იყიდება, ქირავდება: how Georgian speaks without a doer
Half the signs in Georgia are written in a form the course has not shown yet. იყიდება — for sale (is sold), ქირავდება — for rent (is rented out), იხსნება — opens. There is no doer in them and none implied: someone is selling, but who — the sentence does not say. For example: “ეს ბინა ქირავდება” — This flat is for rent. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half the signs in Georgia are written in a form the course has not shown yet. იყიდება (iqideba) — for sale (is sold), ქირავდება (kiravdeba) — for rent (is rented out), იხსნება (ikhsneba) — opens. There is no doer in them and none implied: someone is selling, but who — the sentence does not say.
Such forms are assembled in two ways, and telling them apart on sight is worth it. The first: the prefix ი- in front of the stem: 'ყიდის (qidis)' sells → იყიდება is sold, 'ხსნის' opens → იხსნება is opened, 'წერს (tsers)' writes → იწერება (itsereba) is written. The second: the suffix -დ- inside the word: 'ქირაობს' rents → ქირავდება is rented out, 'ამზადებს (amzadebs)' prepares → მზადდება (mzaddeba) is being prepared. Both give the same result: there is an action, and no doer.
The third way of doing without a doer is not to touch the verb at all but to put it in the third person plural: 'რეისი გააუქმეს (reisi gaaukmes)' — the flight was cancelled, 'ოქმი შეადგინეს' — the minutes were drawn up. Who cancelled, who drew it up — not said and not important. English does the same ('they cancelled'), so this construction is the easiest of the three; the only difficulty is not inserting the word 'they' — the pronoun here is superfluous and sounds wrong.
The difference between 'რეისი გააუქმეს' and 'რეისი გაუქმდა' is subtle but alive: the first reports that someone made a decision, the second that the flight simply is not there. The airport announcement uses the second; the passenger's complaint uses the first.
And the last thing: these forms have no direct object, so there is no ergative either. In 'ბინა ქირავდება (bina kiravdeba)' the word 'ბინა (bina)' is the subject in the nominative, not an object. Beginners put 'ბინას (binas)' out of habit, and that is a mistake you hear at once.
Table
| Active form | Without a doer | How it is built | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ყიდის — sells | იყიდება | the prefix ი- | is sold |
| ხსნის — opens | იხსნება | the prefix ი- | is opened |
| წერს — writes | იწერება | the prefix ი- | is written |
| ქირაობს — rents | ქირავდება | the suffix -დ- | is rented out |
| ამზადებს — prepares | მზადდება | the suffix -დ- | is being prepared |
| გააუქმა — cancelled | გააუქმეს | third person plural | was cancelled |
| შეადგინა — drew up | შეადგინეს | third person plural | was drawn up |
By example
- ეს ბინა ქირავდებაes bina kiravdebaThis flat is for rent
- ამინდის გამო რეისი გააუქმესamindis gamo reisi gaaukmesThe flight was cancelled because of the weather
- მუზეუმი ათ საათზე იხსნებაmuzeumi at saatze ikhsnebaThe museum opens at ten o'clock
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
how Georgian speaks without a doer: how does it work in Georgian?
Half the signs in Georgia are written in a form the course has not shown yet. იყიდება — for sale (is sold), ქირავდება — for rent (is rented out), იხსნება — opens. There is no doer in them and none implied: someone is selling, but who — the sentence does not say.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ეს ბინა ქირავდება” (es bina kiravdeba) — This flat is for rent. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.