'Must' and 'can': უნდა and შემიძლია
Two words no day goes without: უნდა — must, have to, and შემიძლია — I can. For example: “ხვალ ადრე უნდა ავდგე” — Tomorrow I have to get up early. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Two words no day goes without: უნდა (unda) — must, have to, and შემიძლია (shemidzlia) — I can.
უნდა never changes and always stands before the verb. უნდა წავიდე (unda tsavide) — I have to go, უნდა ვიყიდო — I have to buy. Who must do it is told by the verb after it. One trap: უნდა is spelled like 'he wants' (მას უნდა (mas unda)). The whole sentence tells them apart.
შემიძლია is personal, and a familiar clue sits inside it: შე-მ-იძლია — I can, შე-გ-იძლია — you can. Impersonal 'one may' is შეიძლება (sheidzleba): აქ შეიძლება (ak sheidzleba)? — is it allowed here?
Negation is simple: არ უნდა (ar unda) — need not, არ შემიძლია (ar shemidzlia) — I cannot. Where circumstances get in the way, ვერ (ver) steps in: ვერ მოვდივარ (ver movdivar) — I can't make it.
Table
| expression | means | example |
|---|---|---|
| უნდა + verb | must, have to | უნდა წავიდე — I have to go |
| შემიძლია | I can | შემიძლია დაგელოდო — I can wait for you |
| შეგიძლია | you can | შეგიძლია დამელოდო? — can you wait for me? |
| შეიძლება | one may | აქ შეიძლება? — is it allowed here? |
| ვერ + verb | can't, it won't work out | ვერ მოვდივარ — I can't make it |
By example
- ხვალ ადრე უნდა ავდგეkhval adre unda avdgeTomorrow I have to get up early
- შემიძლია დაგეხმაროshemidzlia dagekhmaroI can help you
- აქ ფოტოს გადაღება შეიძლება?ak potos gadagheba sheidzleba?Is it OK to take photos here?
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
'Must' and 'can': how does it work in Georgian?
Two words no day goes without: უნდა — must, have to, and შემიძლია — I can.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ხვალ ადრე უნდა ავდგე” (khval adre unda avdge) — Tomorrow I have to get up early. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.