Goal: you will use შევჭამეshevch'ame, დავლიეdavlie, ვთქვიvtkvi, მივეციmivetsi.
Course progress: lesson 84 / 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 17. Too much khinkali
Sunday lunch at Bebo's sister's house. I ate eight khinkali, drank two glasses of wine, said a toast, and gave the hostess the flowers I had brought. Giorgi counted everything.
Today: the pasts of eat, drink, say and give, which change their shape.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| შევჭამე | shevch'ame | I ate (up) |
| ვჭამე | vch'ame | I ate |
| დავლიე | davlie | I drank |
| ვთქვი | vtkvi | I said |
| მივეცი | mivetsi | I gave |
| მასპინძელი | masp'indzeli | host, hostess |
| ყვავილი | q'vavili | flower |
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 | ate | drank | said | gave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| მეme | შევჭამეshevch'ame | დავლიეdavlie | ვთქვიvtkvi | მივეციmivetsi |
| შენshen | შეჭამეshech'ame | დალიეdalie | თქვიtkvi | მიეციmietsi |
| ის (მან)is (man) | შეჭამაshech'ama | დალიაdalia | თქვაtkva | მისცაmistsa |
| ჩვენchven | შევჭამეთshevch'amet | დავლიეთdavliet | ვთქვითvtkvit | მივეცითmivetsit |
| თქვენtkven | შეჭამეთshech'amet | დალიეთdaliet | თქვითtkvit | მიეცითmietsit |
| ისინი (მათ)isini (mat) | შეჭამესshech'ames | დალიესdalies | თქვესtkves | მისცესmistses |
Compare with the present and the future (lesson 63):
| present | future | past |
|---|---|---|
| ვჭამvch'am | შევჭამshevch'am | შევჭამეshevch'ame |
| ვსვამvsvam | დავლევdavlev | დავლიეdavlie |
| ვამბობvambob | ვიტყვიvit'q'vi | ვთქვიvtkvi |
| ვაძლევvadzlev | მივცემmivtsem | მივეციmivetsi |
შევჭამეshevch'ame is "I ate it up, I finished it". ვჭამეvch'ame, without the preverb, is simply "I ate": ვჭამეvch'ame, მაგრამ ცოტაmagram tsot'a, "I ate, but a little".
In the past, the person who receives takes -სs (as before), while the thing is in its basic form: მასპინძელს ყვავილები მივეციmasp'indzels q'vavilebi mivetsi, "I gave the flowers to the hostess".
სემმაsemma: the name სემიsemi is a consonant stem (სემsem-), so it takes -მაma, like კაცმაk'atsma.
მასპინძელიmasp'indzeli (host) is a key word of Georgian hospitality: the host makes sure the guest's plate is never empty. The guest's job is to praise the food, and to slow down before the fourth course.
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 84 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