Goal: you will say what you want to do and what you want others to do.
Course progress: lesson 93 / 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 20. Nino's plans
Nino has big plans for the summer: she wants to travel, to learn to drive, and she wants me to come with her to Svaneti. My own list is shorter: I want to speak Georgian without stopping to think.
Today: "I want to...", and "I want you to...".
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ვიმოგზაურო | vimogzauro | that I travel (optative) |
| ვნახო | vnakho | that I see (optative) |
| წამოხვიდე | ts'amokhvide | that you come along (optative) |
| დაველოდოთ | davelodot | that we wait for (optative) |
| სვანეთი | svaneti | Svaneti (mountain region) |
| წამოსვლა | ts'amosvla | coming along |
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.
მინდაminda, გინდაginda, უნდაunda (lesson 36) can be followed by a verb in the optative:
Both verbs show the person: მინდაminda (to me) + ვისწავლოvists'avlo (I).
You can also say it with a verbal noun, as with შემიძლიაshemidzlia (lesson 67): წასვლა მინდაts'asvla minda, "I want to go", ტარების სწავლა მინდაt'arebis sts'avla minda. The two are equally common.
When the person who should act is someone else, add რომrom ("that") and the optative of the other person:
უნდაunda + a noun is "he, she wants": მას ყავა უნდაmas q'ava unda. But უნდაunda + optative is usually "must" (lesson 92): უნდა წავიდესunda ts'avides, "he must go". So to say "he wants to go", Georgians prefer the verbal noun: მას წასვლა უნდაmas ts'asvla unda, or რომrom: მას უნდაmas unda, რომ წავიდესrom ts'avides.
Svaneti, high in the Greater Caucasus, is famous for its medieval stone towers and its villages, some of the highest permanently inhabited places in Europe. Upper Svaneti is a UNESCO World Heritage site. You will go there with Sam in lesson 128.
დაველოდოთdavelodot ("that we wait for") belongs to the verb "to wait", which you will study in lesson 107.
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 93 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