Month 19. Old love letters
In a drawer, Nino finds a bundle of old letters tied with a ribbon. Bebo blushes: they are from her first love, a boy who wrote her poems when she was seventeen.
Today: love, want, have and remember, in every tense.
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
Nino
ბებო, ეს წერილები ვისია?bebo, es ts'erilebi visia?Grandma, whose letters are these?
Bebo
ჩემი პირველი სიყვარულისაა, გოჩასი. ჩვიდმეტი წლის ვიყავი.chemi p'irveli siq'varulisaa, gochasi. chvidmet'i ts'lis viq'avi.They're from my first love, Gocha. I was seventeen.
Sam
ძალიან გიყვარდა?dzalian giq'varda?Did you love him very much?
Bebo
ძალიან მიყვარდა! ის ლექსებს მწერდა და ყველა ლექსი მახსოვდა.dzalian miq'varda! is leksebs mts'erda da q'vela leksi makhsovda.I loved him very much! He wrote me poems, and I knew every poem by heart.
Nino
მერე რა მოხდა?mere ra mokhda?And then what happened?
Bebo
ის თბილისში წავიდა სასწავლებლად. მერე ბაბუაშენი გავიცანი და ის შემიყვარდა.is tbilisshi ts'avida sasts'avleblad. mere babuasheni gavitsani da is shemiq'varda.He went to Tbilisi to study. Then I met your grandfather and fell in love with him.
Sam
ეს წერილები ახლაც გინდა?es ts'erilebi akhlats ginda?Do you still want these letters?
Bebo
ახლა აღარ მჭირდება. ნინო, შენ შეინახე. სიყვარული მთავარია!akhla aghar mch'irdeba. nino, shen sheinakhe. siq'varuli mtavaria!I don't need them any more. Nino, you keep them. Love is what matters!
3New words
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| პირველი სიყვარული | p'irveli siq'varuli | first love |
| ლექსი | leksi | poem |
| მახსოვდა | makhsovda | I remembered |
| სასწავლებლად | sasts'avleblad | to study, in order to study |
| ბაბუაშენი | babuasheni | your grandfather |
| შემიყვარდა | shemiq'varda | I fell in love (with him/her) |
| მიყვარხარ | miq'varkhar | I love you |
| გიყვარვარ? | giq'varvar? | do you love me? |
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
Inversion verbs in every tense
The person who loves, wants or has is in the dative; the thing loved, wanted or had is the grammatical subject.
| present | imperfect | future | aorist (a beginning) |
|---|---|---|---|
| მიყვარსmiq'vars (I love) | მიყვარდაmiq'varda | მეყვარებაmeq'vareba | შემიყვარდაshemiq'varda (I fell in love) |
| მინდაminda (I want) | მინდოდაmindoda | მენდომებაmendomeba | მომინდაmominda (I felt like it) |
| მაქვსmakvs (I have) | მქონდაmkonda | მექნებაmekneba | — |
| მყავსmq'avs (I have: people) | მყავდაmq'avda | მეყოლებაmeq'oleba | — |
| მახსოვსmakhsovs (I remember) | მახსოვდაmakhsovda | მეხსომებაmekhsomeba | გამახსენდაgamakhsenda (it came back to me) |
| მომწონსmomts'ons (I like) | მომწონდაmomts'onda | მომეწონებაmomets'oneba | მომეწონაmomets'ona (I liked it) |
| მშიაmshia (I'm hungry) | მშიოდაmshioda | მომშივდებაmomshivdeba | მომშივდაmomshivda (I got hungry) |
ვიციvitsi (I know) is special: its doer takes the ergative in the present and imperfect (მან იცისman itsis, მან იცოდაman itsoda) but the dative in the future (მას ეცოდინებაmas etsodineba), as the official dictionary shows.
"I love you": the loved one is the subject
| form | meaning |
|---|---|
| მიყვარხარmiq'varkhar | I love you ("you are loved by me") |
| გიყვარვარ?giq'varvar? | do you love me? ("am I loved by you?") |
| მიყვარსmiq'vars | I love him/her/it |
| მეყვარებიmeq'varebi | I will love you |
The ending tells who is loved: -ხარkhar (you), -ვარvar (me, with გg- for "by you").
5Good to know
მიყვარხარmiq'varkhar is the Georgian "I love you". And when Georgians say they know a poem "by heart", they say ზეპირად ვიციzep'irad vitsi.
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.
- "I loved him very much" is…
- "I fell in love with him" is…
- "I love you" is…
- "Do you love me?" is…
- "I remembered every poem" is…
- "I'll have time tomorrow" is…
- "I felt like (having) a coffee" is…
- "Do you still want these letters?" is…
- "He knew" is…
- What does სასწავლებლადsasts'avleblad mean?
Well done! Lesson 154 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 "I love you."
Show the answer
მიყვარხარ.miq'varkhar. - Say "I loved this song."
Show the answer
ეს სიმღერა მიყვარდა.es simghera miq'varda. - Say "I'll have a car."
Show the answer
მანქანა მეყოლება.mankana meq'oleba. - Say "I got hungry."
Show the answer
მომშივდა.momshivda. - Say "I remember everything."
Show the answer
ყველაფერი მახსოვს.q'velaperi makhsovs.
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
Unit 16: The verb system in full B2
- 151The three series of tenses
- 152Who takes -მაma? Verb classes and cases
- 153Dance, play, cry: medial verbs
- 154Love, want, have: inversion verbs in all tenses
- 155Go and come: the complete verb
- 156To be: the complete verb
- 157Say and tell: the complete verbs
- 158Eat, drink, see: verbs that change root
- 159Plural subjects that change the verb
- 160Review: the verb system