Lingoflyიყიდება, ქირავდება: how Georgian speaks without a doer
Half the signs in Georgia use a special form with no doer. იყიდება (iqideba) — for sale, ქირავდება — for rent, იხსნება (ikhsneba) — opens. There is no doer in them: someone sells, but who is never said. For example: “ეს (es) ბინა (bina) ქირავდება” — This flat is for rent. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half the signs in Georgia use a special form with no doer. იყიდება (iqideba) — for sale, ქირავდება (kiravdeba) — for rent, იხსნება (ikhsneba) — opens. There is no doer in them: someone sells, but who is never said.
Such forms are built two ways. First, the prefix ი- before the stem: ყიდის (qidis) sells → იყიდება (iqideba) is sold, ხსნის opens → იხსნება (ikhsneba) opens. Second, the suffix -დ- inside the word: ქირაობს rents → ქირავდება is for rent.
A third way to leave the doer out: keep the verb as it is, but in the plural. რეისი გააუქმეს (reisi gaaukmes) — the flight was cancelled. Who cancelled it is neither said nor important.
English does the same with 'was cancelled', so this needs no getting used to. One warning: never add ისინი (isini). The pronoun is wrong here.
Table
| Active form | Without a doer | How it is built | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ყიდის (qidis) — sells | იყიდება (iqideba) | the prefix ი- | is sold |
| ხსნის — opens | იხსნება (ikhsneba) | the prefix ი- | is opened |
| წერს — writes | იწერება (itsereba) | the prefix ი- | is written |
| ქირაობს — rents | ქირავდება | the suffix -დ- | is rented out |
| ამზადებს — prepares | მზადდება (mzaddeba) | the suffix -დ- | is being prepared |
| გააუქმა — cancelled | გააუქმეს (gaaukmes) | third person plural | was cancelled |
| შეადგინა (sheadgina) — drew up | შეადგინეს | third person plural | was drawn up |
By example
- ამინდის გამო რეისი გააუქმესamindis gamo reisi gaaukmesThe flight was cancelled because of the weather
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
how Georgian speaks without a doer: how does it work in Georgian?
Half the signs in Georgia use a special form with no doer. იყიდება (iqideba) — for sale, ქირავდება — for rent, იხსნება (ikhsneba) — opens. There is no doer in them: someone sells, but who is never said.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“ეს (es) ბინა (bina) ქირავდება” (es bina kiravdeba) — This flat is for rent. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.