Lingoflyმი-, მო-, ჩა-, გადა-: the prefix decides where the action goes
Fifty verbs of motion need no cramming. The root barely changes; direction is set by the prefix in front of it. Learn a dozen prefixes and half of an unknown verb reads itself. For example: “ბავშვი (bavshvi) ფანჯარას მიუახლოვდა, ზამთარი (zamtari) კი (ki) მოახლოვდა” (moakhlovda) — The child walked up to the window, and winter drew near. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Fifty verbs of motion need no cramming. The root barely changes; direction is set by the prefix in front of it. Learn a dozen prefixes and half of an unknown verb reads itself.
The two main ones: მი- and მო-. მი- leads away from the speaker, მო- leads toward him. Hence მისვლა (misvla) — to go there, მოსვლა (mosvla) — to come here. Hence also მიახლოება (miakhloeba) — to approach, მოახლოება (moakhloeba) — to draw near.
Up and down: ა-, ჩა-, ჩამო-. ასვლა (asvla) — up, ჩასვლა (chasvla) — down and in, ჩამოსვლა (chamosvla) — from above down to the speaker. The same ჩა- works figuratively: ჩაღრმავება (chaghrmaveba) — to go deep into a matter.
Across and around: გადა-, შემო-, გამო- (gamo). გადაბრუნება (gadabruneba) — to flip over, შემოვლა (shemovla) — to walk around, გამორკვევა (gamorkveva) — to come out clear.
Table
| prefix | where to | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| მი- | away from the speaker | მიახლოება (miakhloeba) | to approach |
| მო- | toward the speaker | მოახლოება (moakhloeba) | to draw near |
| ა- | up | ასვლა (asvla) | to climb |
| ჩა- | down, in | ჩავარდნა (chavardna) | to fall into |
| ჩამო- | from up to down | ჩამოსვლა (chamosvla) | to come down |
| გადა- | across | გადაბრუნება (gadabruneba) | to flip over |
| შემო- | around, in | შემოვლა (shemovla) | to go around |
| გამო- | out | გამორკვევა (gamorkveva) | to become clear |
| გან- | aside, away | განზე გადგომა (ganze gadgoma) | to step aside |
| და- | down and to the end | დაწევა (datseva) | to catch up |
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
the prefix decides where the action goes: how does it work in Georgian?
Fifty verbs of motion need no cramming. The root barely changes; direction is set by the prefix in front of it. Learn a dozen prefixes and half of an unknown verb reads itself.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“ბავშვი (bavshvi) ფანჯარას მიუახლოვდა, ზამთარი (zamtari) კი (ki) მოახლოვდა” (moakhlovda) (bavshvi panjaras miuakhlovda, zamtari ki moakhlovda) — The child walked up to the window, and winter drew near. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.