ყველაზე: superlative — literally 'than all'
The course showed the comparative in the market unit: უფრო … ვიდრე and the postposition -ზე ('ჩემზე მაღალია' — taller than me). The superlative is built from exactly the same material, and it is worth seeing. For example: “ეს ჩვენი ყველაზე დიდი ხარჯია” — This is our biggest expense. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The course showed the comparative in the market unit: უფრო (upro) … ვიდრე (vidre) and the postposition -ზე ('ჩემზე მაღალია (chemze maghalia)' — taller than me). The superlative is built from exactly the same material, and it is worth seeing.
ყველაზე (qvelaze) is 'ყველა (qvela)' (all) plus the same postposition -ზე: literally 'than all'. It stands before the adjective and changes nothing inside it: ყველაზე იაფი (qvelaze iapi) — the cheapest, ყველაზე რთული (qvelaze rtuli) — the hardest. The adjective stays the same word it was — Georgian builds nothing like 'cheapest' inside the word itself.
To avoid boasting or overstating, people say ერთ-ერთი ყველაზე (ert erti qvelaze) — one of the most: 'ერთ-ერთი ყველაზე კარგი ექიმია (ert erti qvelaze kargi ekimia)'. In living speech this turns up almost more often than the plain superlative, because Georgian politeness dislikes categorical statements.
There is also a bookish form — the prefix უ- with the suffix -ესი: უდიდესი (greatest), უმცირესი (smallest), უმაღლესი (highest). Living speech avoids it, but you are certain to meet two expressions with it, as fixed terms: უმაღლესი განათლება — higher education and უმცირესი ხარჯი — minimal costs. Memorizing the whole model is unnecessary; recognizing it on sight is enough: a 'უ-' at the front and '-ესი' at the end — that is your superlative.
Table
| Form | How it is built | Example | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| ყველაზე + adjective | 'ყველა' + the postposition '-ზე' | ყველაზე იაფი — the cheapest | ordinary speech |
| ერთ-ერთი ყველაზე | 'one of' + the superlative | ერთ-ერთი ყველაზე კარგი | a softened judgment |
| უ-…-ესი | a prefix and a suffix | უდიდესი — greatest | bookish style |
| უმაღლესი | from 'მაღალი' | უმაღლესი განათლება — higher education | a fixed term |
| უფრო … ვიდრე | the comparative, for reference | უფრო ძვირი, ვიდრე ეს | comparing two things |
| -ზე + adjective | comparing with a person | ჩემზე მაღალია — taller than me | ordinary speech |
By example
- ეს ჩვენი ყველაზე დიდი ხარჯიაes chveni qvelaze didi kharjiaThis is our biggest expense
- ბათუმი ერთ-ერთი ყველაზე დიდი ქალაქიაbatumi ert-erti qvelaze didi kalakiaBatumi is one of the biggest cities
- უმაღლესი განათლების მიღება მინდაumaghlesi ganatlebis migheba mindaI want to get a higher education
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
superlative — literally 'than all': how does it work in Georgian?
The course showed the comparative in the market unit: უფრო … ვიდრე and the postposition -ზე ('ჩემზე მაღალია' — taller than me). The superlative is built from exactly the same material, and it is worth seeing.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ეს ჩვენი ყველაზე დიდი ხარჯია” (es chveni qvelaze didi kharjia) — This is our biggest expense. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.