სანამ
“სანამ” (sanam) — before in Georgian. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. It opens the subordinate clause as its first word, and the verb goes to the end. A subtlety: in the meaning 'before' sanam is followed by ar, though there is no negation in the sense — sanam ar caviodi, davrekve. Without ar the same word means 'while': sanam velodebi, vkitxulob. In a live sentence: “სანამ საზღვარს გადავკვეთდით, დოკუმენტები შევამოწმეთ” — Before crossing the border we checked the documents.
In short
| Written in Georgian | სანამ |
| Read in Latin letters | sanam |
| Translation | before |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- სანამsanambefore
Why it looks that way
It opens the subordinate clause as its first word, and the verb goes to the end. A subtlety: in the meaning 'before' sanam is followed by ar, though there is no negation in the sense — sanam ar caviodi, davrekve. Without ar the same word means 'while': sanam velodebi, vkitxulob
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.
- სანამ საზღვარს გადავკვეთდით, დოკუმენტები შევამოწმეთsanam sazghvars gadavkvetdit, dokumentebi shevamotsmetBefore crossing the border we checked the documents
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- საათიsaatihourThe same word names the wristwatch and the wall clock: ert saati, one hour; saati makvs, I have a watch
- დღეdghedayTwo consonants and one vowel — a thoroughly Georgian word
- დღესdghestodaydghe plus -s: the ending turns 'day' into 'today'
- ხვალkhvaltomorrowOne of the few time words with no ending. Khvalamde, 'until tomorrow', is a standard goodbye
- გუშინgushinyesterdayThe day before yesterday is gushintsin: the same word plus tsin, before. Sharshantsin, the year before last, is built the same way
- საღამოsaghamoeveningThe evening greeting saghamo mshvidobisa is built on the model of the morning dila mshvidobisa
- ღამეghamenightGhame mshvidobisa, good night, follows the model of the morning greeting
- რომელ საათზე?romel saatze?at what time?Literally 'on which hour': the familiar saati plus -ze
- უკვე გვიანიაukve gvianiait is already lateukve is already, gviani is late plus -a. Early is adrea
- საუზმეsauzmebreakfastAlready met whole in sauzme passhi shedis, breakfast is included. To have breakfast is the single word sauzmoba
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “before” in Georgian?
It opens the subordinate clause as its first word, and the verb goes to the end. A subtlety: in the meaning 'before' sanam is followed by ar, though there is no negation in the sense — sanam ar caviodi, davrekve. Without ar the same word means 'while': sanam velodebi, vkitxulob
- How do you say “night” in Georgian?
Ghame mshvidobisa, good night, follows the model of the morning greeting
- How do you say “today” in Georgian?
dghe plus -s: the ending turns 'day' into 'today'
- How do you say “breakfast” in Georgian?
Already met whole in sauzme passhi shedis, breakfast is included. To have breakfast is the single word sauzmoba
- How do you say “evening” in Georgian?
The evening greeting saghamo mshvidobisa is built on the model of the morning dila mshvidobisa
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 “before” in Georgian?
«სანამ», read “sanam”. In a live sentence: “სანამ საზღვარს გადავკვეთდით, დოკუმენტები შევამოწმეთ” — Before crossing the border we checked the documents. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ს, ა, ნ, ა, მ.
How is “სანამ” written in Latin letters?
sanam. 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?
It opens the subordinate clause as its first word, and the verb goes to the end. A subtlety: in the meaning 'before' sanam is followed by ar, though there is no negation in the sense — sanam ar caviodi, davrekve. Without ar the same word means 'while': sanam velodebi, vkitxulob. 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.