ვწერდი, დავწერე, დამიწერია: three pasts and what each one tells
Until now the course had a single past: 'წავედი', 'ვიყიდე'. At B1 there turn out to be three, and the choice between them is not style but meaning. For example: “როცა დამირეკეს, ანგარიშს ვწერდი” — When they called me, I was writing the report. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Until now the course had a single past: 'წავედი (tsavedi)', 'ვიყიდე (viqide)'. At B1 there turn out to be three, and the choice between them is not style but meaning.
The imperfect (the form on '-დი') speaks of an action as ongoing or repeated: ვწერდი (vtserdi) — I was writing, and there is no telling whether I finished. This is the background of a story: 'როცა დამირეკეს (rotsa damirekes), ვმუშაობდი (vmushaobdi)' — when they called me, I was working.
The aorist reports the action as a completed fact, whole: დავწერე (davtsere) — I wrote (and it is done). This is the event of the story, the thing that moves it forward: 'დავწერე და გავაგზავნე (davtsere da gavagzavne)'.
The difference is the same as between English 'I was writing' and 'I wrote', so the feel for it transfers almost without loss. The trap lies elsewhere — in the case of the subject. With the aorist of a transitive verb the subject goes into the ergative: 'მე ვწერდი (me vtserdi)', but 'მან დაწერა (man datsera)'. With the imperfect there is no ergative. This is where foreigners slip most often.
The third form is the perfect (usually on '-ია', or with the prefix 'მი-/და- (da)' and special endings): დამიწერია. It translates as 'it turns out I have written' or 'I have, reportedly, written' — and this is not a stylistic tint but an obligatory form when the speaker was not an eyewitness of what he tells. Hearsay, an inference from traces, a second-hand report: 'ის წასულა (is tsasula)' — he has, apparently, left (I did not see it). To say 'ის წავიდა (is tsavida)' in such a situation is to claim you saw it yourself.
That is why the perfect is the working form of news and gossip: 'ჭორების მიხედვით (chorebis mikhedvit), ფასები აუწევიათ' — according to rumors, prices have been raised. And that is also why it is obligatory when denying long-standing experience: 'იქ არასდროს ვყოფილვარ (ik arasdros vqopilvar)' — I have never been there.
Table
| Form | What it is called | What it reports | Case of the subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| ვწერდი | the imperfect | was writing; it went on or was repeated | nominative: მე |
| დავწერე | the aorist | wrote, a fact whole | ergative: მე → მან in the 3rd person |
| დამიწერია | the perfect | have written, it seems; not seen firsthand | dative: მე → მას in the 3rd person |
| ვმუშაობდი | the imperfect | was working (the background) | nominative |
| ვიმუშავე | the aorist | worked (a fact) | nominative — the verb is intransitive |
| წასულა | the perfect | has left, by hearsay | nominative |
| არასდროს ვყოფილვარ | the perfect | have never been | nominative |
By example
- როცა დამირეკეს, ანგარიშს ვწერდიrotsa damirekes, angarishs vtserdiWhen they called me, I was writing the report
- ჟურნალისტმა სტატია ერთ ღამეში დაწერაzhurnalistma statia ert ghameshi datseraThe journalist wrote the article in a single night
- ამბობენ, რომ ის უკვე წასულაamboben, rom is ukve tsasulaThey say he has already left, apparently
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
three pasts and what each one tells: how does it work in Georgian?
Until now the course had a single past: 'წავედი', 'ვიყიდე'. At B1 there turn out to be three, and the choice between them is not style but meaning.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“როცა დამირეკეს, ანგარიშს ვწერდი” (rotsa damirekes, angarishs vtserdi) — When they called me, I was writing the report. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.