წელი
“წელი” (tseli) — year in Georgian. Noun, level A1, topic — time, days and hours. the opening ts is ejective: a sharp ts with a catch, no puff. In a live sentence: “ერთი წელია, აქ ვცხოვრობ” — I have lived here for a year. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters წ, ე, ლ, ი. One of 135 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Georgian course.
In short
| Written in Georgian | წელი |
| Read in Latin letters | tseli |
| Translation | year |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- წელიtseliyear
How to pronounce it
the opening ts is ejective: a sharp ts with a catch, no puff
Why it looks that way
The familiar tsls (this year) and akhali tseli (New Year) are assembled from it. Age is said the same way: ots tslis var, I am twenty
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.
- ერთი წელია, აქ ვცხოვრობerti tselia, ak vtskhovrobI have lived here for a year
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 “year” in Georgian?
The familiar tsls (this year) and akhali tseli (New Year) are assembled from it. Age is said the same way: ots tslis var, I am twenty
- 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 “year” in Georgian?
«წელი», read “tseli”. the opening ts is ejective: a sharp ts with a catch, no puff. In a live sentence: “ერთი წელია, აქ ვცხოვრობ” — I have lived here for a year. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters წ, ე, ლ, ი.
How is “წელი” written in Latin letters?
tseli. 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 familiar tsls (this year) and akhali tseli (New Year) are assembled from it. Age is said the same way: ots tslis var, I am twenty. 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.