სწავლა, გაზომვა, ჩაწერა: the verb's dictionary name and how to get a live form out of it
You have surely noticed that every 'to do' in this course was rendered by a word on '-ა', '-ება' or '-ვა' — 'სწავლა' (learning), 'გაზომვა' (measuring), 'ჩაწერა' (signing up). This is not an infinitive. Georgian has no infinitive at all; in its place works the verbal noun, the masdar — and it really is a noun, with all the cases. For example: “სიტყვების სწავლა ყოველ დილით მჭირდება” — Learning words is something I…
How it works
You have surely noticed that every 'to do' in this course was rendered by a word on '-ა', '-ება' or '-ვა' — 'სწავლა (stsavla)' (learning), 'გაზომვა (gazomva)' (measuring), 'ჩაწერა (chatsera)' (signing up). This is not an infinitive. Georgian has no infinitive at all; in its place works the verbal noun, the masdar — and it really is a noun, with all the cases.
The first consequence: the masdar declines. 'სწავლა' → 'სწავლის' (of learning) → 'სწავლას (stsavlas)' → 'სწავლით'. From there comes the shape of this wave's phrases: 'კურსზე ჩაწერა (kursze chatsera)', 'სიტყვების სწავლა (sitqvebis stsavla)', 'შეხვედრის გადატანა (shekhvedris gadatana)'.
The second, and the most useful: the object of a masdar stands in the genitive. English says 'to read a book' with a plain object; Georgian says 'წიგნის კითხვა (tsignis kitkhva)', literally 'the reading of the book'. Likewise: 'მანქანის ტარება (mankanis tareba)' (driving a car), 'ბოსტნეულის გაფცქვნა (bostneulis gaptskvna)' (peeling vegetables), 'ხის დარგვა (khis dargva)' (planting a tree). Put the dative here and you are understood — but heard as a foreigner.
Third: how to get from the masdar to a live verb. Drop the noun ending and add a person. 'სწავლა' → ვსწავლობ (I learn). 'გაზომვა' → გავზომავ (I will measure). 'შეკეთება (sheketeba)' → შევაკეთებ (I will fix). The prefix 'ვ-' is 'I'; the same prefix vanishes in a command — 'გაზომე!'. The rule is not mechanical — verbs have their own stems — but the direction always holds: the noun is general, the live form is personal.
And fourth. Not every verb keeps its masdar in circulation. 'To try one's best', 'to find it hard', 'to be stuffy' have no living noun form, and the course gives them as ready forms: 'ვცდილობ (vtsdilob)', 'მიჭირს (michirs)', 'ხუთავს (khutavs)'. The same with 'მიყვარს (miqvars)' (I love) and 'მჭირდება (mchirdeba)' (I need), given since wave 1. When you see such a form in the dictionary instead of a noun, know that this is not an oversight but the language itself.
Table
| Masdar | Meaning | I do | Object with the masdar |
|---|---|---|---|
| სწავლა | to learn | ვსწავლობ | სიტყვების სწავლა |
| კითხვა | to read | ვკითხულობ | წიგნის კითხვა |
| ტარება | to drive | ვატარებ | მანქანის ტარება |
| გაზომვა | to measure | გავზომავ | ფანჯრის გაზომვა |
| შეკეთება | to fix | შევაკეთებ | ონკანის შეკეთება |
| ჩაწერა | to sign up | ჩავწერ | კურსზე ჩაწერა |
| — (not in use) | to try | ვცდილობ | — |
By example
- სიტყვების სწავლა ყოველ დილით მჭირდებაsitqvebis stsavla qovel dilit mchirdebaLearning words is something I need every morning
- ფანჯრის გაზომვა ხვალ მინდაpanjris gazomva khval mindaMeasuring the window I want to do tomorrow
- გრამატიკას დამოუკიდებლად ვსწავლობgramatikas damoukideblad vstsavlobI am learning the grammar on my own
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
the verb's dictionary name and how to get a live form out of it: how does it work in Georgian?
You have surely noticed that every 'to do' in this course was rendered by a word on '-ა', '-ება' or '-ვა' — 'სწავლა' (learning), 'გაზომვა' (measuring), 'ჩაწერა' (signing up). This is not an infinitive. Georgian has no infinitive at all; in its place works the verbal noun, the masdar — and it really…
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“სიტყვების სწავლა ყოველ დილით მჭირდება” (sitqvebis stsavla qovel dilit mchirdeba) — Learning words is something I need every morning. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.