Goal: you will describe what was going on and what you used to do.
Course progress: lesson 74 / 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 13. Bebo remembers
Bebo tells me about her childhood in the village: every morning she walked to school, in winter it snowed for weeks, and in the evenings her grandfather sang while her mother baked bread.
Today: the past of things that went on, or that happened again and again.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ბავშვობა | bavshvoba | childhood |
| ბავშვობაში | bavshvobashi | as a child, in childhood |
| ვცხოვრობდი | vtskhovrobdi | I lived, I was living |
| დავდიოდი | davdiodi | I used to go, I was going (regularly) |
| ვკითხულობდი | vk'itkhulobdi | I was reading, I used to read |
| აცხობდა | atskhobda | he, she baked, was baking |
| მღეროდა | mgheroda | he, she sang, was singing |
| ციოდა | tsioda | it was cold |
| თოვდა | tovda | it was snowing |
| წვიმდა | ts'vimda | it was raining |
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 imperfect describes an action in progress or a habit in the past: "I was writing", "I used to write". It is built from the present, with -დd- and the endings -იi, -იi, -აa, -ითit, -ითit, -ნენnen:
| person | write | live |
|---|---|---|
| მეme | ვწერდიvts'erdi | ვცხოვრობდიvtskhovrobdi |
| შენshen | წერდიts'erdi | ცხოვრობდიtskhovrobdi |
| ისis | წერდაts'erda | ცხოვრობდაtskhovrobda |
| ჩვენchven | ვწერდითvts'erdit | ვცხოვრობდითvtskhovrobdit |
| თქვენtkven | წერდითts'erdit | ცხოვრობდითtskhovrobdit |
| ისინიisini | წერდნენts'erdnen | ცხოვრობდნენtskhovrobdnen |
Verbs ending in -ებeb, -ავav, -ამam add -დd- directly: ვაკეთებvak'eteb → ვაკეთებდიvak'etebdi, ვხატავvkhat'av → ვხატავდიvkhat'avdi, ვსვამvsvam → ვსვამდიvsvamdi.
Some verbs use -ოდod-: დავდივარdavdivar → დავდიოდიdavdiodi (I used to go), ვმღერიvmgheri → ვმღეროდიvmgherodi (I was singing), ვიცინიvitsini → ვიცინოდიvitsinodi (I was laughing).
In the imperfect, the doer stays in the basic form and the object keeps -სs: დედა პურს აცხობდაdeda p'urs atskhobda, "Mother was baking bread".
With ხოლმეkholme, the imperfect clearly means "used to": ზაფხულში ტყეში დავდიოდით ხოლმეzapkhulshi t'q'eshi davdiodit kholme, "in summer we used to go to the forest".
ციოდაtsioda (it was cold), ცხელოდაtskheloda (it was hot), წვიმდაts'vimda (it was raining), თოვდაtovda (it was snowing).
Georgian has two main pasts. The imperfect (this lesson) is for the background, for what was going on: წვიმდაts'vimda "it was raining". The aorist (lessons 71, 82) is for events, for what happened: მოვიდაmovida "he came". Together: წვიმდაts'vimda, როცა მოვიდაrotsa movida, "it was raining when he came".
ბავშვობაშიbavshvobashi ("in childhood") is the perfect start for any memory: ბავშვობაში ბევრს ვკითხულობდიbavshvobashi bevrs vk'itkhulobdi.
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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