Month 7. Waiting at the café
I'm sitting in our favourite café, and Nino is late, very late. When she finally arrives, she has a good excuse and a favour to ask.
Today: help, wait and meet.
LIMBA audio course · Georgian
Hear it, then say it: learn to speak Georgian
- 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
1Sam’s diary
2Dialogue
Sam
ნინო, სად ხარ? კაფეში გელოდები.nino, sad khar? k'apeshi gelodebi.(on the phone) Nino, where are you? I'm waiting for you at the café.
Nino
ბოდიში, მაგვიანდება! კიდევ ათი წუთი დამელოდე!bodishi, magviandeba! k'idev ati ts'uti damelode!Sorry, I'm running late! Wait for me ten more minutes!
Sam
კარგი, დაგელოდები.k'argi, dagelodebi.OK, I'll wait for you.
Nino
მადლობა, რომ დამელოდე! ბებოს ბაზარში დავეხმარე.madloba, rom damelode! bebos bazarshi davekhmare.(arriving) Thanks for waiting for me! I helped Grandma at the market.
Sam
არაუშავს. იცი, გუშინ შენს მეგობარს, ლიკას შევხვდი.araushavs. itsi, gushin shens megobars, lik'as shevkhvdi.No problem. You know, yesterday I met your friend Lika.
Sam
ქუჩაში შემხვდა და მისამართის პოვნაში დამეხმარა.kuchashi shemkhvda da misamartis p'ovnashi damekhmara.She met me in the street and helped me find an address.
Nino
ლიკა ყველას ეხმარება! ახლა შენ დამეხმარე: ჩემს მოსწავლეებს ტექსტი სჭირდებათ კანადის შესახებ.lik'a q'velas ekhmareba! akhla shen damekhmare: chems mosts'avleebs t'ekst'i sch'irdebat k'anadis shesakheb.Lika helps everyone! Now you help me: my students need a text about Canada.
Sam
სიამოვნებით დაგეხმარები!siamovnebit dagekhmarebi!I'll gladly help you!
3New words
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| გელოდები | gelodebi | I'm waiting for you |
| მაგვიანდება | magviandeba | I'm running late (literally "it is getting late for me") |
| დამელოდე! | damelode! | wait for me!; you waited for me |
| დაგელოდები | dagelodebi | I'll wait for you |
| დავეხმარე | davekhmare | I helped him/her |
| შევხვდი | shevkhvdi | I met him/her |
| შემხვდა | shemkhvda | he/she met me |
| პოვნა | p'ovna | finding (verbal noun of "find") |
| ეხმარება | ekhmareba | he/she helps |
| დამეხმარე! | damekhmare! | help me! |
| დაგეხმარები | dagekhmarebi | I'll help you |
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
Verbs with a dative partner
"Help", "wait for" and "meet" have a partner in the dative, shown inside the verb with the prefixes of lessons 101–102. In the present and future, they have ეe- before the root:
| present | future | aorist |
|---|---|---|
| ვეხმარებიvekhmarebi I help him | დავეხმარებიdavekhmarebi I'll help him | დავეხმარეdavekhmare I helped him |
| მეხმარებაmekhmareba he helps me | დამეხმარებაdamekhmareba he'll help me | დამეხმარაdamekhmara he helped me |
| გელოდებიgelodebi I'm waiting for you | დაგელოდებიdagelodebi I'll wait for you | დაგელოდეdagelode I waited for you |
| მელოდებაmelodeba he's waiting for me | დამელოდებაdamelodeba he'll wait for me | დამელოდაdameloda he waited for me |
Commands: დამეხმარეdamekhmare! (help me!), დამელოდეdamelode! (wait for me!), დაეხმარეdaekhmare! (help him/her!).
No ergative with these verbs
These verbs belong to the same family as მოვიდაmovida (came): their subject never takes -მაma, even in the aorist. > ლიკა დამეხმარაlik'a damekhmara. | Lika(NOM) helped-me | Lika helped me. (not ლიკამlik'am) > ნინო დამელოდაnino dameloda. | Nino(NOM) waited-for-me | Nino waited for me. > ლიკა ქუჩაში შემხვდაlik'a kuchashi shemkhvda. | Lika in-the-street met-me | Lika met me in the street.
Meet: შეხვდებაshekhvdeba, შეხვდაshekhvda
| შევხვდებიshevkhvdebi | I'll meet him/her |
|---|---|
| შეგხვდებიshegkhvdebi | I'll meet you |
| შევხვდიshevkhvdi | I met him/her |
| შემხვდაshemkhvda | he/she met me |
| შევხვდითshevkhvdit | we met |
სადგურთან შეგხვდები.sadgurtan shegkhvdebi.station-at I'll-meet-youI'll meet you at the station.
ლიკას შევხვდი.lik'as shevkhvdi.to-Lika I-metI met Lika.
5Good to know
The official B1 verb list gives ხვდებაkhvdeba two meanings: "meet" (with შეshe- or დაda-) and "understand" (with მიmi-). მიხვდიmikhvdi? means "Did you get it?" and მივხვდიmivkhvdi! "I get it!"
დამელოდეdamelode is also the aorist "you waited for me": მადლობაmadloba, რომ დამელოდეrom damelode! = "Thanks for waiting for me!"
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.
- "Wait for me!" is…
- "I'm waiting for you" is…
- "Lika helped me" is…
- "I'll help you" is…
- "Help me!" is…
- "I met Lika" is…
- "Nino waited for me" is…
- "I'm running late" is…
- მიხვდიmikhvdi? means…
- "I'll meet you at the station" is…
Well done! Lesson 107 is ticked on your course map.
Say it, then write it
Say your answer out loud, write it down, then open the model answer.
- Say "Wait for me!"
Show the answer
დამელოდე!damelode! - Say "I'm waiting for you at the café."
Show the answer
კაფეში გელოდები.k'apeshi gelodebi. - Say "Help me, please!"
Show the answer
დამეხმარე, თუ შეიძლება!damekhmare, tu sheidzleba! - Say "Nino helped me."
Show the answer
ნინო დამეხმარა.nino damekhmara. - Say "I met Giorgi yesterday."
Show the answer
გუშინ გიორგის შევხვდი.gushin giorgis shevkhvdi.
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