Goal: you will say how you travel, from where and how far.
Course progress: lesson 49 / 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 25. My first marshrutka
Today I take my first marshrutka, the yellow minibuses that go everywhere in Georgia. You flag them down at the side of the road, sit down, and pay the driver. Giorgi explains everything on the way.
Today: means of transport, and "from... to...".
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ავტობუსით | avt'obusit | by bus |
| მეტროთი | met'roti | by metro |
| ტაქსით | t'aksit | by taxi |
| ფეხით | pekhit | on foot |
| მანქანით | mankanit | by car |
| მატარებელი | mat'arebeli | train |
| მატარებლით | mat'areblit | by train |
| თვითმფრინავი | tvitmprinavi | plane |
| მარშრუტკა | marshrut'k'a | marshrutka, shared minibus |
| სამარშრუტო ტაქსი | samarshrut'o t'aksi | marshrutka (official word) |
| -მდე | -mde | up to, until, as far as |
| სადგური | sadguri | station |
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.
To say how you travel, add -ითit (the instrumental, lesson 45):
| means | by |
|---|---|
| ავტობუსიavt'obusi | ავტობუსითavt'obusit |
| ტაქსიt'aksi | ტაქსითt'aksit |
| მანქანაmankana | მანქანითmankanit |
| მატარებელიmat'arebeli | მატარებლითmat'areblit |
| მეტროmet'ro | მეტროთიmet'roti |
| ფეხიpekhi (foot) | ფეხითpekhit |
Words in -იi and -აa replace their vowel with -ითit; მატარებელიmat'arebeli also loses its ეe. Words in -ოo add -თიti: მეტროთიmet'roti.
-დანdan / -იდანidan is "from" (lesson 14). -მდეmde is "up to, as far as": - after a consonant word: -ამდეamde: ბათუმიbatumi → ბათუმამდეbatumamde, სახლიsakhli → სახლამდეsakhlamde - after a vowel: -მდეmde: მეტროmet'ro → მეტრომდეmet'romde, სკოლაsk'ola → სკოლამდეsk'olamde
Remember დავდივარdavdivar (lesson 38) for things you do regularly: სამსახურში ავტობუსით დავდივარsamsakhurshi avt'obusit davdivar, "I go to work by bus".
Officially the marshrutka is a სამარშრუტო ტაქსიsamarshrut'o t'aksi, "route taxi", but everybody says მარშრუტკაmarshrut'k'a. In towns you often pay when you get in or when you get off, and you can ask the driver to stop: გამიჩერეთgamicheret, თუ შეიძლებაtu sheidzleba!, "stop for me, please!".
Between Tbilisi and Batumi there are trains every day; the journey takes several hours.
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 49 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