Goal: you will read words with ბ გ დ ვ ზb g d v z and say who someone is.
Course progress: lesson 3 / 200
LIMBA audio course · Georgian
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 emailDay 2. My host family's door
We arrive at the house of my host family, in an old street of Tbilisi. Levan rings the bell. A voice calls from upstairs, and I recognise the question from my phrasebook.
Five new letters today, and with them the most important word in the house: დედაdeda.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| დედა | deda | mother |
| ბებია | bebia | grandmother |
| ბაბუა | babua | grandfather |
| ბებო | bebo | Grandma! (what you call your grandmother) |
| გოგო | gogo | girl |
| და | da | and; sister |
| ვინ? | vin? | who? |
| დიდი | didi | big |
| ბინა | bina | flat, apartment |
| ზარი | zari | bell |
| გზა | gza | road, way |
| ვარდი | vardi | rose |
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.
ბb b, გg g, დd d, ვv v and ზz z are pronounced as in English. Only გg needs care: it is always the hard g of "go", never the soft g of "gem".
ვინvin? means "who?" and რაra? means "what?". Put არისaris ("is") after them and you have two very useful questions:
In speech, არისaris ("is") often shrinks to a single -აa stuck to the end of the word before it. ეს მანანააes mananaa is "this is Manana": Manana + a. ეს სემიაes semia is "this is Sam". You will hear this short form all the time.
| full form | short form | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ეს ბინა არის.es bina aris. | ეს ბინაა.es binaa. | This is a flat. |
| ეს დედა არის.es deda aris. | ეს დედაა.es dedaa. | This is Mother. |
დაda means "and", but it is also the word for "sister". The context always tells you which one is meant: დედა და მამაdeda da mama is "mother and father".
Names change a little when you call someone. Sam's name in Georgian is სემიsemi: a foreign name that ends in a consonant gets an -იi in Georgian. When you call the person, the -იi disappears: სემsem!, ლევანlevan!, დავითdavit!. Names that end in another vowel do not change: ნინოnino!, მანანაmanana!. You will see this again in lesson 55.
In Georgian families the grandmother is often called ბებოbebo or ბებიაbebia, and the grandfather ბაბუbabu or ბაბუაbabua.
Choose an answer for each question, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 3 is ticked on your course map.
Say your answer out loud, write it down, then open the model answer.
Lesson finished? Now train your ear
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