Goal: you will invite people in and use the მოmo- forms.
Course progress: lesson 66 / 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 emailWeek 11. Guests at the door
Saturday afternoon: the doorbell rings every ten minutes. Bebo's friends from the neighbourhood are coming for coffee, and Manana opens the door to each one with the same warm words.
Today: how to say "come!", "come in!", "go!" and "sit down!".
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| მოდი! | modi! | come! (to a friend) |
| მოდით! | modit! | come! (polite or plural) |
| შემოდი! / შემოდით! | shemodi! / shemodit! | come in! |
| ამოდი! | amodi! | come up! |
| ჩამოდი! | chamodi! | come down! |
| წადი! / წადით! | ts'adi! / ts'adit! | go! go away! |
| მობრძანდით! | mobrdzandit! | welcome! please come! (very polite) |
| შემობრძანდით! | shemobrdzandit! | please come in! (very polite) |
| დაბრძანდით! | dabrdzandit! | please sit down! (very polite) |
| ზემოთ | zemot | upstairs, above |
| ქვემოთ | kvemot | downstairs, below |
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.
The commands of the motion verbs are short and very common:
| to a friend | polite or plural | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| მოდი!modi! | მოდით!modit! | come! |
| შემოდი!shemodi! | შემოდით!shemodit! | come in! |
| ამოდი!amodi! | ამოდით!amodit! | come up! |
| ჩამოდი!chamodi! | ჩამოდით!chamodit! | come down! |
| გამოდი!gamodi! | გამოდით!gamodit! | come out! |
| წადი!ts'adi! | წადით!ts'adit! | go! |
They follow the preverbs you know (lesson 65): შემოshemo- in towards me, ამოamo- up towards me, ჩამოchamo- down towards me.
For guests, older people and formal situations, Georgian uses special honorific verbs:
| polite command | meaning |
|---|---|
| მობრძანდით!mobrdzandit! | welcome, please come |
| შემობრძანდით!shemobrdzandit! | please come in |
| დაბრძანდით!dabrdzandit! | please sit down |
To a close older person, you can use the forms without -თt: დაბრძანდიdabrdzandi!, as Bebo does with her old friend.
ზემოთzemot is "above, upstairs" and ქვემოთkvemot "below, downstairs": ზემოთააzemotaa, "she's upstairs".
Georgian hospitality is famous: a guest, სტუმარიst'umari, is welcomed with მობრძანდითmobrdzandit! and immediately offered something to eat or drink. A Georgian proverb even says that a guest is sent by God, სტუმარი ღვთისააst'umari ghvtisaa (lesson 179).
In the dialogue, მოვიდნენmovidnen ("they have come, they arrived") is a past form of მოდისmodis. You will learn it in lesson 71.
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 66 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