Reporting speech with rom-clauses (no backshift) and the verbatim quotative particle -o attached to the quote's last word.
I can relay what others said using both rom-clauses and the Georgian -o quote.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
გიორგიმ თქვა, რომ ხვალ ბათუმში მიდის.
Giorgi said that he is going to Batumi tomorrow.
ბებიამ დამიძახა: სუფრა მზადააო!
Grandma called to me: the table is ready, she said!
მძღოლმა გვითხრა, ფული აქ გადაიხადეთო.
The driver told us: pay here, he said.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Strategy one: რომ + clause, no tense backshift: თქვა, რომ მოვა (said that he'll come). Strategy two - uniquely Georgian: keep the speaker's exact words and attach -ო to the last one: მოვალო ('I'll come', he said). You will hear -ო everywhere: in bazaars, marshrutkas, and grandma's kitchen.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesBackshifting tenses after rom (English transfer) and converting the -o quote's person markers - the quote must stay verbatim.
Shifting tenses after rom or omitting -o when relaying speech verbatim
Relay drills: hear a line, report it both ways (rom-clause and -o quote).
გიორგიმ თქვა, რომ ხვალ ბათუმში მიდის.
Giorgi said that he is going to Batumi tomorrow.
The rom-strategy works like English 'that' - no tense backshift in Georgian.
ბებიამ დამიძახა: სუფრა მზადააო!
Grandma called to me: the table is ready, she said!
The -o particle glues to the quote's last word: mzadaa + o. The words stay exactly as spoken.
მძღოლმა გვითხრა, ფული აქ გადაიხადეთო.
The driver told us: pay here, he said.
Even imperatives quote with -o: gadaikhadet + o - marshrutka Georgian in one suffix.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises