Lingoflyოცდაათი, ორმოცი, ასი: Georgian counts by twenties
Up to twenty nothing is unusual. After that comes a system almost nowhere else in Europe: the count runs not by tens but by twenties. For example: “ეს (es) ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati) ლარი (lari) ღირს (ghirs), ის (is) კი (ki) სამოცი” (samotsi) — This costs fifty lari, and that one sixty. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Up to twenty nothing is unusual. After that comes a system almost nowhere else in Europe: the count runs not by tens but by twenties.
ოცი (otsi) — twenty — is the new counting unit. ორმოცი (ormotsi) — two twenties, forty. სამოცი (samotsi) — three twenties, sixty. ოთხმოცი (otkhmotsi) — four twenties, eighty. Tens simply do not exist in this count.
What does not divide by twenty gets ten added. The word და (da) means 'and' here: ოცდაათი (otsdaati) = ოცი (otsi) + და (da) + ათი (ati), that is thirty. ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati) — forty and ten, fifty.
Single digits attach with the same და (da): ოცდახუთი (otsdakhuti) — twenty-five. This is where a foreigner stumbles. Hearing ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati), count fifty, not 'forty ten'. Past a hundred the twenties stop: ასი (asi) — a hundred.
Table
| number | in Georgian | how it is built | literally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | თერთმეტი (tertmeti) | ერთ (ert) + მეტი (meti) | one on top of ten |
| 15 | თხუთმეტი (tkhutmeti) | ხუთ (khut) + მეტი (meti) | five on top of ten |
| 20 | ოცი (otsi) | — | twenty |
| 30 | ოცდაათი (otsdaati) | ოცი (otsi) + და (da) + ათი (ati) | twenty and ten |
| 40 | ორმოცი (ormotsi) | ორი (ori) × ოცი (otsi) | two twenties |
| 50 | ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati) | ორმოცი (ormotsi) + და (da) + ათი (ati) | forty and ten |
| 60 | სამოცი (samotsi) | სამი (sami) × ოცი (otsi) | three twenties |
| 80 | ოთხმოცი (otkhmotsi) | ოთხი (otkhi) × ოცი (otsi) | four twenties |
| 90 | ოთხმოცდაათი (otkhmotsdaati) | ოთხმოცი (otkhmotsi) + და (da) + ათი (ati) | eighty and ten |
| 100 | ასი (asi) | — | one hundred |
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
Georgian counts by twenties: how does it work in Georgian?
Up to twenty nothing is unusual. After that comes a system almost nowhere else in Europe: the count runs not by tens but by twenties.
What does it look like in a Georgian example sentence?
“ეს (es) ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati) ლარი (lari) ღირს (ghirs), ის (is) კი (ki) სამოცი” (samotsi) (es ormotsdaati lari ghirs, is ki samotsi) — This costs fifty lari, and that one sixty. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.