6.4 Nationalities and Countries

Countries and Nationalities in Georgian

In this chapter you will learn how to say country names, how to talk about nationalities, and how to form basic sentences like “I am Georgian” or “I am from France” in Georgian.

Country Names in Georgian

Many country names in Georgian are adapted to Georgian pronunciation and spelling. Some look similar to English, others are quite different.

Here are some important country names:

You do not need to memorize all of them now, but it is useful to recognize the pattern. Often, names of European and American countries in Georgian end in -ია (-ia) or -ეთი (-eti).

Nationalities and Their Patterns

Nationalities in Georgian are usually adjectives. They often end in -ელი (-eli), -ური (-uri), or sometimes other endings. They agree in number, but not in gender, which keeps things simple at this stage.

Some common patterns:

The real system of nationality formation is richer and will appear again later. For now, you mostly need the common forms that people use in everyday speech.

Here are key nationalities you are likely to need:

You may see two possible forms for some nationalities (for example, ფრანგი and ფრანგული). At this level, you can treat both as “French” and focus on using a simple, frequent one such as ფრანგი when speaking about a person.

Saying “I Am Georgian / I Am American”

You already learned the verb “to be” in its own chapter, so here we only show how it combines with nationalities.

The basic pattern is:

[Nationality] + ვარ → “I am [nationality].”

• ქართველი ვარ.
  kartveli var.
  “I am Georgian.”
• ამერიკელი ვარ.
  amerikeli var.
  “I am American.”
• გერმანელი ვარ.
  germaneli var.
  “I am German.”
• ჩინელი ვარ.
  chineli var.
  “I am Chinese.”

You can add მე “I” for emphasis or clarity, but it is optional.

• მე ქართველი ვარ.
  me kartveli var.
  “I am Georgian.”
• მე იაპონელი ვარ.
  me iaponeli var.
  “I am Japanese.”
• მე ბრაზილიელი ვარ.
  me brazili eli var.
  “I am Brazilian.”

More examples:

• ინგლისელი ვარ.
  ingliseli var.
  “I am English.”
• თურქი ვარ.
  turki var.
  “I am Turkish.”
• სომეხი ვარ.
  somekhi var.
  “I am Armenian.”
• ავსტრალიელი ვარ.
  avstralieli var.
  “I am Australian.”

Asking “Where Are You From?”

There are several natural ways to ask and answer about origin. Here we focus on the simplest and most frequent ones.

Question: “Where are you from?”

A very common question is:

• საიდან ხარ?
  saidan khar?
  “Where are you from?” (informal “you”)

For a more polite form:

• საიდან ხართ?
  saidan khart?
  “Where are you from?” (formal or plural “you”)

Here, საიდან means “from where”.

Answer with a country name

The easiest answer uses the pattern:

[Country in genitive form] + ვარ
“I am from [country].”

For now you can memorize some ready-made phrases without worrying about the case system in detail.

Useful ready-made replies:

You will see that “from” is expressed by attaching -დან to the country. The full explanation belongs to the cases chapter, so here we just use ready examples.

Mini dialogue with “Where are you from?”

A simple exchange might look like this:

• საიდან ხარ?
  saidan khar?
  “Where are you from?”
• გერმანიიდან ვარ.
  germani idan var.
  “I am from Germany.”

Another example:

• საიდან ხართ?
  saidan khart?
  “Where are you from?” (polite)
• საფრანგეთიდან ვარ.
  sapranget idan var.
  “I am from France.”

Asking and Saying “What Is Your Nationality?”

Another possible question focuses on nationality, not country.

Questions

Two useful questions are:

• რა ეროვნების ხარ?
  ra erovneb is khar?
  “What nationality are you?” (informal)
• რა ეროვნების ხართ?
  ra erovneb is khart?
  “What nationality are you?” (formal)

Here ეროვნება means “nationality,” and ეროვნების is its genitive form. The grammar behind this belongs to later chapters, so just treat this as a set phrase.

Answers

You answer using the nationality word you learned:

• ქართველი ვარ.
  kartveli var.
  “I am Georgian.”
• ამერიკელი ვარ.
  amerikeli var.
  “I am American.”
• უკრაინელი ვარ.
  ukraineli var.
  “I am Ukrainian.”
• ინდოელი ვარ.
  indoeli var.
  “I am Indian.”

You do not need extra words like “nationality” in Georgian here; the simple “I am [nationality]” is enough.

Short dialogue:

• რა ეროვნების ხარ?
  ra erovneb is khar?
  “What nationality are you?”
• იტალიელი ვარ.
  italieli var.
  “I am Italian.”

Combining Country and Nationality

Once you feel comfortable you can combine both country and nationality in one sentence.

Some useful patterns:

1. I am [nationality], I am from [country].
• ქართველი ვარ, საქართველოდან ვარ.
  kartveli var, sakartvelodan var.
  “I am Georgian, I am from Georgia.”
• ამერიკელი ვარ, ამერიკიდან ვარ.
  amerikeli var, amerikidan var.
  “I am American, I am from the USA.”
• იაპონელი ვარ, იაპონიიდან ვარ.
  iaponeli var, iaponi idan var.
  “I am Japanese, I am from Japan.”
2. I am [nationality] but I live in [country].

You already know how to make “I live” from the verb chapter. Here we only show an example structure; the detailed grammar is treated there.

• გერმანელი ვარ, მაგრამ საქართველოში ვცხოვრობ.
  germaneli var, magram sakartveloshi vtskhovrob.
  “I am German, but I live in Georgia.”
• ფრანგი ვარ, მაგრამ ამერიკაში ვცხოვრობ.
  prangi var, magram amerikashi vtskhovrob.
  “I am French, but I live in the USA.”

Notice “in [country]” uses a special form, explained fully in the cases and postpositions chapters. You can memorize საქართველოში and ამერიკაში as common ready phrases.

Useful Phrases with Countries and Nationalities

Here are some practical sentences that use this chapter’s vocabulary. You already know “I am, you are” forms from the verb chapter, so now you only need to add the new words.

Introducing someone’s nationality

• ის ქართველი არის.
  is kartveli aris.
  “He / she is Georgian.”
• ის ამერიკელია.
  is amerikelia.
  “He / she is American.”
• ის რუსი არ არის.
  is rusi ar aris.
  “He / she is not Russian.”
• ისინი უკრაინელები არიან.
  isini ukrainelebi arian.
  “They are Ukrainian.”

Asking “Is he / she [nationality]?”

• ის ქართველი არის?
  is kartveli aris?
  “Is he / she Georgian?”
• ის იტალიელია?
  is italielia?
  “Is he / she Italian?”
• ისინი თურქები არიან?
  isini turkebi arian?
  “Are they Turkish?”

You can answer simply:

• დიახ, ქართველი არის.
  diakh, kartveli aris.
  “Yes, he / she is Georgian.”
• არა, ამერიკელია.
  ara, amerikelia.
  “No, he / she is American.”

Mini Dialogues

Here are several complete mini dialogues for practice.

Dialogue 1

A: საიდან ხარ?
saidan khar?
“Where are you from?”

B: ამერიკიდან ვარ. შენ?
amerikidan var. shen?
“I am from the USA. And you?”

A: საქართველოდან ვარ.
sakartvelodan var.
“I am from Georgia.”

Dialogue 2

A: რა ეროვნების ხართ?
ra erovneb is khart?
“What nationality are you?” (polite)

B: ინგლისელი ვარ.
ingliseli var.
“I am English.”

A: ინგლისიდან ხართ?
inglisidan khart?
“Are you from England?”

B: არა, ავსტრალიიდან ვარ.
ara, avstrali idan var.
“No, I am from Australia.”

Dialogue 3

A: ქართველი ხარ?
kartveli khar?
“Are you Georgian?”

B: არა, უკრაინელი ვარ, მაგრამ თბილისში ვცხოვრობ.
ara, ukraineli var, magram t'bilisshi vtskhovrob.
“No, I am Ukrainian, but I live in Tbilisi.”

New Vocabulary for This Chapter