'Must' and 'can': უნდა and შემიძლია
Two words no day goes by without: უნდა — must, have to, and შემიძლია — I can. They are built differently, and the difference is worth seeing at once. 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 by without: უნდა (unda) — must, have to, and შემიძლია (shemidzlia) — I can. They are built differently, and the difference is worth seeing at once.
უნდა never changes at all and always stands before the verb: უნდა წავიდე (unda tsavide) — I have to go, უნდა ვიყიდო — I have to buy, ხვალ ადრე უნდა ავდგე (khval adre unda avdge) — tomorrow I have to get up early. Who exactly has to is said by the verb after it, with its usual ვ-. One trap, and a painful one: უნდა is spelled the same as the form 'he wants' (მას უნდა (mas unda)). The sentence as a whole tells them apart, and in living speech the confusion almost never happens.
შემიძლია is the opposite: a personal form, with the familiar recipient marker inside: შე-მ-იძლია — I can, შე-გ-იძლია — you can. The same pair მ- / გ- as in მიხარია (mikharia) and გიხარია. And the impersonal 'one may' is the familiar შეიძლება (sheidzleba): აქ შეიძლება (ak sheidzleba)? — is it allowed here?
Negation is simple for both: არ უნდა (ar unda) — no need, must not; არ შემიძლია (ar shemidzlia) — I can't. Separately, memorize ვერ (ver) instead of არ (ar) where you cannot because of circumstances rather than choice: ვერ მოვდივარ (ver movdivar) — I can't come (it doesn't work out). Georgians hold this distinction strictly, and ვერ sounds more natural in such a sentence than არ შემიძლია.
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 by without: უნდა — must, have to, and შემიძლია — I can. They are built differently, and the difference is worth seeing at once.
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.