Month 6. A message from Nino
I spend a day alone in Kutaisi. My phone stays silent all morning, and when I switch it on again, there are ten messages from Nino.
Today: "to me, to you, to him" inside the verb.
LIMBA audio course · Georgian
Hear it, then say it: learn to speak Georgian
- 37 audio lessons
- about 13 minutes each
- explained in simple English
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1Sam’s diary
2Dialogue
Nino
სემ, სად ხარ? დილიდან გწერ!sem, sad khar? dilidan gts'er!Sam, where are you? I've been writing to you since this morning!
Sam
ბოდიში, ტელეფონი დამიჯდა. ქუთაისში ვარ.bodishi, t'eleponi damijda. kutaisshi var.Sorry, my phone died. I'm in Kutaisi.
Nino
ჰო, კარგი. როგორია ქუთაისი?ho, k'argi. rogoria kutaisi?Oh, OK. How is Kutaisi?
Sam
ძალიან მომწონს! საღამოს დაწვრილებით მოგწერ.dzalian momts'ons! saghamos dats'vrilebit mogts'er.I like it a lot! I'll write to you in detail this evening.
Nino
კარგი. მამას მისწერე, რომელ საათზე ჩამოხვალ. სადგურზე დაგხვდება.k'argi. mamas mists'ere, romel saatze chamokhval. sadgurze dagkhvdeba.OK. Write to Dad what time you're arriving. He'll meet you at the station.
Sam
უკვე მივწერე! ხუთზე ჩამოვალ.uk've mivts'ere! khutze chamoval.I've already written to him! I'll arrive at five.
Nino
მომწერე, როცა მატარებელში ჩაჯდები!momts'ere, rotsa mat'arebelshi chajdebi!Write to me when you get on the train!
Sam
აუცილებლად მოგწერ.autsileblad mogts'er.I'll write to you for sure.
3New words
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| გწერ | gts'er | I write to you; I've been writing to you |
| დამიჯდა | damijda | (my phone) died, literally "sat down on me" |
| დაწვრილებით | dats'vrilebit | in detail |
| მოგწერ | mogts'er | I'll write to you |
| მისწერე! | mists'ere! | write to him/her! |
| დაგხვდება | dagkhvdeba | he/she will meet you (when you arrive) |
| მივწერე | mivts'ere | I wrote to him/her |
| მომწერე! | momts'ere! | write to me! |
| ჩაჯდები | chajdebi | you get on (a train, a bus) |
| შეტყობინება | shet'q'obineba | (text) message |
How to read the pronunciation
The pronunciation is written in English letters, following Georgia’s official romanization. Say every letter: a as in father, e as in pet, i as in machine, o as in port, u as in rule; r is rolled; g is always hard; kh as in Scottish loch; gh a soft gargled g, like a French r; sh as in shop; zh like the s in pleasure; ch as in church; ts as in cats; dz as in adze; j as in jam. An apostrophe marks a “popped” consonant, said with a little click in the throat and no puff of air: k’, p’, t’, ts’, ch’, q’ (q’ is made deep in the throat). Without an apostrophe, k, p, t, ts, ch have a small puff of air. Use the Pronunciation button at the top to hide or show it.
4Grammar and explanations
To me, to you: the indirect object
The prefixes of lesson 101 also mean "to me, to you, to us":
| prefix | meaning | example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| მ-m- | to me | მწერსmts'ers | he writes to me |
| გ-g- | to you | გწერსgts'ers | he writes to you |
| ს- (or ჰ-)s- (or h-) | to him/her | სწერსsts'ers | he writes to him |
| გვ-gv- | to us | გვწერსgvts'ers | he writes to us |
| გ- … -თg- … -t | to you (plural) | გწერთgts'ert | he writes to you all |
The სs- for "to him/her" disappears after the ვv- of "I": მე მას ვწერme mas vts'er (I write to him). And as in lesson 101, ვv- disappears before გg-: გწერgts'er = I write to you.
Write to me! Write to him!
In the future, the past and in commands, the verb takes a preverb. მოmo- points towards the speakers ("to me, to you"), მიmi- points away from them ("to him, to her"):
| future | aorist (past) | command |
|---|---|---|
| მოგწერmogts'er I'll write to you | მოგწერეmogts'ere I wrote to you | |
| მომწერსmomts'ers he'll write to me | მომწერაmomts'era he wrote to me | მომწერეmomts'ere! write to me! |
| მივწერmivts'er I'll write to him | მივწერეmivts'ere I wrote to him | მისწერეmists'ere! write to him! |
In the aorist, the writer is in the ergative case: ნინომ მომწერაninom momts'era (Nino wrote to me), გიორგიმ მისწერაgiorgim mists'era (Giorgi wrote to him).
მამას მისწერე!mamas mists'ere!to-Dad write-to-himWrite to Dad!
ნინომ მომწერა.ninom momts'era.Nino(ERG) wrote-to-meNino wrote to me.
5Good to know
The official B1 grammar gives მწერსmts'ers, გწერსgts'ers, სწერსsts'ers as its example of "the indirect object shown in the verb". Learn these three and you can build the rest.
In quick text messages, many Georgians type Georgian in Latin letters ("madloba", "kargi"), so you will see both alphabets on your phone.
6Exercises
Choose an answer for each question, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
- "He writes to me" is…
- "Write to me!" is…
- "I'll write to you" is…
- "Nino wrote to me" is…
- "Write to him!" is…
- "I wrote to her" is…
- "He writes to us" is…
- "I'm writing to you (all)" is…
- When your phone დაგიჯდაdagijda, it…
- "He'll meet you at the station" is…
Well done! Lesson 102 is ticked on your course map.
Say it, then write it
Say your answer out loud, write it down, then open the model answer.
- Ask a friend "Write to me!"
Show the answer
მომწერე!momts'ere! - Say "I'll write to you this evening."
Show the answer
საღამოს მოგწერ.saghamos mogts'er. - Say "Nino writes to me every day."
Show the answer
ნინო ყოველდღე მწერს.nino q'oveldghe mts'ers. - Say "Write to Dad!"
Show the answer
მამას მისწერე!mamas mists'ere! - Say "Giorgi wrote to me."
Show the answer
გიორგიმ მომწერა.giorgim momts'era.
Lesson finished? Now train your ear
Speak Georgian with the 37 LIMBA audio lessons
- 37 audio lessons
- about 13 minutes each
- explained in simple English
This written course gives you the grammar, the words and the script. The LIMBA audio course trains your ear and your mouth: you listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect complement to these lessons.
Download the Georgian audio courseOrder form · your download link arrives by email▶ Listen to lesson 1 for free