Lingoflyმაღალი კაცი and კაცი მაღალია: the adjective before the noun and in the predicate
Describing a person is almost all adjectives. They behave more simply than you expect, and in three places quite differently. For example: “ჩემი (chemi) მეზობელი (mezobeli) მოკრძალებული (mokrdzalebuli) და (da) საიმედოა” — My neighbor is modest and dependable. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Describing a person is almost all adjectives. They behave more simply than you expect, and in three places quite differently.
First: an adjective has no gender and no number. მაღალი (maghali) კაცი (katsi) (maghali katsi), მაღალი (maghali) ქალი (kali) (maghali kali), მაღალი (maghali) ბიჭები — the word never changes once. The noun carries the plural.
Second: 'he is tall' is made by the ending -ა, not by a separate word. English needs 'is'; Georgian glues -ა onto the adjective itself: მაღალია (maghalia). If the word ends in -ი, that -ი goes: ჯიუტი (jiuti) → ჯიუტია (jiutia) (jiutia).
Third, about endings. A description in front of the noun changes too, but more briefly: it drops -ი and takes the ending. ახალი (akhali) ბინა (bina) (akhali bina) → ახალ (akhal) ბინაში (binashi) (akhal binashi) — in the new flat. The noun gets the full ending, the word in front of it a clipped one.
Table
| Role | Form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| a description | no change | ჯიუტი (jiuti) ბავშვი (bavshvi) | a stubborn child |
| a description in a case | shortened, without '-ი' | ჯიუტ ბავშვს (bavshvs) | to a stubborn child |
| the predicate | '-ი' → '-ა' | ბავშვი (bavshvi) ჯიუტია (jiutia) | the child is stubborn |
| the plural | only the noun changes | ჯიუტი (jiuti) ბავშვები (bavshvebi) | stubborn children |
| 'with something' | the suffix '-იანი' | ხასიათიანი | with character |
| 'without something' | 'უ-…-ო' | უხასიათო | out of sorts, lifeless |
| the name of a quality | the prefix 'სი-' | სიმაღლე (simaghle) | height |
By example
- chemi mezobeli mokrdzalebuli da saimedoaMy neighbor is modest and dependable
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 adjective before the noun and in the predicate: how does it work in Georgian?
Describing a person is almost all adjectives. They behave more simply than you expect, and in three places quite differently.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“ჩემი (chemi) მეზობელი (mezobeli) მოკრძალებული (mokrdzalebuli) და (da) საიმედოა” (chemi mezobeli mokrdzalebuli da saimedoa) — My neighbor is modest and dependable. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.