Genitive Chains: My Friend's Mother
Genitive -is chains: possessor before possessed, stacking left to right (Ninos dis bina - Nino's sister's flat).
I can build possessive phrases and two-link genitive chains in the correct Georgian order.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
ჩემი მეგობრის დედა ექიმია.
My friend's mother is a doctor.
ეს ნინოს დის ბინაა.
This is Nino's sister's flat.
საქართველოს დედაქალაქის ცენტრი ძალიან ლამაზია.
The center of Georgia's capital is very beautiful.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Possessor first
Georgian genitive -ის/-ს puts the possessor BEFORE the possessed: ჩემი მეგობრის დედა (lit. 'my friend's mother'). Chains stack left to right, each link taking the genitive: საქართველოს დედაქალაქის ცენტრი (the center of the capital of Georgia - in exactly the reverse of the English of-phrase order).
Copying the Slavic order (deda chemi megobris) and forgetting -is on the middle link of a chain (*Ninos da bina instead of Ninos dis bina).
Common Error Patterns
Reversing the possessor-possessed order or dropping -is on a chain link
Chain-building drills from two-word to three-word chains, always left-to-right.
ჩემი მეგობრის დედა ექიმია.
My friend's mother is a doctor.
The possessor comes FIRST: megobris (friend's) before deda (mother) - the mirror of Russian order.
ეს ნინოს დის ბინაა.
This is Nino's sister's flat.
Two genitives stack left to right: Ninos → dis → bina.
საქართველოს დედაქალაქის ცენტრი ძალიან ლამაზია.
The center of Georgia's capital is very beautiful.
Each link takes -is: sakartvelos → dedakalakis → tsentri.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises