The six high-frequency verbs whose past stems must be memorized: ts'avedi, movedi, vtkvi, vnakhe, davlie, vch'ame.
I can tell what I did yesterday using the most common irregular past forms.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
გუშინ ბებიასთან წავედი.
Yesterday I went to grandma's.
რა თქვი? ვერ გავიგე.
What did you say? I didn't catch it.
ღვინო დავლიე და ხინკალი ვჭამე.
I drank wine and ate khinkali.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Georgian's most frequent verbs change their stem completely in the past: მივდივარ (I go) → წავედი (I went), ვამბობ (I say) → ვთქვი (I said), ვხედავ (I see) → ვნახე (I saw), ვსვამ (I drink) → დავლიე (I drank). Learn these six pairs as vocabulary - they carry most everyday past-tense talk.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesBuilding a regular aorist from the present stem (mivdivare) instead of switching stems (ts'avedi), and mixing up ts'avedi (went away) with movedi (came here) - direction lives in the preverb.
Regularizing an irregular aorist stem (mivdivardi instead of ts'avedi)
Drill the six high-frequency pairs as vocabulary items, present next to aorist.
გუშინ ბებიასთან წავედი.
Yesterday I went to grandma's.
mivdivar (I go) switches its stem entirely: ts'avedi (I went).
რა თქვი? ვერ გავიგე.
What did you say? I didn't catch it.
vambob (I say) has the aorist tkvi - one of the most useful irregulars.
ღვინო დავლიე და ხინკალი ვჭამე.
I drank wine and ate khinkali.
vsvam (I drink) becomes davlie; vch'am (I eat) stays regular: vch'ame.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises