The stative verbs' special tense system: suppletive pasts (idga, ijda, ets'va, ek'ida), no aorist, no ergative.
I can describe scenes in past, present, and future with the posture verbs.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
მაგიდაზე ძველი სურათი იდგა.
An old photo stood on the table.
ბებია ფანჯარასთან იჯდა და ქუჩას უყურებდა.
Grandma sat by the window and watched the street.
კედელზე პაპის ხანჯალი ეკიდა.
Grandfather's dagger hung on the wall.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
The posture/position verbs (დგას stands, ზის sits, წევს lies, კიდია hangs, დევს lies-inanimate) skip the aorist entirely: their pasts are suppletive imperfect-like forms - იდგა, იჯდა, იწვა, ეკიდა, იდო. No ergative ever appears with them. They are the backbone of every scene description.
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesInventing aorists (*daidga for 'stood') and adding -ma to stative subjects.
Forcing aorist/ergative onto stative verbs
Scene-description drills across the three time frames with dgas/zis/ts'evs/k'idia.
მაგიდაზე ძველი სურათი იდგა.
An old photo stood on the table.
dgas (stands) has its own past idga - no aorist, no ergative.
ბებია ფანჯარასთან იჯდა და ქუჩას უყურებდა.
Grandma sat by the window and watched the street.
zis - ijda: the posture verbs' suppletive pasts pair with imperfect backgrounds.
კედელზე პაპის ხანჯალი ეკიდა.
Grandfather's dagger hung on the wall.
k'idia - ek'ida: hanging things get their own past too - a Georgian-home still life.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises