The honorific register: brdzan- verbs elevating others, gakhlavart/mogartmevt humbling the speaker.
I can host, visit, and phone formally - raising others and humbling myself with the right verbs.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
მობრძანდით, ბატონო, დაბრძანდით - ყავას მოგართმევთ.
Please come in, sir, please be seated - I will bring you coffee.
დირექტორი ამჟამად შეხვედრაზე ბრძანდება.
The director is currently in a meeting.
მე გახლავართ ახალი მასწავლებელი.
I am (humbly) the new teacher.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Georgian politeness swaps whole verbs: others don't 'come/sit/be' - they მობრძანდებიან, დაბრძანდებიან, ბრძანდებიან; the speaker humbly გახლავართ (am) and მოგართმევთ (offers up). The asymmetry is the system: honor flows up, humility flows down - exactly opposite verbs for the same actions.
Apply this grammar in C1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesSelf-honorifics (*me vbrdzandebi - never about yourself!) and dropping the register mid-conversation.
Honorifics applied to oneself (brdzandebi about yourself) or mixed registers
Role-play drills: host/guest, receptionist/visitor register pairs.
მობრძანდით, ბატონო, დაბრძანდით - ყავას მოგართმევთ.
Please come in, sir, please be seated - I will bring you coffee.
mobrdzandit, dabrdzandit, mogartmevt - three honorifics in one hosting sentence.
დირექტორი ამჟამად შეხვედრაზე ბრძანდება.
The director is currently in a meeting.
brdzandeba elevates a third person - office Georgian's polite 'is'.
მე გახლავართ ახალი მასწავლებელი.
I am (humbly) the new teacher.
gakhlavart humbles the SPEAKER - the mirror of brdzandeba: raise others, lower yourself.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in C1 course exercises