Goal: you will mark the doer of a past action with -მაma / -მm.
Course progress: lesson 81 / 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 16. The broken cup
A crash in the kitchen. Manana's favourite cup lies in pieces on the floor. Giorgi points at Bubu, Bubu looks at Giorgi, and Bebo pretends to read the newspaper.
Today: the most Georgian ending of all, the one that says WHO did something in the past.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| -მა / -მ | -ma / -m | the ergative ending (marks the doer in the past) |
| გატეხა | gat'ekha | he, she broke (it) |
| მან | man | he, she (as the doer in the past) |
| მათ | mat | they (as the doer in the past) |
| ამან | aman | this one (as the doer) |
| იმან | iman | that one (as the doer) |
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.
In the past tense of verbs like "break", "write", "do", "buy", the person who does the action takes a special ending, the ergative: - after a consonant stem: -მაma: კაციk'atsi → კაცმაk'atsma, ბავშვიbavshvi → ბავშვმაbavshvma, მეგობარიmegobari → მეგობარმაmegobarma - after a vowel: -მm: დედაdeda → დედამdedam, ნინოnino → ნინომninom, გიორგიgiorgi → გიორგიმgiorgim, ბუბუbubu → ბუბუმbubum
Note: მეგობარიmegobari keeps its აa here: მეგობარმაmegobarma, unlike მეგობრისmegobris.
| basic | ergative |
|---|---|
| მე Ime I | მეme |
| შენshen you | შენshen |
| ისis he, she | მანman |
| ჩვენ wechven we | ჩვენchven |
| თქვენtkven you | თქვენtkven |
| ისინიisini they | მათmat |
| ესes this | ამანaman |
| ისis that | იმანiman |
For "I", "you", "we", there is no change: მე გავტეხეme gavt'ekhe is "I broke it".
Only in the past (the aorist) and only with verbs that do something: write, do, buy, eat, drink, say, break... With go, come, be born, get up (lessons 71 and 77), the subject stays in its basic form: ნინო მოვიდაnino movida, but ნინომ დაწერაninom dats'era.
| verb type | past |
|---|---|
| doing something | ნინომ დაწერაninom dats'era (Nino wrote) |
| moving, becoming | ნინო მოვიდაnino movida (Nino came) |
An adjective in -იi before the noun also takes -მაma: დიდმა კაცმაdidma k'atsma, ჩემმა მეგობარმაchemma megobarma ("my friend", as the doer). Adjectives in other vowels do not change: პატარა ბავშვმაp'at'ara bavshvma.
ვინvin (who) has the same form as a doer: ვინ გატეხაvin gat'ekha? "Who broke it?". And რაra (what) as a doer is რამram: რამ გაგახარაram gagakhara? "What made you happy?".
Bebo's გამიკეთებიაgamik'etebia ("I have done") is a perfect, a tense you will meet in unit 13. Georgian grandmothers have their own tenses for making excuses.
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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