ოცდაათი, ორმოცი, ასი: Georgian counts by twenties
The money unit demands numbers, and Georgian numbers are built differently from English ones. Up to twenty everything is familiar; after twenty begins a system Europe has almost nowhere left: they count not by tens but by twenties. French lives by the same logic with quatre-vingts — four twenties. For example: “ეს ორმოცდაათი ლარი ღირს, ის კი სამოცი” — This costs fifty lari, and that one sixty. A rule from the…
How it works
The money unit demands numbers, and Georgian numbers are built differently from English ones. Up to twenty everything is familiar; after twenty begins a system Europe has almost nowhere left: they count not by tens but by twenties. French lives by the same logic with quatre-vingts — four twenties.
Up to twenty. From eleven to nineteen a frame თ-…-მეტი (-meti) works, and you already know მეტი (meti): it means 'more'. თერთმეტი (tertmeti) — one on top of ten, თორმეტი (tormeti) — two on top, ცამეტი (tsameti), თოთხმეტი (totkhmeti), თხუთმეტი (tkhutmeti), თექვსმეტი (tekvsmeti), ჩვიდმეტი (chvidmeti), თვრამეტი (tvrameti), ცხრამეტი (tskhrameti). The roots are recognizable if you remember that ერთი (erti) in the middle shrinks to ერთ- (ert) and ოთხი (otkhi) to ოთხ- (otkh).
Twenty is the new counting unit. ოცი (otsi) — twenty. Everything beyond is built from it: ორმოცი (ormotsi) — two twenties, that is forty; სამოცი (samotsi) — three twenties, sixty; ოთხმოცი (otkhmotsi) — four twenties, eighty. Tens simply do not exist in Georgian counting.
And if the number does not divide by twenty, ten is added. The word და (da) here means 'and': ოცდაათი (otsdaati) = ოცი + და + ათი (ati) = twenty and ten, thirty. ორმოცდაათი (ormotsdaati) = forty and ten, fifty. სამოცდაათი (samotsdaati) = seventy. ოთხმოცდაათი (otkhmotsdaati) = ninety. The words are long, but they assemble from three known pieces, and they should be read exactly that way — aloud and by parts.
Units glue on with the same 'და'. ოცდახუთი (otsdakhuti) — twenty-five, ორმოცდაცამეტი — forty and thirteen, that is fifty-three. The last word in the chain is the remainder of the nearest twenty, and this is the one place where a foreigner genuinely stumbles: hearing ორმოცდაათი, you must compute not 'forty ten' but 'fifty'.
Beyond the twenties there is nothing new. ასი (asi) — one hundred, ორასი (orasi) — two hundred, ათასი (atasi) — one thousand (literally 'ten hundreds'), მილიონი (milioni) — a million. Hundreds and thousands count normally, by tens, and after ninety the system runs out of breath.
And the main thing for the till: the counted noun stays singular. ხუთი ლარი (khuti lari), not ხუთი ლარები. The plural -ები is never used with a number — a rule you know already, and it works the same with big numbers.
Table
| number | in Georgian | how it is built | literally |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | თერთმეტი | ერთ + მეტი | one on top of ten |
| 15 | თხუთმეტი | ხუთ + მეტი | five on top of ten |
| 20 | ოცი | — | twenty |
| 30 | ოცდაათი | ოცი + და + ათი | twenty and ten |
| 40 | ორმოცი | ორი × ოცი | two twenties |
| 50 | ორმოცდაათი | ორმოცი + და + ათი | forty and ten |
| 60 | სამოცი | სამი × ოცი | three twenties |
| 80 | ოთხმოცი | ოთხი × ოცი | four twenties |
| 90 | ოთხმოცდაათი | ოთხმოცი + და + ათი | eighty and ten |
| 100 | ასი | — | one hundred |
By example
- ეს ორმოცდაათი ლარი ღირს, ის კი სამოციes ormotsdaati lari ghirs, is ki samotsiThis costs fifty lari, and that one sixty
- ბებია ოთხმოცდაათი წლისაა და ჯერ კიდევ ბაღში მუშაობსbebia otkhmotsdaati tslisaa da jer kidev baghshi mushaobsGrandma is ninety and still works in the garden
- ბინა ას ათასი ლარი ღირსbina as atasi lari ghirsThe flat costs one hundred thousand lari
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 counts by twenties: how does it work in Georgian?
The money unit demands numbers, and Georgian numbers are built differently from English ones. Up to twenty everything is familiar; after twenty begins a system Europe has almost nowhere left: they count not by tens but by twenties. French lives by the same logic with quatre-vingts — four twenties.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ეს ორმოცდაათი ლარი ღირს, ის კი სამოცი” (es ormotsdaati lari ghirs, is ki samotsi) — This costs fifty lari, and that one sixty. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.