remains for all cases.

In formal writing, one may find an -ა affixed to the case marker for all cases except NOM. For example, -ითა for INS. For ERG, when the short form is -მა, the long form is the same.

NOM (ი/∅)

the nominative case is the default dictionary form. Depending on the verb, it can mark either the subject or object of the clause. If the subject is in NOM, the object will be in DAT.Kurtsikidze 27

GEN (ი)ს

the genitive case, used with certain prepositions or grammar structures. Nouns ending in ი, ა, or ე lose the ending vowel and add ის. All other endings add just ს. Some nouns are exceptions, such as კაფე:café, which is კაფეს in GEN. One can generally distinguish between GEN and DAT because GEN will always have a vowel before the ს.

Syncope, or the loss of word-internal vowels, can occur in GEN. In particular, when the NOM stem ends in [აეო][ლმნრ], ex. არ or ელ, then the vowel before the ending will be lost. For example, მეგობარი → მეგობრის.

DAT, ACC, POSS ს

the dative/accusative/possesive case, usually used to indicate the object of a transitive verb. When the subject is DAT, then the object is NOM. In old or dialetical speech (such as in folktales), DAT may be realized as -სა.

ERG მ(ა)

the ergative case, this is used with some verbs in the AOR case and only appears as the subject of a clause. If the subject is ERG, then the object is NOM. Nouns ending in ი drop the ი and decline with მა. All other vowel endings end with მ. Kurtsikidze refers to this as the narrative case.

INST ით or თი

the instrumental case, used to mark a noun that is used to do a verb (ex. I rode the bus-თ, because the bus is the "instrument" used to ride) or by what something is done (გეგმით:according to the plan). When used with time expressions, it indicates length of time, for example ლონდონში ერთი წლით მოვდივარ ⧸ I am going to London for a year. It is also used with cardinal directions (north, south etc.) to indicate location, such as "in the north". Nouns ending in ი, ა, or ე lose the ending vowel and add ით. All other endings add თი (მეტროთი:by metro). INST can also experience syncope – see the note under GEN.

ADV (ა)დ

the adverbial case, often fixed phrases, it is the equivalent of "as an X". For example, "As a student-დ, I dislike homework".

VOC (ო/ვ)

the vocative case, it's uncommon now, used to call to a person, or poetically, to a noun ("oh spring-ვ!). The final -ო/ვ is optional. Words like ბატონო:sir or ქალბატონო:ma'am function as vocative forms. One common example of using ვ instead of ო is with father.OPT:მამავ, so as not to confuse with მამაო:priest.

Verbs

There is so much to write about, so I made a separate website. Please see zmnebi.com (ზმნები:verbs) for more information.

Participles

Future Participles

Future participles are often created with სა-{word}-ელი and indicate an action to be done. For example, სწავლება:learning → სასწავლი:to be learned

Past Passive Participles

Formed most often by adding -ული to a verbal noun. -ილი, მ...არი, მ-ალი may also be used with some verbal nouns. Thus წაღება:taking → წაღებული:taken. This can be negated with -უ, such as დაწერილი:written and დაუწერელი:not written. Note that the ending may change to -ელი.

Past passive participles are commonly used with აქვს:has to ask questions in the past. For example, წაკითხული გაქვს? ⧸ Have you read it?. This equivalent to the evidential tense.

Expressing Purpose

Purpose can be expressed with the a future participle, most commonly with the future participle in the adverbial case. The future participle is formed by prefixing the root with სა- and the adverbial case is formed with -ად. Using მოგზიურობა:to travel, we get სამოგზიუროდ:for the purpose of traveling. -დ is used here because the root ends in a vowel.

In many cases, and expecially when in the adverbial case, the word can be thought of like the English infinitive.Harris, 155

Occasionally, სა- may occur after the first syllable, such as დალევი:to drink → დასალევად. დასალევად implies drinking alcohol (much as saying "We're going drinking" in English implies the same).

Question Words

ვინ

who

რა

what. When combined with adjective with -ა, it means "how X!" as in "how cute!".Kiziria, 49 რა is often suffixed, such as რაში:in what.

რა ღირს

how much

როგორ

how (when expecting an action/verb as a response, see როგორი)

როდის

when

რიტომ

why

სად

where, derivative საიდან:whence, from where. Both derive from the same სა- interogative pronomial stem. See Klimov 161-162.

სადაური

from where, often when asking from country of origin

რამდენ

how many

რამდენჯარ

how many times (see +ჯარ in the suffixes)

რა ღირს

how much

რომელი

which

როგორი

what kind, how (when inquiring on the quality of something, e.g. expecting an adjective/description as a response, see როგორ)

ვისი

whose

რამდენი ხნით

(for) how long

Postpositions

განმავლობაში

during, in the course of.

გარეშე (GEN)

without, outside of.

დასაწყისში (GEN)

beginning of.

მერე (GEN)

after.

მიერ (GEN)

by (in the sense of the actor in a passive sentence; used infrequently).

სავსე (INST)

full of.

შემდეგ (GEN)

after.

შორის

among, between.

შედეგარდ (GEN)

except for, apart from.

წინ (GEN)

before, in front of.

წინააღმდეგ (GEN)

against, anti.

გამო (GEN)

due to, because of.

Numbers

See also the Wikipedia page.
Note that if a quantity is used with a noun, the noun does not decline for the plural. That is ორი კიცი:two men, not ორი კიცები.

Cardinal Numbers

0 — ნული
1 — ერთი
2 — ორი
3 — სამი
4 — ოთხი
5 — ხუთი
6 — ექვსი
7 — შვიდი
8 — რვა
9 — ცხრა
10 — ათი
20 — ოცი

Teens are formed by თ + 1-9 - ი + მეტი, ex. 11 → თ + ერთ + მეტი → თერთმეტი. Some initial consonants merge with the initial თ, such as თ + ს → ც.

11 — თერთმეტი
12 — თორმეტი
13 — ცამეტი
14 — თოთხმეტი
15 — თხუთმეტი
16 — თექვსმეტი
17 — ჩვიდმეტი
18 — თვრამეტი
19 — ცხრამეტი

Anything over 20 is base 20, using 2/3/4 x 20 as the basis. Thus, base - ი + და + 1-19.

20 — ოცი
21 — ოცდაერთი
40 — ორმოცი
47 — ორმოცდაშვიდი
60 — სამოცი
80 — ოთხმოცი

Cardinal numbers can be emphasized with the suffix -ვე to mean "all X", that is ორივე:all two (of them).Vogt §1.77

Halves are formed with ნახევარი:half and the number, minus -ი. If greater than 1.5, then the amount is unconnected to the noun, ex. სამ-ნახევარი ხაჭაპური:3.5 khachapuris. Otherwise, ნახევარი is simply attached to the noun, ex. ლარ-ნახევარი:1.5 lari.

The phrase "X x X" (such as 3x3) is indicated by affixing -ზე to the 2nd number. The common phrase designator "4x4" for cars would thus be ოთხი ოთხზე.

Structures like "1 in 5" are formed with suffix -დან:from on the "in X" number. For example, ხუდითიდან ერთი ⧸ 1 in 5.

Ordinal Numbers

1st - პირველი

2-19: მე + # - ი + ე. Ex. 13th:მეცამეტე.

20+: base + ordinal version of 1-19 (1 reverts back to ერთი for these numbers). Ex. 21st:ოცდამეერთე.

Phrases such as "xth from the beginning/end" are თავიდანვე მე-x and ბოლოდან მე-x, respectively.

One may form adverbal forms (firstly, secondly) with -ში. Thus, პირველში, მეორადში, etc.

Fractions and Decimals

Fractions are formed by adding -დი to ordinal numbers. Ex. 1/4th:მეოთხედი. 1/2 is more commonly ნახევარი.

Decimals can be said in both a colloquial and formal way. Colloquial, the form is {whole number} მთელი {decimal number}, where both numbers before and after the decimal are said normally. Thus, 8.3 is რვა მთელი სამი.

Formally, though, numbers after the decimal are said with the fractional version of the 10s place. The main fractions used are:

• მეათედი, 1/10
• მეასედი, 1/100
• მეათასედი, 1/1000

A few example:

• 1.2, ერთი მთელი ორი მეათედი (1 and 2 tenths)
• 2.05, ორი მთელი ხუთი მეასედი (2 and 5 thousandths)
• 7.23, შვიდი მთელი ოცდასამი მეასედი (7 and 23 thousandths)

Sets of X -ეული

The size of a set or group of something is marked with the number, minus the ending -ი, plus -ეული. A group of three would be სამეული, a set of ten would be ათეული.

This is the same form found when discussing the "top X of something". For example, ტოპ ათეულშია / She is in the top 10. Yes, "top" here is colloquially just ტოპ.

Time

Time Vocabulary

The Georgian week starts on Monday.

• Monday - ორშაბათი (two days from Saturday)
• Tuesday - სამშაბათი (three days from Saturday)
• Wednesday - ოთხშაბათი (four days from Saturday)
• Thursday - ხუთშაბათი (five days from Saturday)
• Friday - პარასკევი
• Saturday - შაბათი
• Sunday - კვირა

Seasons are:

• Winter – ზამთარი
• Spring – ზაფხული
• Summer – გაზაფხული
• Fall – შემოდგომა

To say "in" a season, summer and fall use -ზე, while winter and spring use -ში.

Months are:

• January – იანვარი
• February – თებერვალი
• March – მარტი
• April – აპრილი
• May – მაისი
• June – ივნისი
• July – ივლისი
• August – აგვისტო
• September – სექტემბერი
• October – ოქტომბერი
• November – ნოემბერი
• December – დეკემბერი

Dates are given in the form "day-month-year". Thus, 25 აპრილი ორი ათას ცხრამეტი:25 April 2019. Note the dropped -ი in ათასი. A response to "what date is it?" will end in the GEN for the year (thus ..., ცხრამეტის).

Time Expressions

General time expressions (in the morning, in the evening, on Monday, etc.) are marked with the DAT or INST, thus morning:დილა → in the morning:დილას. For example, დილას არის მზე. ⧸ It is sunny in the morning. When used to describe relative time (ex. AM or PM), the expression is in GEN. For example, დილის ცხრა საათია ⧸ It is 9am.

When discussing a specific day, such as March 3rd, the expression is in DAT. For example, სამ მარტს ⧸ March, 3rd. Notice the final -ი is dropped in სამი, as it is an -ი adjective in the dative case. See also minutes 31-59 described below.

Expressions such as "2 days ago" or "in 3 years" are expressed with წინ:prior and შემდეგ:next, respectively. The time expression is in GEN. For example, ზუსტად ორი წლის წინ ⧸ Exactly two years ago or ერთი თვეს შემდეგ ⧸
After one month.Taranov, 32" This logic applies equally to other prepositional time phrases, such as in one hour:ერთ საათში. Note that half hours are conjoined with the number of hours, such as საათნახევარი:one and a half hours.

Full hours are simply with the cardinal number plus is # hours:საათია. The exception is 1 o'clock is "1st hour", პირველი საათია. Thus, 2 o'clock:ორი საათია. In spoken Georgian, the 12-hour clock is used, whereas written Georgian uses a 24-hour clock.

Minutes within hours can be expressed literally as "1 hour + 15 minutes", but that sounds unnatural. Instead, minutes should be given relative to the hour that owns them – in Georgia, the "owning" hour is the hour that has yet to pass on the clock. So a time like 1:35, all of those 35 minutes below to 2, since 2 has not yet been hit on the clock.

This ownership is expressed in two different ways, depending on if it's before or after the 30 minute mark.

1-29

hour's (GEN +ს) + #, so 1:24 would be "2's 24 minutes", thus ორის ოცდაოთხი

30

hour's (GEN +ს) + half:ნახევარი, ex. 1:30 = 2's half = ორის ნახევარი

31-59

hour (DAT -ი +ს) + lacks + #, so 1:50 would be "2 lacks 10 minutes", thus ორს აკლია ათი. The 3rd person form lacks:აკლია takes the dative case for its subject, hence the ი dropping that does not occur with the possessive used for 1-29.

Being "at" a time also differs between 0-30 and 31-59.

0

drop -ი in the hour and add +ზე to the hour, at 3:00:სამ საათზე

1-30

add +ზე to the minutes, at 1:30:ორის ნახევარზე

31-59

add რომ after the hour, at 1:50:ორს რომ აკლია ათი

Situations

Useful Phrases

მე მქვია... – I am called...
ქართული იცი? – Do you know Georgian?
ცოტა ვიცი – I know a little
გაიმეორეთ – Please say again
ვერ გავიგე – I don't understand it
როგორ არის ქართულად "x"? – What is X in Georgian?
"x" ქართულად არის "y" – X in Georgian is Y
მე ვსწავლობ ქართულ ენას – I am learning Georgian

Restaurants

ინებეთ - "here you are"
თუ შეიძლება - "if I/we may", used at the end of a sentence to politely order something. When placed at the beginning of a sentence, drop "თუ"
გეტეყვა - polite request form, a little archaic
მოგვთან - bring to us
არაფრის – you're welcome
რას შემოგვთავაზები?
რით შემიძლია გემსახუროთ? - how may I serve you? (pol. to a customer)
DAT გაგვიმარჯოს! - format of a toast, ex. მეგობრებს გაგვიმარჯოს! Cheers to our friends!

Sentence Structures

Simultaneous Action (როცა or თან...თან)

To indicate simultaneous action, ex. "I was at class, when Wes was on vacation", one uses როცა to stand in for the when/while part of the English sentence. Both clauses of the sentence should be in the same tense.

Alternatively, the two actions can both be preceded by თან.

Conditional Sentences (თუ, რომ)

For sentences expressing, "X will happen, if Y", one uses თუ:if. For example, მოვდივარ, თუ გინდა:I'm coming, if you want. If the condition occurs if the past, such as "if X had happened, I would Y", then use რომ.

Expressing Desire (მინდა)

When expressing what one wants to do, both verbs – to want and the desired action – are conjugated. Thus, ...იმიტომ, რომ მინდა ვჯამო... ⧸ ...because I wanted to eat....

Options (თუ/ან, ან...ან, არც...არც, ხან...ხან)

There are two words for or in Georgian: თუ and ან. They function in a similar manner to 还是 and 或者 in Chinese, that is თუ is used in questions and ან is used in statements.

Comparative or contrastive options are expressed with duplication:

either X or Y

ან X ან Y

neither X norY

არც X არც Y

sometimes X sometimes Y

ხან X ხან Y

Reported Speech (-ო,-მეთქი)

Reported speech is always given in the tense/mode as if the person who is being quoted is actually saying the phrase.

There are two common ways of indicating this:

1. -მეთქი (including the dash) for 1st person.
2. -ო marker is attached to the verb, often at the end of the sentence, for anyone but 1st person.

Sometimes this, sometimes that (ხან..., ხან...)

When two things happen, but not necessarily at the same time (sometimes I ride my bike, sometimes I take the bus), use ხან before each "thing" that is being done.

(Not) as X, as you (როგორც...ისე / -ვით)

This structure can be used to express both positive and negative comparisons. If the first clause is negated (არ ვარ, for instance), then it will be "Not as X as whoever", whereas if it is a positive clause, then the comparison is "As X as whoever". Generally speaking, X-ვით is more common that როგორც X ისე.

The Versatile კი

კი performs 3 functionsKiziria 128:

1. It is a neutral form of saying yes.
2. "This/that one". When a noun has already been stated, კი can refer back to the same noun later in the sentence. For example, ეს ჩემი ლექსიკონია, ეს კი შენი ⧸ This is my dictionary, that one is yours.
3. "However". When two clauses of a sentence contrast, კი serves as a contrastive marker. For example, გუშინ კარგი ამინდი იყო, დღეს კი წვიმს ⧸ Yesterday was good weather, today, however, it's raining.

Impersonal Sentences

Use 3PL, for example, ეს ხიდი ათი წლის წინ დაიწყეს ⧸ This bridge was built 10 years ago.

Infinitives vs. Verbal Nouns

Georgian does not have an infinitve in the sense that many languages have it. That is there is no "to go", but rather the "base" form is often the verbal noun, thus "going". It can therefore be confusing how to structure sentences that would normally use the infintive in other languages.

It is X to Y

The "It is X" clause is marked with -ა and the "to Y" clause is a verbal noun. For example, ზამთარში ძნელია საწოლიდან ადგომა ⧸ It is difficult to get up from the bed in winter. Or, more literally, "Getting up from bed in the winter is difficult".

It is X as it is Y

The first clause is often in the present tense and the second clause is often a vebal noun. For example, კითხულობთ როგორც იწერება ⧸
It is read as it is written. Note that the first clause "it is read" is actually in 2PL.PRS.

Relative Clauses (რომელიც, სადაც, etc.)

Relative clauses are clauses such as "who was playing the guitar" in the larger sentence "The man who was playing the guitar was my father". That is, another sentence inside of a sentence, which describes some aspect of the larger sentence.

These types of clauses can be a bit tricky in Georgian because the clause marker, such as რომელიც:which, must be declined. For example, in our example sentence, since "man" would be in the ergative case (since it is in the past), so must რომელიც. Not every case, however, is represented: both genitive and vocative declensions are rare, if not totally unused.

One way to help create more complex sentences with relative clauses is to think of two sentences and then use a clause marker to join them. Using our prior example, it might look like this:

1. The man was my father.
2. The man was playing the guitar.

"The man" is the overlap between the two sentences, so we can modify "the man" in sentence 2 with the content of sentence 1. Thus, "The man, who was my father (1), was playing the guitar (2)". The same strategy applies to Georgian sentences.

Here is an example from ვანო და ნიკო by ერლომ ახვლედიანი:

1. ველზე იყო ლამაზი ქალი. In the field was a beautiful woman.
2. ლამაზი ქალი კრეფდა ყვავილებს და მღეროდა... A beautiful woman was picking flowers and singing...

ლამაზი ქალი:beautiful woman is the overlapping phrase and is in NOM in both sentences, so we can use რომელიც without declining it to get ველზე იყო ლამაზი ქალი, რომელიც კრეფდა ყვავილებს და მღეროდა... "In the field there was a beautiful woman, who was picking flowers and singing...".

Here are some example declensions and sentences for რომელიც:which (GEN and VOC not given).

See below for an alternative form of relative clauses using რომ.

The Many Uses of რომ

რომ can appear in a variety of situations, which can be summarized under 5 different uses:

1. that – this introduces another clause and is always preceded by a comma. In most cases, რომ can be omitted and the meaning won't change. მე ვფიქრობ, რომ ... ⧸ I think that....
2. if – when used with a subjunctive tense (PRSSBJV, FUTSBJV, or PSTSBJV) the meaning is will be "if". რომ დახატავდე, მეც დავხატავდი ⧸ If you draw, I will also draw.Kurtsikidze, p133
3. when – as with "if", რომ precedes the verb of the clause and no comma is used. In many cases, there is no clear distinction between "when" and "if" in the translation to English. საქართველოში რომ ჩავედი... ⧸ When I went to Georgian....
4. relative clause marker – relative clauses can also be marked with რომ. However rather than following the strategy listed above, instead, one writes the clausal part sentence as if it were not a relative clause and inserts რომ in front of the verb. სტუდენტი, ქართული რომ ისწავლა, საქართველოში წავიდა ⧸ The student who studied Georgian went to Georgia rather than სტუდენტი, რომელიაც ქართული ისწავლა, საქართველოში წავიდა.Kurtsikidze, p192
5. likes doing something – similar to the relative clause marker above, instead of leaving the second verb in a serial verb construction as a verbal noun, რომ may be placed in front of the 2nd verb, which is then declined as normal. მომწონს, სათამაშობეს რომ ვაკეთებ ⧸ I like making toys.Kurtsikidze, p193

Referring to the self

There are a few different ways to refer to oneself depending on what specific sense of "self" is needed. The examples below are for "myself", but these all work with the other possessive pronouns.

When the object of the verb is one's self, e.g. "made for oneself", there are two main ways of indicating this:

• ჩემთვის - for myself. მე გავკეთე პიცა ჩემთვის ⧸ I made the pizza for myself.
• ჩემი თავი - for myself. მე გავუკეთე პიცა ჩემ თავს ⧸ I made the pizza for myself. Note that this differs from ჩემთვის in that ჩემ თავს is an object and thus the verb includes the -უ- 3rd-person version, as well as being in DAT.

If indicating that one did an action themself, it is done with მარტო. When used in this way, it is declined like the SUBJ of the sentence. მე მარტომ გავაკეთე პიცა ჩემთვის ⧸ I made the pizza by myself for myself. Note -მ on მარტო, indicating it is the SUBJ of a sentence in the past.

X more than / more than X (x-ით/ზე მეტი)

"More than" can have two slightly different meanings. One is "X is more than Y", for example, 3 is more than 1. In this case, we use -ზე, thus "3 მეტია 1-ზე". The second case is when we want to express how much more something is, such as "3 is 2 more than 1". In this case, we use -ით: "3 2-ით მეტია ვიდრე 1-ზე".

You can see examples of this used in Khan Academy videos: case 1 and case 2.

The opposite, less than, is ნაკლები, rather than მეტი.

So as to / in order to (რათა)

It is common when trying to translate complex English sentences into Georgian that you run into the problem where you have too many infinitives in a row. Georgian infrequently has this many verbal nouns (which is the most often translation target to an English infinitive), which can cause stumbling blocks when speaking. One way to avoid that is to structure sentences with რათა, meaning something like "so as to" or "in order to".

Take the sentence "I want to write a book to use Georgian music to study the Georgian language". Here, the second "to study the Georgian language" is more like "in order to"/"for the purpose of". We can thus translate the sentence as such:

• მე მინდა დავწერო წიგნი ქართული მუსიკის გამოყენებაზე...
• I want to write a book about using Georgian language...
• რათა, ისწავლოდ ქართული ენას.
• in order to study the Georgian language.

Here the "in order to" implies "for the purpose of" since since ისწავლება is in ADV. Without -დ, it would be 2SG.OPT which implies more "so that you can study the Georgian language".

Adjectives

Adjectives generally precede the noun in Georgian (დიდი ტყე:a big tree). As might be expected for a language with a case system, adjectives in Georgian decline, both when standalone (following normal case rules) and when paired with a noun.

When paired with a noun, adjectives can be divided between those ending in -ი and those not (also known as consonant-final and vowel-final adjectivesKurtsikidze 53). Those ending in -ი will decline like a noun in ERG and VOC cases, and will drop -ი in DAT and ADV. See, for example, examples of "at a time" below, where the final ი in the time is dropped. All other adjective types will not decline when paired with a noun.

National Adjectives

• -ული for non-person national adjectives, ex. ქართული ენას:Georgian language. In cases where the country does not contian an რ, the ending is -ური: იაპონური:Japanese.
• -ელი for person-related national adjectives, ex. ამერიკელი:an American person

Comparison

The comparitive degree (e.g. more/less) is expressed with უფრო and the superlative (e.g. most/least) is expressed with ყველაზე. For example, ცხელი → უფრო ცხელი → ყველაზე ცხელი ⧸ warm → warmer → warmest. Than, in the sense of "heavier than Bob", is ვიდრე. ის უფრო მძიმეა, ვიდრე გიორგი ⧸ He is heavier than Giorgi. Make sure to include -ა at the end of the first clause, preceding ვიდრე.

Comparisons can also be done with the suffix -ზე, in the form of {noun1} {noun2}-ზე adjective/phrase. For example, შენ ჩემზე კარგად ლაპარაკობ ინგლისურად ⧸ You are better at speaking English than I am.

When wanting to describe something as "as X as Y", the suffix -(ა)ვით is used. The item that is the Y in "as X as Y" is marked with -(ა)ვით. For example, in ამ საჭმელს დედასავით კარგად ვერავინ ამზადებს ⧸ No one is able to make this food as well as my mom, "as my mom" is marked with -(ა)ვით.

The sentence order can change, such as in არ არის საქართველოსავით ძველი:(it) is not as old as Georgia, as long as the adjective/adverb being used in the comparison follows the word marked with -(ა)ვით.

Miscellaneous

Dialect Note

In Gori, individuals may drop the final ს, in არის:is, as well as adding ა to words such as სად:where.

In Kharshuri, indivuals often will add -ი to the ends of words ending in -ა, making a word like ჭამა sound like ჭამაი.

Tbilisi often has various colloquialisms not found elsewhere, as it is the largest urban area in Georgia. Some examples:

• გენაცვალე:dear, used as a term of endearment between male friends.
• sentence-final რა:what, used as a space filler or emphatic particle, similar to colloquial English sentence-final "yeah".

Bibliography

• Grammaire de la Langue Géorgienne, Hans Vogt, Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, 1971.
• Beginner's Georgian, Dodona Kiziria, Hippocrene Books, 2009.
• Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages, Georgij A. Klimov, De Gruyter, 1998.
• Georgian Syntax, Alice C. Harris, Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, 1981.
• Georgian Language Highlight: Telling Time, tumblr, accessed 2018-07-04.
• Elements of Georgian Grammar, Shorena Kurtsikidze, 2nd edition, LINCOM Europa, 2014.
• Georgian vocabulary for English speakers - 9000 words, Andrey Taranov, T&P Books, 2013.

Last Updated: 2024-11-30 20:13:46