Goal: you will say what you want and what you don't want.
Course progress: lesson 36 / 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 18. At the bakery counter
The bakery near the house smells of hot cheese bread from seven in the morning. The woman at the counter already knows me, and she asks the same question every day.
Today: "I want". In Georgian, it works like "my name is": the person is at the start of the verb.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| მინდა | minda | I want |
| გინდა | ginda | you want (one friend) |
| უნდა | unda | he, she wants |
| გინდათ | gindat | you want (polite, plural) |
| რა გნებავთ? | ra gnebavt? | what would you like? (very polite) |
| ლობიანი | lobiani | lobiani (bread filled with beans) |
| კიდევ | k'idev | more, else; again |
| რამე | rame | anything |
| საკმარისია | sak'marisia | that's enough |
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.
მინდაminda works like მქვიაmkvia (lesson 11) and მაქვსmakvs (lesson 29): the person who wants is shown by the first letter of the verb, and the thing you want is the subject, in its basic form.
| person | want |
|---|---|
| I | მინდაminda |
| you (friend) | გინდაginda |
| he, she | უნდაunda |
| we | გვინდაgvinda |
| you (polite, plural) | გინდათgindat |
| they | უნდათundat |
With ვჭამvch'am or ვსვამvsvam the object takes -სs (ყავას ვსვამq'avas vsvam). With მინდაminda it does not: ყავა მინდაq'ava minda. This is because the coffee is the grammatical subject here: "coffee is wanted by me".
| I drink coffee | I want coffee |
|---|---|
| ყავას ვსვამq'avas vsvam | ყავა მინდაq'ava minda |
For "Nino wants", the person takes -სs: ნინოს უნდა ლობიანიninos unda lobiani, literally "to Nino a lobiani is wanted". The same with "has": ნინოს ძაღლი ჰყავსninos dzaghli hq'avs, "Nino has a dog".
არ მინდაar minda is "I don't want (it)". It is direct, so add მადლობაmadloba to make it polite: არაara, მადლობაmadloba, არ მინდაar minda.
Waiters and shop assistants often say რა გნებავთra gnebavt?, a very polite "what would you like?". You answer with მინდაminda or simply with what you want + თუ შეიძლებაtu sheidzleba.
უნდაunda has a second meaning, "must, should", that you will meet in lesson 92: უნდა წავიდეunda ts'avide, "I must go".
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 36 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