ნისლი, ნისლმა, ნისლს: seven cases and what each one does
The course has reached the point where the cases can no longer be postponed. You have seen them by the dozen already: 'მზის ამოსვლა', 'ფეხით', 'ტყეში', 'სეტყვამ'. Time to gather them into one picture — it is simpler than it looks. For example: “სეტყვამ ბოსტნის კვალი გაანადგურა” — The hail destroyed the vegetable bed. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The course has reached the point where the cases can no longer be postponed. You have seen them by the dozen already: 'მზის ამოსვლა (mzis amosvla)', 'ფეხით (pekhit)', 'ტყეში (tqeshi)', 'სეტყვამ (setqvam)'. Time to gather them into one picture — it is simpler than it looks.
There are seven cases, but the rule is one: an ending is added to the stem, and the stem is always the same. You get the stem from the dictionary form: for words on '-ი' that '-ი' is dropped (ნისლი (nisli) → ნისლ-), for words on '-ა', '-ე', '-ო' the stem is the word itself (მთა (mta) → მთა- (mta)). There are no declension classes and no genders to memorize — Georgian has neither.
The nominative ('-ი') is the dictionary form and the subject in the present: 'ნისლი ჩამოწვა (nisli chamotsva)'. The ergative ('-მა') is the subject of a transitive verb in the aorist, and nothing else: 'სეტყვამ მოსავალი გაანადგურა (setqvam mosavali gaanadgura)' (the hail destroyed the harvest). This is the case behind 'მე (me)' turning into 'მან (man)' in the past. The dative ('-ს') is the direct object in the present and the recipient: 'ბილიკს ვხედავ', 'ძმას ვეუბნები'.
The genitive ('-ის (-is)') is the most frequent in this wave: it links two nouns, doing the work of English 'of' and the apostrophe-s. 'მზის ამოსვლა' (the sunrise, 'of the sun'), 'ხის ჩრდილი (khis chrdili)' (the shade of the tree), 'ბოსტნის კვალი (bostnis kvali)' (the bed of the garden). Note the order: the defining word comes first — the mirror image of English. The instrumental ('-ით (-it)') is 'with what, how': 'ფეხით' (on foot), 'ხელით (khelit)' (by hand), 'ყურით (qurit)' (by ear). The adverbial ('-ად') is 'as what' and doubles as the adverb maker: 'მასწავლებლად მუშაობს' (works as a teacher), 'სწრაფად (stsrapad)' (quickly), 'უფასოდ (upasod)' (for free).
The seventh, the vocative ('-ო'), is needed only for addressing someone: 'ბიჭო!', 'დედაჩემო!'. In the city it is rare; in villages and in song it is everywhere.
And one trap you have already met: a description in front of a noun declines more shortly than the noun — the adjective drops its '-ი', and the full ending goes to the noun. 'სქელი ნისლი (skeli nisli)' → 'სქელ ნისლში'. The rule is the one from the adjective note earlier in the course.
Table
| Case | Ending | ნისლი (fog) | მთა (mountain) | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | -ი | ნისლი | მთა | the dictionary form, the subject |
| ergative | -მა | ნისლმა | მთამ | the subject of the aorist |
| dative | -ს | ნისლს | მთას | the object, the recipient |
| genitive | -ის | ნისლის | მთის | whose, of what — like 'of' |
| instrumental | -ით | ნისლით | მთით | with what, how |
| adverbial | -ად | ნისლად | მთად | as what; makes adverbs |
| vocative | -ო | ნისლო | მთაო | addressing someone |
By example
- სეტყვამ ბოსტნის კვალი გაანადგურაsetqvam bostnis kvali gaanadguraThe hail destroyed the vegetable bed
- ბილიკი კლდის გასწვრივ მიდისbiliki kldis gastsvriv midisThe path runs along the rock
- მთაში ფეხით ავედითmtashi pekhit aveditWe went up the mountain on foot
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
Georgian ergative case explained?
The course has reached the point where the cases can no longer be postponed. You have seen them by the dozen already: 'მზის ამოსვლა', 'ფეხით', 'ტყეში', 'სეტყვამ'. Time to gather them into one picture — it is simpler than it looks.
How many cases Georgian has?
There are seven cases, but the rule is one: an ending is added to the stem, and the stem is always the same. You get the stem from the dictionary form: for words on '-ი' that '-ი' is dropped (ნისლი → ნისლ-), for words on '-ა', '-ე', '-ო' the stem is the word itself (მთა → მთა-). There are no…
Why the subject changes ending in the Georgian past?
The nominative ('-ი') is the dictionary form and the subject in the present: 'ნისლი ჩამოწვა'. The ergative ('-მა') is the subject of a transitive verb in the aorist, and nothing else: 'სეტყვამ მოსავალი გაანადგურა' (the hail destroyed the harvest). This is the case behind 'მე' turning into 'მან' in…
Ნისლი, ნისლმა, ნისლს: the Georgian case endings?
The genitive ('-ის') is the most frequent in this wave: it links two nouns, doing the work of English 'of' and the apostrophe-s. 'მზის ამოსვლა' (the sunrise, 'of the sun'), 'ხის ჩრდილი' (the shade of the tree), 'ბოსტნის კვალი' (the bed of the garden). Note the order: the defining word comes first…
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“სეტყვამ ბოსტნის კვალი გაანადგურა” (setqvam bostnis kvali gaanadgura) — The hail destroyed the vegetable bed. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.