The three-way quotative system: -o (their words), metki (my own words), -tko (words to relay).
I can attribute every quoted word to its true voice - theirs, mine, or relayed.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
ხომ გითხარი, გვიან მოვალ-მეთქი!
I told you, didn't I, that I'd come late!
დედას უთხარი, ხვალ მოვა-თქო.
Tell mother that he'll come tomorrow (you relay it).
ნინომ თქვა, მოვალო; მე ვუთხარი, დაგელოდები-მეთქი.
Nino said she'd come; I told her I'd wait for her.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Georgian's quotative system is three-way: -ო for a third person's words, მეთქი for YOUR OWN earlier words (მოვალ-მეთქი - I'll come, as I said), and -თქო for words you're sending through a messenger (მოვა-თქო უთხარი - tell them he's coming). No European language marks this; mastering it is a genuine C2 badge.
Apply this grammar in C2 course exercises
Practice Exercises-o on one's own words (it hands them to someone else!) and bare relays without -tko that leave the hearer guessing whose words these are.
Using -o for one's own words or dropping metki/-tko where natives expect them
Three-voice relay drills: my words, your words, their words.
ხომ გითხარი, გვიან მოვალ-მეთქი!
I told you, didn't I, that I'd come late!
metki tags YOUR OWN earlier words: moval-metki 'I'll come, said I'.
დედას უთხარი, ხვალ მოვა-თქო.
Tell mother that he'll come tomorrow (you relay it).
-tko marks words YOU are instructed to pass on - the messenger's particle.
ნინომ თქვა, მოვალო; მე ვუთხარი, დაგელოდები-მეთქი.
Nino said she'd come; I told her I'd wait for her.
The full system in one line: -o for her words, metki for mine - three quotatives, zero ambiguity.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in C2 course exercises