Lingofly'To me' and 'to you' live inside the verb
In English 'to me' and 'to you' are separate words you can move around. Georgian keeps the addressee inside the verb, as a prefix, and there is no taking it out. For example: “გილოცავთ, ძალიან მიხარია!” (gilotsavt, dzalian mikharia) — Congratulations, I am so glad! A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In English 'to me' and 'to you' are separate words you can move around. Georgian keeps the addressee inside the verb, as a prefix, and there is no taking it out.
Two clues: მ- means 'to me, me', გ- means 'to you, you'. მიხარია (mikharia) — I am glad, გიხარია — you are glad. მეშინია (meshinia) — I am afraid, გეშინია (geshinia) — you are afraid. One letter changes and the whole sentence does.
Hence what frightens beginners: one Georgian word becomes a whole English sentence. გილოცავ (gilotsav) — 'I congratulate you'. მაჩვენეთ (machvenet) — 'show me'. სახლი მენატრება (sakhli menatreba) — 'I miss home', literally 'home is longed for by me'.
Assembling such verbs yourself can wait. What you need is to see მ- and გ- at the front and know who is meant.
Table
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
'To me' and 'to you' live inside the verb: how does it work in Georgian?
In English 'to me' and 'to you' are separate words you can move around. Georgian keeps the addressee inside the verb, as a prefix, and there is no taking it out.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“გილოცავთ, ძალიან მიხარია!” (gilotsavt, dzalian mikharia!) — Congratulations, I am so glad! A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.