Goal: you will say when and where you were born and grew up.
Course progress: lesson 76 / 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 14. Where were you born?
At the bank, I have to fill in a form to open an account. Place of birth, date of birth. The clerk asks the questions aloud, and I answer in Georgian, slowly, with a big year in the middle.
Today: birth, growing up, and how to say a year.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| დავიბადე | davibade | I was born |
| დაიბადა | daibada | he, she was born |
| გავიზარდე | gavizarde | I grew up |
| ათასი | atasi | thousand |
| ცხრაასი | tskhraasi | nine hundred |
| ორი ათასი | ori atasi | two thousand |
| დაბადების თარიღი | dabadebis tarighi | date of birth |
| თარიღი | tarighi | date |
| ანგარიში | angarishi | account (same word as "bill", lesson 45) |
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.
| person | born | grew up |
|---|---|---|
| მეme | დავიბადეdavibade | გავიზარდეgavizarde |
| შენshen | დაიბადეdaibade | გაიზარდეgaizarde |
| ისis | დაიბადაdaibada | გაიზარდაgaizarda |
| ჩვენchven | დავიბადეთdavibadet | გავიზარდეთgavizardet |
| თქვენtkven | დაიბადეთdaibadet | გაიზარდეთgaizardet |
| ისინიisini | დაიბადნენdaibadnen | გაიზარდნენgaizardnen |
The person who is born stays in the basic form: ნინო თბილისში დაიბადაnino tbilisshi daibada.
Years are said as normal numbers: first the thousands, then the hundreds, then the rest:
| year | Georgian |
|---|---|
| 1995 | ათას ცხრაას ოთხმოცდათხუთმეტიatas tskhraas otkhmotsdatkhutmet'i |
| 2001 | ორი ათას ერთიori atas erti |
| 2026 | ორი ათას ოცდაექვსიori atas otsdaekvsi |
Hundreds: ასიasi (100), ორასიorasi (200), სამასიsamasi (300)... ცხრაასიtskhraasi (900). In a compound number, they lose their -იi: ათას ცხრაასatas tskhraas...
"In (a year)" is the number + წელსts'els, and the last number usually drops its final -იi: ათას ცხრაას ოთხმოც წელსatas tskhraas otkhmots ts'els (in 1980), ორი ათას ერთ წელსori atas ert ts'els (in 2001). Years use the ordinary numbers, not the ordinals. In writing: 2001 წელსts'els. The Ministry's grammar for learners gives examples like ათას ცხრაას ორმოცდაცხრა წელსatas tskhraas ormotsdatskhra ts'els (in 1949).
რომელ წელსromel ts'els? "in which year?". You may also hear რომელი წლის ხარromeli ts'lis khar? "which year were you born?".
Dates in Georgian forms are written day, month, year: 05.03.2001 is 5 March 2001.
Numbers like 1995 are long in Georgian, and even Georgians often just say the digits quickly in shops or on the phone. For dates of birth, though, the full form is what you will hear at the bank or the doctor's.
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 76 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