Asking the way in Georgian
18 words Georgian words on the topic “asking the way”: სად არის? — where is it?, აქ — here, იქ — there, მარჯვნივ — to the right. 18 words can be played from recordings.
18 words on the topic
- სად არის?sad aris?where is it?Sad is where, aris is is: the linker is obligatory — sad alone will not ask about a place
- აქakhereThe partner of ik, there: one letter apart, a against i. Nothing else separates them
- იქikthereOne letter away from ak, here — a pair best memorized as a single unit
- მარჯვნივmarjvnivto the rightThe same marjv- root as in gamarjoba: the right side and victory are related — literally
- მარცხნივmartskhnivto the leftFrom martskhena, left. The partner of marjvniv; both end in -niv, 'toward'
- პირდაპირpirdapirstraight aheadPiri is a face: literally 'face to face', that is, right in front of you
- ახლოსakhloscloseFrom akhlo, near. With an object it takes -tan: sakhltan akhlos, close to the house
- შორსshorsfarThe partner of akhlos. Hence shoreuli, distant — as in a distant relative
- როგორ მივიდეrogor mividehow do I get there?The verb stands in the subjunctive mivide — 'so that I reach': one asks not 'how does one pass' but 'how do I manage to get there'
- ჩასვლაchasvlato get toMightsva the course gave as 'to achieve'. The prefix cha- means 'in, down': into the city one goes down
- მეორე მხარესmeore mkhareson the other sideMkhares already stands with its case tail, so no 'on' is needed at all
- ორ ნაბიჯზეor nabijzetwo steps awayThe number robs the noun of its plural: or nabijze, not 'nabijebze'. The -ze is the postposition 'on'
- მოსახვევის იქითmosakhvevis ikitpast the turnIkit means 'beyond that' and follows the noun in the genitive. There is no preposition 'past' in Georgian
- მარცხენა მხარესmartskhena mkharesto the left ofMartskhniv the course gave as 'to the left'. To say 'to the left OF', take martskhena mkhares and put it after the noun in the genitive
- მარჯვენა მხარესmarjvena mkharesto the right ofThe partner of martskhena mkhares, same order: moednis marjvena mkhares. The j is one letter for the fused j sound
- შუაგულშიshuagulshiin the middle ofShuashi the course gave as 'amid'. Shuaguli is 'the middle heart', the very middle; -shi is 'in'
- შემდეგი მოსახვევიshemdegi mosakhvevithe next turnMosakhvevi is the place of turning, mokhveva the act itself; the course gave the second already
- გზადgzadon the wayGza, road, in the adverb case in -d. There is no preposition 'along'; the tail does everything by itself
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- სად არის სადგური?sad aris sadguri?Where is the station?
- აქ დამელოდეak damelodeWait for me here
- იქ არავინ არისik aravin arisThere is no one there
- შუქნიშანთან მარჯვნივ გაუხვიეთshuknishantan marjvniv gaukhvietTurn right at the traffic light
- შემდეგ მარცხნივ გაუხვიეთshemdeg martskhniv gaukhvietThen turn left
- პირდაპირ იარეთ ბოლომდეpirdapir iaret bolomdeGo straight to the end
What is worth knowing about these words
სად არის? (sad aris?) — where is it?. Sad is where, aris is is: the linker is obligatory — sad alone will not ask about a place
აქ (ak) — here. The partner of ik, there: one letter apart, a against i. Nothing else separates them
იქ (ik) — there. One letter away from ak, here — a pair best memorized as a single unit
მარჯვნივ (marjvniv) — to the right. The same marjv- root as in gamarjoba: the right side and victory are related — literally
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is სად არის? (sad aris?) — where is it?.
- What is this word?
It is შორს (shors) — far.
- What is this word?
It is მარჯვენა მხარეს (marjvena mkhares) — to the right of.
- What is this word?
It is მარჯვნივ (marjvniv) — to the right.
- What is this word?
It is მეორე მხარეს (meore mkhares) — on the other side.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where is it?” in Georgian?
Sad is where, aris is is: the linker is obligatory — sad alone will not ask about a place
- How do you say “far” in Georgian?
The partner of akhlos. Hence shoreuli, distant — as in a distant relative
- How do you say “to the right of” in Georgian?
The partner of martskhena mkhares, same order: moednis marjvena mkhares. The j is one letter for the fused j sound
- How do you say “to the right” in Georgian?
The same marjv- root as in gamarjoba: the right side and victory are related — literally
- How do you say “on the other side” in Georgian?
Mkhares already stands with its case tail, so no 'on' is needed at all
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “where is it?” in Georgian?
«სად არის?», read “sad aris?”. Sad is where, aris is is: the linker is obligatory — sad alone will not ask about a place. It is one of 18 words in the set “asking the way” — the rest are in the table above.
How many direction words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 18 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 18 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.