LingoflyComparison: one word instead of a whole set of endings
In English the word itself changes: cheap — cheaper — cheapest. Georgian goes another way. The adjective stays as it is, and უფრო (upro) (more) or ყველაზე (qvelaze) (most) steps in front of it. For example: “ეს (es) უფრო (upro) იაფია” (iapia) — This is cheaper. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In English the word itself changes: cheap — cheaper — cheapest. Georgian goes another way. The adjective stays as it is, and უფრო (upro) (more) or ყველაზე (qvelaze) (most) steps in front of it.
ძვირი (dzviri) — expensive → უფრო ძვირი (upro dzviri) — more expensive → ყველაზე (qvelaze) ძვირი (dzviri) (qvelaze dzviri) — the most expensive. The same with any other word: იაფი (iapi), მძიმე (mdzime), ახალი (akhali).
'Than' is ვიდრე (vidre): ბაზარი უფრო იაფია (bazari upro iapia), ვიდრე (vidre) მაღაზია (maghazia) (vidre maghazia). In speech it is often dropped, and the thing compared against takes -ზე: ბაზარზე (bazarze) იაფია (iapia) (bazarze iapia) — cheaper than at the market.
One trap in the whole topic. Two words kept an old fused form: უკეთესი (better) and უფროსი (uprosi) (older, and also a boss). You hear the second every day: a boss in Georgian is literally 'the more senior one'.
Table
| plain | more | most |
|---|---|---|
| ძვირი (dzviri) — expensive | უფრო ძვირი (upro dzviri) | ყველაზე (qvelaze) ძვირი (dzviri) |
| იაფი (iapi) — cheap | უფრო იაფი (upro iapi) | ყველაზე (qvelaze) იაფი (iapi) |
| ახალი (akhali) — new | უფრო (upro) ახალი (akhali) | ყველაზე (qvelaze) ახალი (akhali) |
| კარგი (kargi) — good | უკეთესი (a special form) | ყველაზე (qvelaze) კარგი (kargi) |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Comparison: how does it work in Georgian?
In English the word itself changes: cheap — cheaper — cheapest. Georgian goes another way. The adjective stays as it is, and უფრო (upro) (more) or ყველაზე (qvelaze) (most) steps in front of it.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“ეს (es) უფრო (upro) იაფია” (iapia) (es upro iapia) — This is cheaper. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.