საცობი
“საცობი” (satsobi) — traffic jam in Georgian. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. The same word as a cork in a bottle: the road got 'corked'. In full they say satsobi gzaze, but one word usually does. In a live sentence: “დღეს დიდი საცობია” — There is a big traffic jam today. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ს, ა, ც, ო, ბ, ი.
In short
| Written in Georgian | საცობი |
| Read in Latin letters | satsobi |
| Translation | traffic jam |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- საცობიsatsobitraffic jam
Why it looks that way
The same word as a cork in a bottle: the road got 'corked'. In full they say satsobi gzaze, but one word usually does
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.
- დღეს დიდი საცობიაdghes didi satsobiaThere is a big traffic jam today
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- ქალაქიkalakicityHence mokalake, citizen — literally 'townsman' — and mokalakeoba, citizenship
- ქუჩაkuchastreetIn addresses the word itself drops out: Rustavelis 12 means Rustaveli Street, 12
- 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
- ბრბოbrbocrowdBrbo is an uncontrolled crowd, a word with a shade of wariness. Simply many people is bevri khalxi
- შუქნიშანიshuknishanitraffic lightAssembled from shuki, light, and nishani, sign: a 'light-sign'. The word is Georgian through and through — no borrowing here
- ველოსიპედიvelosipedibicycleFive syllables, the stress light and even. 'By bicycle' is velosipedit — the -it ending answers 'with what'
- ავტობუსის გაჩერებაavtobusis gacherebabus stopgachereba comes from cherdeba, to stop: both the stop as a place and the stopping itself as an action
- სამგზავრო ბარათიsamgzavro baratitransit cardmgzavri is a passenger; the sa-…-o frame makes it 'passenger's'. In Tbilisi this card is called metromani
- მარშრუტიmarshrutiroutethe rshr cluster in the middle has no vowel between its parts: mar-shru-ti
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “traffic jam” in Georgian?
The same word as a cork in a bottle: the road got 'corked'. In full they say satsobi gzaze, but one word usually does
- How do you say “bicycle” in Georgian?
Five syllables, the stress light and even. 'By bicycle' is velosipedit — the -it ending answers 'with what'
- How do you say “bank” in Georgian?
A borrowing with the obligatory -i. A bank account inside it is banko angarishi
- How do you say “route” in Georgian?
From the same nest comes marshrutka, the shared minibus — a word familiar to any visitor
- How do you say “traffic light” in Georgian?
Assembled from shuki, light, and nishani, sign: a 'light-sign'. The word is Georgian through and through — no borrowing here
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 “traffic jam” in Georgian?
«საცობი», read “satsobi”. In a live sentence: “დღეს დიდი საცობია” — There is a big traffic jam today. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters ს, ა, ც, ო, ბ, ი.
How is “საცობი” written in Latin letters?
satsobi. 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?
The same word as a cork in a bottle: the road got 'corked'. In full they say satsobi gzaze, but one word usually does. 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.