ᲖმნებიA2
Dative Experiencer Verbs: It Hurts Me, I'm Cold, I'm Hungry
The experiencer-verb family mt'k'iva/mtsiva/mshia/mts'quria/meshinia: the feeler is a dative m-/g-/gv- marker inside the verb.
Learning Goal
I can say what hurts and how I feel (cold, hungry, thirsty, afraid) using dative experiencer verbs.
Exam Skills:NAEC Georgian A2: ListeningNAEC Georgian A2: Speaking
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
თავი მტკივა და ცოტა მცივა.
My head hurts and I'm a bit cold.
გშია? - კი, ძალიან მშია!
Are you hungry? - Yes, very hungry!
ბავშვს სძინავს, ნუ ხმაურობ.
The child is sleeping, don't make noise.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Feelings take the dative
Georgian expresses pain, temperature, hunger, thirst, fear, and sleep with experiencer verbs: the feeler is marked by მ- (me), გ- (you), გვ- (us) inside the verb - მტკივა (it hurts me), მცივა (I'm cold), მშია (I'm hungry). A noun experiencer stands in the dative: ბავშვს სძინავს (the child is sleeping).
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice Exercises
Conjugating them like agent verbs (*vt'k'iva 'I hurt') - the v- subject prefix never appears here; and forgetting dative -s on a noun experiencer (*bavshvi sdzinavs).
Common Error Patterns
Conjugating experiencer verbs like agent verbs (*vtk'iva instead of mt'k'iva)
Paradigm drills on the m-/g-/gv- experiencer set; map to L1 'мне холодно' pattern.
თავი მტკივა და ცოტა მცივა.
My head hurts and I'm a bit cold.
The m- prefix marks the experiencer 'me' in both verbs.
გშია? - კი, ძალიან მშია!
Are you hungry? - Yes, very hungry!
Swap m- for g- and the feeling moves to 'you': gshia - mshia.
ბავშვს სძინავს, ნუ ხმაურობ.
The child is sleeping, don't make noise.
With a noun experiencer the noun takes dative -s: bavshvs sdzinavs.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises