მთავარი ქუჩა
“მთავარი ქუჩა” (mtavari kucha) — main street in Georgian. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. Mtavari comes from tavi, head. The kh is aspirated, with a puff, not the ejective k. In a live sentence: “მთავარი ქუჩა ზღვამდე მიდის” — The main street runs to the sea. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters მ, თ, ა, ვ, ა, რ, ი, ქ, უ, ჩ, ა.
In short
| Written in Georgian | მთავარი ქუჩა |
| Read in Latin letters | mtavari kucha |
| Translation | main street |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- მთავარი ქუჩაmtavari kuchamain street
Why it looks that way
Mtavari comes from tavi, head. The kh is aspirated, with a puff, not the ejective k
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- მთავარი ქუჩა ზღვამდე მიდისmtavari kucha zghvamde midisThe main street runs to the sea
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- რესტორანიrestoranirestaurantBorrowings take a tail -i: that is how the word joins Georgian declension
- მაღაზიაmaghaziastoreA borrowing that traveled from Arabic through Turkish. The grocery kind adds a longer qualifier of its own
- სადგურიsadguristationAlso 'station' in general: the metro station and the railway station are the same word
- ბაზარიbazarimarketA Persian word that came through Turkish. Tbilisi's main market still carries the name
- ბანკიbankibankA borrowing with the obligatory -i. A bank account inside it is banko angarishi
- აფთიაქიaptiakipharmacyA borrowing from Greek. The medicine it sells is a native word, tsamali
- სასურსათო მაღაზიაsasursato maghaziagrocery storeSursathi is provisions, with the same sa-...-o frame around it. Maghazia is already familiar
- საავადმყოფოsaavadmqopohospitalthe two a's at the start are pronounced separately: sa-avad-mqopo
- უნივერსიტეტიuniversitetiuniversityLong, but it reads letter by letter — in Mkhedruli there is no other way
- სკოლაskolaschoolNo -i at the end: the word ends in -a and declines by a different pattern
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “main street” in Georgian?
Mtavari comes from tavi, head. The kh is aspirated, with a puff, not the ejective k
- How do you say “grocery store” in Georgian?
Sursathi is provisions, with the same sa-...-o frame around it. Maghazia is already familiar
- How do you say “station” in Georgian?
Also 'station' in general: the metro station and the railway station are the same word
- How do you say “school” in Georgian?
No -i at the end: the word ends in -a and declines by a different pattern
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Georgian?
A borrowing from Greek. The medicine it sells is a native word, tsamali
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “main street” in Georgian?
«მთავარი ქუჩა», read “mtavari kucha”. In a live sentence: “მთავარი ქუჩა ზღვამდე მიდის” — The main street runs to the sea. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters მ, თ, ა, ვ, ა, რ, ი, ქ, უ, ჩ, ა.
How is “მთავარი ქუჩა” written in Latin letters?
mtavari kucha. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Mtavari comes from tavi, head. The kh is aspirated, with a puff, not the ejective k. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.