Fixed polite request forms with -t politeness and tu sheidzleba ('if possible/please').
I can make polite requests and apologize in everyday situations.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
მომეცით ერთი შოთის პური, თუ შეიძლება.
Give me one shoti bread, please.
უკაცრავად, მითხარით, სად არის რუსთაველის გამზირი?
Excuse me, tell me, where is Rustaveli Avenue?
მაპატიე, გვიან მოვედი.
Sorry, I came late.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
At A1, learn these as fixed phrases: მომეცით, თუ შეიძლება (give me, please), მითხარით (tell me), მაპატიეთ (excuse me), მოიცადეთ (wait, please).
The polite/plural forms end in -თ; with friends the -თ drops: მომეცი, მითხარი. The full imperative system is built on the aorist and comes later (B1).
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesUsing the bare verb stem as a command (transfer from EN/RU patterns) instead of the fixed forms, and forgetting -თ with strangers: *მომეცი said to a shop assistant sounds abrupt; say მომეცით.
Missing -t politeness marker in requests to strangers
Pair each request verb with its -თ form and a situation (shop, street, friend).
მომეცით ერთი შოთის პური, თუ შეიძლება.
Give me one shoti bread, please.
Polite -თ form + თუ შეიძლება in a bakery.
უკაცრავად, მითხარით, სად არის რუსთაველის გამზირი?
Excuse me, tell me, where is Rustaveli Avenue?
უკაცრავად opens a question to a stranger; მითხარით is the polite request.
მაპატიე, გვიან მოვედი.
Sorry, I came late.
Informal მაპატიე (no -თ) between friends.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises