გადამაღებინა, დავალევინე: made, asked and let someone do it
In a hospital a person almost does nothing himself: they take his scan, do his tests, give him medicine to drink. English gets by with the impersonal 'I had an X-ray done'; Georgian has a special verb form for it — the causative. For example: “ექიმმა ხელის რენტგენი გადამაღებინა” — The doctor had an X-ray taken of my hand. A rule from the Georgian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In a hospital a person almost does nothing himself: they take his scan, do his tests, give him medicine to drink. English gets by with the impersonal 'I had an X-ray done'; Georgian has a special verb form for it — the causative.
The scheme is one: the prefix 'ა-' and the insert '-ებინ-' before the ending. აკეთებს (does) → აკეთებინებს (makes someone do), წერს (writes) → აწერინებს (has someone write), კითხულობს (reads) → აკითხებს (has someone read). With prefixed verbs the prefix stays in place: გადაიღებს (will take a picture) → გადააღებინებს.
The one made to act goes into the dative. 'ბავშვს წამალი დავალევინე (bavshvs tsamali davalevine)' — I got the child to drink the medicine. 'ექიმმა მე რენტგენი გადამაღებინა (ekimma me rentgeni gadamaghebina)' — the doctor had an X-ray taken of me, literally 'made me be photographed'. The person, as always, sits inside the verb: 'მ-' — me, 'გ-' — you.
One form has three English translations, and the situation chooses between them. 'გააკეთებინა' is 'he made him do it', 'he asked him to do it' and 'he had it done' — Georgian reports only that the action did not come from the doer himself. Pressure or plea is spelled out in words: 'ძალით გააკეთებინა' (made him by force), 'თხოვნით გააკეთებინა' (asked him).
And the trap that makes people use the causative more than needed: everyday things done for you by others take no causative. 'თმა შევიჭერი (tma shevicheri)' — I got a haircut, though the hairdresser did the cutting; 'კბილი ამოვიღე' — I had a tooth out, though the dentist pulled it. The causative appears when it matters that you were the one who arranged it: 'ბავშვს კბილი ამოვაღებინე' — I took the child to have a tooth pulled.
Table
| Ordinary verb | Causative | In English | Who is in the dative |
|---|---|---|---|
| აკეთებს | აკეთებინებს | makes someone do | the doer |
| წერს | აწერინებს | has someone write | the doer |
| სვამს | ასმევს | makes someone drink | the doer |
| ჭამს | აჭმევს | feeds | the doer |
| გადაიღებს | გადააღებინებს | has a picture taken | the doer |
| ამოიღებს | ამოაღებინებს | takes to have it pulled | the doer |
By example
- ექიმმა ხელის რენტგენი გადამაღებინაekimma khelis rentgeni gadamaghebinaThe doctor had an X-ray taken of my hand
- ბავშვს წამალი ძლივს დავალევინეbavshvs tsamali dzlivs davalevineI barely got the child to drink the medicine
- უფროსმა ანგარიში თავიდან დამაწერინაuprosma angarishi tavidan damatserinaThe boss made me rewrite the report
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
made, asked and let someone do it: how does it work in Georgian?
In a hospital a person almost does nothing himself: they take his scan, do his tests, give him medicine to drink. English gets by with the impersonal 'I had an X-ray done'; Georgian has a special verb form for it — the causative.
What does it look like in an example sentence Georgian?
“ექიმმა ხელის რენტგენი გადამაღებინა” (ekimma khelis rentgeni gadamaghebina) — The doctor had an X-ray taken of my hand. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.