'To me' and 'to you' live inside the verb
In English 'to me' and 'to you' are separate words you can move around the sentence. Georgian keeps the recipient inside the verb, as a prefix, and you cannot get it out of there. For example: “გილოცავთ, ძალიან მიხარია!” — 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 the sentence. Georgian keeps the recipient inside the verb, as a prefix, and you cannot get it out of there.
There are two clues, and you have seen both in pieces: მ- means 'to me, me' and გ- means 'to you, you'. მიხარია (mikharia) — I am glad, გიხარია — you are glad. მეშინია (meshinia) — I am afraid, გეშინია (geshinia) — you are afraid. მჭირდება (mchirdeba) — I need it, გჭირდება (gchirdeba) — you need it. One letter changes and the whole sentence changes.
This is also where something frightening at first comes from: a single Georgian word translates as a whole English sentence. გილოცავ (gilotsav) — 'I congratulate you'. მაჩვენეთ (machvenet) — 'show me'. სახლი მენატრება (sakhli menatreba) — 'I miss home', literally 'the home longs for me': it is the thing that misses the person, not the person the thing. The polite 'to you' grows out of 'to you (informal)' the same way as everywhere — with the ending -თ: გილოცავ → გილოცავთ (gilotsavt).
Assembling such verbs yourself is not required at level A2, and the course does not ask it. What is required: see მ- and გ- at the start of a word and know who it is about. Hearing an unfamiliar verb on მ-, you already know it is about you — and that is half the meaning.
Table
| to me (მ-) | to you (გ-) | what the verb is about |
|---|---|---|
| მიხარია | გიხარია | glad |
| მეშინია | გეშინია | afraid |
| მჭირდება | გჭირდება | needed |
| მენატრება | გენატრება | missed, longed for |
| მომწონს | მოგწონს | liked |
By example
- გილოცავთ, ძალიან მიხარია!gilotsavt, dzalian mikharia!Congratulations, I am so glad!
- პასპორტი მაჩვენეთpasporti machvenetShow me your passport
- ეს კაბა მომწონსes kaba momtsonsI like this dress
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 the sentence. Georgian keeps the recipient inside the verb, as a prefix, and you cannot get it out of there.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“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.