3.3 Singular and Plural Forms

Understanding Singular and Plural in Georgian

In this chapter you will meet how Georgian marks “one thing” and “more than one thing.” The general ideas of nouns are covered elsewhere, so here we focus only on how Georgian forms singular and plural, how it looks in writing, and how it behaves with some very basic words and phrases.

Singular vs Plural: The Core Idea

In English you often add -s or -es to make a noun plural:

• cat → cats
• bus → buses

In Georgian, the most common way to form the plural of a noun is with the suffix -ები.

• წიგნი ts’igni “book” → წიგნები ts’ignebi “books”
• სახლი sakhli “house” → სახლები sakhlebi “houses”

So you can think very simply:

• Singular: base noun form
• Plural: base noun + ები

You will later learn that there are some exceptions and special patterns, but for now this simple pattern is enough to start using real Georgian nouns.

Basic Examples: People and Things

Here are some common nouns in singular and plural. The transliteration is approximate, it shows pronunciation, not spelling rules.

People

Notice that most plurals end in -ები, sometimes after a small change in the stem. For example:

• მეგობარი → მეგობრები
  The ending changes slightly, but you still see the -ები idea inside -რები. For now, just memorize the plural forms you actually need.

Objects and Places

Again, the important part is to recognize and produce -ები type endings for plurals.

Using Singular and Plural in Simple Phrases

You already know, or will learn, very basic patterns like “this is …”, “that is …”, “there is …”. Here we just observe how singular and plural nouns fit into these patterns. We do not explain the sentence grammar in detail here.

“This is …” with Singular and Plural

Use ეს es “this” with a singular noun:

• ეს წიგნია.
  Es ts’ignia.
  “This is a book.”
• ეს ბავშვია.
  Es bavshvia.
  “This is a child.”

With several items, the noun becomes plural, and often the verb form also changes, but for now simply notice the plural noun:

• ეს წიგნებია.
  Es ts’ignebia.
  “These are books.”
• ეს ბავშვებია.
  Es bavshvebia.
  “These are children.”

“There is / There are …”

You may meet forms like არის aris and არიან arian later in the course, but here just focus on the nouns.

• აქ არის სახლი.
  Ak aris sakhli.
  “There is a house here.”
• აქ არიან ბავშვები.
  Ak arian bavshvebi.
  “There are children here.”

The change from ბავშვი to ბავშვები is the plural marking.

Numbers with Singular and Plural

This detail is specific and very important in Georgian and it is different from English.

In English:

• one book
• two books

In Georgian with numbers like 2, 3, 4 and higher you normally use the singular form of the noun, not the plural.

• ერთი წიგნი
  erti ts’igni
  “one book” (singular, as in English)
• ორი წიგნი
  ori ts’igni
  literally “two book” (singular in Georgian, but meaning “two books”)
• სამი ბავშვი
  sami bavshvi
  literally “three child” but meaning “three children”
• ოთხი კაცი
  otkhi katsi
  literally “four man” but meaning “four men”

You can think:

• “If I put a number like 2, 3, 4, 5 in front, I keep the noun in singular form.”

Some more examples:

Later in the course you will learn more detailed logic with numbers and plurals, but this simple rule will help you avoid very common mistakes from the start.

“Many” and “A lot of” with Plurals

When you do not use a specific number, but words like “many” or “a lot of,” Georgian normally uses the plural of the noun.

Useful quantifiers:

• ბევრი bevri “many, much, a lot of”
• ძალიან ბევრი dzalian bevri “very many, a lot of”

Examples:

• ბევრი წიგნები მაქვს.
  Bevri ts’ignebi makvs.
  “I have many books.”
• აქ ბევრი სტუდენტია.
  Ak bevri studentia.
  “There are many students here.”
  (Note: here the noun can appear in singular because ბევრი behaves a bit like a number, but you will encounter both patterns in real language: ბევრი სტუდენტი and ბევრი სტუდენტები. As a beginner, choose one pattern and stay consistent.)
• ძალიან ბევრი ბავშვები არიან ბაღში.
  Dzalian bevri bavshvebi arian baghshi.
  “There are a lot of children in the garden.”

For now, when you use ბევრი and a lot of, it is safe and natural to use the plural form of the noun in simple speech, especially with animate nouns like people and children.

Plural with “All,” “Every,” and “Some”

You will learn these words properly later, but here is how they behave with singular and plural.

“Every”

• ყოველი qoveli or ყველა qvela can both mean “every” or “each,” but the typical beginner pattern is:
• ყოველი ბავშვი
  qoveli bavshvi
  “every child” (singular noun)
• ყოველი წიგნი
  qoveli ts’igni
  “every book”

So “every” usually goes with a singular noun.

“All”

• ყველა qvela often means “all” when speaking of a group:
• ყველა ბავშვები
  qvela bavshvebi
  “all the children”
• ყველა წიგნები
  qvela ts’ignebi
  “all the books”

Here the noun is typically plural.

“Some”

A simple word for “some, a few” is რამდენიმე ramdenime.

• რამდენიმე წიგნი
  ramdenime ts’igni
  “a few books”
  (singular noun, similar to numbers)
• რამდენიმე ადამიანი
  ramdenime adamiani
  “some people”

The pattern is similar to numbers: რამდენიმე + singular noun.

Pronunciation Tips for Plural Endings

For many beginners the -ები ending is easy to see in writing but tricky to say smoothly. Practice saying the singular and plural pair together.

Word-final stress

In many plural forms with -ები, the stress often falls on the first syllable or stays where it was in the singular. Do not overthink this now, just repeat after a slow model if you can listen to recordings.

Practice pairs:

1. ბავშვი bavshvi → ბავშვები bavshvebi
   Say: bavshvi – bavshvebi.
2. სკამი skami → სკამები skamebi
   Say: skami – skamebi.
3. ქალაქი qalaqi → ქალაქები qalaqebi
   Say: qalaqi – qalaqebi.

Try to move from singular to plural in one breath:

• ts’igni, ts’ignebi, ts’igni, ts’ignebi
• sakhli, sakhlebi, sakhli, sakhlebi

This will help your mouth get used to Georgian consonant and vowel sequences.

Irregular or Less Regular Plurals

Georgian has nouns that do not follow the simple “add -ები” pattern, or that change their stem more strongly. You will learn them little by little, but here are a few very common ones so you can recognize them if you see them.

For now, do not try to predict these changes. Just learn these common plurals as new words. You will gradually recognize some patterns with more exposure.

Practice: Spot the Singular and Plural

Look at each Georgian phrase and decide if the noun is singular or plural. Then check your understanding with the English translation.

1. ეს სახლებია.
   Es sakhlebia.
   “These are houses.”
   → Plural (სახლები)
2. ორი წიგნი მაქვს.
   Ori ts’igni makvs.
   “I have two books.”
   → Georgian uses singular after number 2 (წიგნი)
3. ბევრი სტუდენტები არიან.
   Bevri studentebi arian.
   “There are many students.”
   → Plural (სტუდენტები / სტუდენტები, here plural)
4. ყოველი დღე მნიშვნელოვანია.
   Qoveli dghe mnishvnelovania.
   “Every day is important.”
   → Singular (დღე)
5. სამი ბავშვი თამაშობს.
   Sami bavshvi tamashobs.
   “Three children are playing.”
   → Singular in form (ბავშვი) but meaning plural because of number 3.

Try to create your own simple sentences by swapping nouns:

• ეს ქალაქებია. “These are cities.”
• ორი კალამი მაქვს. “I have two pens.”
• ბევრი მეგობრები მყავს. “I have many friends.”

Perfect grammar of the whole sentence will be refined later; the goal here is to use singular and plural forms naturally.

Mini Dialogue with Singular and Plural

A short dialogue to see singular and plural in context. New words are included in the vocabulary list at the end.

A: ეს წიგნი შენია?
A: Es ts’igni shenia?
“Is this book yours?”

B: არა, ეს ჩემი წიგნი არ არის. ეს წიგნები ნანასია.
B: Ara, es chemi ts’igni ar aris. Es ts’ignebi nanasia.
“No, this is not my book. These books belong to Nana.”

A: აქ ორი ბავშვი იყო, ახლა კი ბევრი ბავშვები არიან.
A: Ak ori bavshvi iko, akhla ki bevri bavshvebi arian.
“There were two children here, and now there are many children.”

B: კი, ყველა ბავშვები კლასში არიან.
B: Ki, qvela bavshvebi klasshi arian.
“Yes, all the children are in the classroom.”

Focus on the nouns:

• წიგნი → წიგნები
• ბავშვი → ბავშვები
• all with the rules you have just learned.

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New Vocabulary for This Chapter

The list collects only words that are new in this chapter, in singular and plural when useful.

Use this vocabulary to build your own singular and plural phrases and to become comfortable with Georgian number and quantity.