LingoflyThat very room: definiteness without an article
There is no article in Georgian. So how do you tell 'give me a knife' from 'give me that knife'? The means exist, they are just different. For example: “თავისუფალი ნომერი გაქვთ?” (tavisupali nomeri gakvt) — Do you have a room free? A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
There is no article in Georgian. So how do you tell 'give me a knife' from 'give me that knife'? The means exist, they are just different.
First and foremost, pointing words: ეს (es) — this one, near; ის (is) — that one, far off or already mentioned. ეს (es) ნომერი (nomeri) (es nomeri) — this room, ის (is) ბილეთი (bileti) (is bileti) — that ticket. ის (is) does the work of 'the'.
Second, ერთი (erti) in the sense of 'some'. ერთი (erti) კითხვა (kitkhva) მაქვს (makvs) (erti kitkhva makvs) — 'I have one question', meaning a question, not exactly one.
Third, word order. What is known stands nearer the front, what is new at the very end. ბილეთი (bileti) მაგიდაზეა (magidazea) (bileti magidazea) — the ticket is on the table. მაგიდაზე (magidaze) ბილეთია — on the table there is a ticket, and the ticket is the news.
Table
| in English | in Georgian | what carries it |
|---|---|---|
| a room (some room) | ნომერი (nomeri) | nothing — that is just how it is |
| one room, some room or other | ერთი (erti) ნომერი (nomeri) | ერთი (erti) as 'some' |
| this room | ეს (es) ნომერი (nomeri) | the pointing word ეს (es) |
| the room we mentioned | ის (is) ნომერი (nomeri) | the pointing word ის (is) |
| a ticket on the table (news) | მაგიდაზე (magidaze) ბილეთია | the new thing went to the end |
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
That very room: how does it work in Georgian?
There is no article in Georgian. So how do you tell 'give me a knife' from 'give me that knife'? The means exist, they are just different.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“თავისუფალი ნომერი გაქვთ?” (tavisupali nomeri gakvt?) — Do you have a room free? A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.