Word order: Subject–Object–Verb (SOV)
English says "I eat bread" (S-V-O). Georgian normally says I bread eat — the verb closes the sentence:
მე პურს ვჭამ
Pronunciation me p'urs vch'am
I eat bread
ის წიგნს კითხულობს
Pronunciation is ts'igns k'itkhulobs
He/she reads a book
ჩვენ თბილისში ვცხოვრობთ
Pronunciation chven tbilisshi vtskhovrobt
We live in Tbilisi
The order is a tendency, not a law — Georgian allows other orders for emphasis. But when in doubt, put the verb last.
Two distinctions Georgian does not require
| Feature found in some languages | In Georgian |
|---|---|
| Grammatical gender (le/la, der/die/das) | None at all. Nouns have no masculine/feminine classes. |
| Articles (a/the) | None. პური means 'bread', 'a bread', or 'the bread' by context. |
| Verb agreement with gender | Verbs agree with person (I/you/he-she), not gender. |
Nouns carry case forms and attached postpositions
Instead of English prepositions placed before a noun, Georgian attaches role markers to the noun itself — case endings such as -ის ≈ 'of' and -ს ≈ 'to/for', plus attached postpositions such as -ში ≈ 'in', -ზე ≈ 'on/about', -დან ≈ 'from':
ქალაქში
Pronunciation kalakshi
in the city (city-IN)
სახლში
Pronunciation sakhlshi
in the house (house-IN)
ბილეთი თბილისამდე
Pronunciation bileti tbilisamde
a ticket to Tbilisi (Tbilisi-UNTIL)
You'll meet the case system properly in the cases article — for now, just notice that roles ride on the noun's tail, not on a word before it.
Adjectives come before nouns — just like English
Adjective + noun order matches English: დიდი ქალაქი 'big city', ლამაზი ქალი 'beautiful woman'. Unlike some European languages, the adjective doesn't change for gender (there is none) and usually doesn't take the noun's case ending when they sit side by side.
დიდი ქალაქი
Pronunciation didi kalaki
big city
კარგი ადამიანი
Pronunciation k'argi adamiani
good person
თბილი წყალი
Pronunciation tbili ts'q'ali
warm water
Four patterns you can use today
| Pattern | Georgian | English |
|---|---|---|
| X is Y (copula) | ეს ქალაქია | This is a city (es kalakia) |
| I want X | წყალი მინდა | I want water (ts'q'ali minda) |
| I have X | ჯავშანი მაქვს | I have a reservation (javshani makvs) |
| Where is X? | ტუალეტი სად არის? | Where is the toilet? (t'ualet'i sad aris?) |
Mind the reversal: მინდა (minda) is 'I want' and მაქვს (makvs) is 'I have' — the pronoun 'I' is understood, not spoken.
ეს ხინკალია
Pronunciation es khink'alia
This is khinkali
ოთახი მინდა
Pronunciation otakhi minda
I want a room
მეტრო სად არის?
Pronunciation met'ro sad aris?
Where is the metro?
Summary
- Word order: SOV — put the verb last
- No grammatical gender; no a/the articles
- Roles attach to nouns as endings: -ის/-ს/-ში/-ზე/-დან…
- Adjectives before nouns, unchanged by gender
- minda = 'I want', makvs = 'I have' — 'I' is dropped
- Next: pronouns & politeness
Mini practice
Q1. Standard Georgian word order is…
- SVO
- SOV
- VSO
- free for any word
Answer: SOV
Q2. Grammatical gender in Georgian…
- has 3 genders
- has 2 genders
- does not exist
- only affects verbs
Answer: does not exist
Q3. Articles (a/the) in Georgian…
- are required
- are optional
- do not exist
- only 'a' exists
Answer: do not exist
Q4. 'in the city' is…
- ქალაქი შინა
- ქალაქში (kalakshi)
- ქალაქი დან
- ქალაქის
Answer: ქალაქში (kalakshi)
Q5. მინდა (minda) means…
- I have
- I want
- I am
- I go
Answer: I want
