რომელიც: attaching a whole sentence to a noun
Until now a description in Georgian was one word before the noun: 'ახალი ბინა', 'რთული გამოცდა'. At B1 that is not enough: 'the flat we looked at yesterday' is a description the length of a sentence, and it hangs on the word რომელიც. For example: “ბინა, რომელიც გუშინ ვნახეთ, ძვირია” — The flat we looked at yesterday is expensive. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Until now a description in Georgian was one word before the noun: 'ახალი ბინა (akhali bina)', 'რთული გამოცდა (rtuli gamotsda)'. At B1 that is not enough: 'the flat we looked at yesterday' is a description the length of a sentence, and it hangs on the word რომელიც (romelits).
The word is transparent: it is the question word რომელი (which) plus the particle -ც (-ts), which turns a question into a link — exactly like 'რაც (rats)' from 'რა (ra)' or 'სადაც (sadats)' from 'სად (sad)'. The clause goes after its noun and is set off by commas on both sides: 'ბინა (bina), რომელიც გუშინ ვნახეთ (romelits gushin vnakhet), ძვირია (dzviria)'.
The main difficulty is the case. რომელიც declines according to its role inside its own clause, not according to the role of the main word. 'The doctor who treated me' — the doctor is the subject of the clause with a transitive verb, so the ergative: რომელმაც (romelmats). 'The child I teach' — an object, so რომელსაც (romelsats). And remember the order: the particle -ც attaches last, after the case ending and after the postposition — რომელშიც, რომელზეც (romelzets), რომელთანაც (romeltanats). Not 'რომელიცში' but 'რომელშიც'.
In living speech the same job is often done by plain რომ (rom) placed after the first word of the clause: 'ის კაცი რომ ბანკში მუშაობს (is katsi rom bankshi mushaobs), ჩემი მეზობელია (chemi mezobelia)' — that man who works at the bank is my neighbor. Understanding this is mandatory; speaking is safer through 'რომელიც': the 'რომ' variant demands a feel for word order that a newcomer does not have yet.
Table
| Role in the clause | Form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| subject | რომელიც | კაცი, რომელიც მუშაობს | the man who works |
| subject of a transitive verb | რომელმაც | ექიმი, რომელმაც დამიწერა | the doctor who wrote me a prescription |
| object | რომელსაც | ბავშვი, რომელსაც ვასწავლი | the child I teach |
| possession | რომლის | ბინა, რომლის ქირაც ძვირია | the flat whose rent is high |
| 'in which' | რომელშიც | ოთახი, რომელშიც ვცხოვრობ | the room I live in |
| 'for which' | რომელზეც | ვაკანსია, რომელზეც განაცხადი გავგზავნე | the vacancy I applied for |
| colloquial substitute | რომ | ის კაცი რომ მუშაობს | that man who works |
By example
- ბინა, რომელიც გუშინ ვნახეთ, ძვირიაbina, romelits gushin vnakhet, dzviriaThe flat we looked at yesterday is expensive
- ექიმი, რომელმაც მიმკურნალა, ძალიან კარგიაekimi, romelmats mimkurnala, dzalian kargiaThe doctor who treated me is very good
- ეს ის ვაკანსიაა, რომელზეც განაცხადი გავგზავნეes is vakansiaa, romelzets ganatskhadi gavgzavneThis is the very vacancy I sent an application for
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
attaching a whole sentence to a noun: how does it work in Georgian?
Until now a description in Georgian was one word before the noun: 'ახალი ბინა', 'რთული გამოცდა'. At B1 that is not enough: 'the flat we looked at yesterday' is a description the length of a sentence, and it hangs on the word რომელიც.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ბინა, რომელიც გუშინ ვნახეთ, ძვირია” (bina, romelits gushin vnakhet, dzviria) — The flat we looked at yesterday is expensive. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.