Understanding the Nominative Case in Real Sentences

In this chapter you will see how the nominative case works inside real Georgian sentences. You already know that the nominative is the “dictionary form” of nouns and is used for the subject in the most basic patterns. Here we focus on recognizing it and using it naturally in context.

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Recognizing Nominative Nouns in Simple Sentences

The nominative form is what you normally learn first for any noun. In very simple present tense sentences, the subject appears in the nominative.

Typical English pattern:
“X is Y.” or “X does Y.”
In Georgian, in your current level, you often see:

• [Nominative subject] + არის / არის? (is / is it?)
• [Nominative subject] + [present verb]

Examples with “to be” and basic vocabulary:

In all these sentences, the underlined words are nominative:

• ბიჭი bichi “boy”
• გოგო gogo “girl”
• თბილისი t’bilisi “Tbilisi”
• წიგნი ts’igni “book”

The nominative nouns answer “Who?” or “What?” in a simple way:

• Who is big? → Tbilisi (ნომინატიური, nominative)
• What is on the table? → The book (ნომინატიური, nominative)

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Linking Nominative Nouns with “To Be”

Very often, Georgian uses two nouns in nominative form and a form of “to be” between them. This is the basic “X is Y” pattern with both X and Y in the nominative.

Common pattern:
[Nominative noun 1] + [Nominative noun 2] + არის / არის?

Examples:

Both “სტუდენტი” studenti and “ექიმი” ekimi are nominative.
“Mate” is a name, and names also appear in nominative when they are the subject.

You can combine this with adjectives, which must match the noun in a basic way, but here we only focus on seeing the nominative:

Nouns here:

• სახლი sakhli “house”
• სტუდენტი studenti “student”
• ძმა dzma “brother”

All are nominative, because they are subjects or “what something is”.

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Nominative with Simple Action Verbs

When you meet your first action verbs, the subject of many everyday present actions also appears in the nominative in simple beginner patterns.

Examples with common verbs:

Here the nominative nouns are:

• მე me “I” (personal pronoun in nominative)
• ის is “he / she” (in nominative role)
• გოგო gogo “girl”
• ბიჭი bichi “boy”
• დედა deda “mother”

You can also combine them with “to be” sentences in short dialogues:

ბიჭი სწავლობს?
bichi sts’avlobs?
“Is the boy studying?”

კი, ბიჭი სწავლობს.
ki, bichi sts’avlobs.
“Yes, the boy is studying.”

Again, ბიჭი is nominative, since we talk about “who is studying”.

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Subjects as Nominative in Yes–No Questions

A very common context for nominative nouns is in yes–no questions. The word order can change a bit, but the subject remains in nominative.

Observe the following pairs, statement and question:

In all these sentences, the nouns წიგნი, სკოლა, მძღოლი, ბიჭი, დედა are nominative.
The question mark only changes the intonation, not the case.

You can also move the subject after the verb in colloquial speech, but this does not change the noun form:

The subject is still nominative: დედა, ბიჭი.

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Nominative Nouns with Demonstratives “ეს”, “ის”, “აქ”

In everyday speech you often point to things or talk about what is here or there. In Georgian, “this” and “that” are usually followed by a nominative noun when you are simply identifying something.

Key demonstratives:

• ეს es “this”
• ის is “that / he / she”
• აქ ak “here”
• იქ ik “there”

Common patterns:

1. ეს + [nominative noun] + არის.
• ეს წიგნია.
  es ts’ignia.
  “This is a book.”
• ეს ვაშლია.
  es vashlia.
  “This is an apple.”
2. ის + [nominative noun] + არის.
• ის სახლია.
  is sakhli­a.
  “That is a house.”
• ის მანქანაა.
  is mank’ana­a.
  “That is a car.”
3. With “here / there”:
• აქ ბიჭია.
  ak bichi­a.
  “There is a boy here.” / “A boy is here.”
• იქ გოგოა.
  ik gogo­a.
  “There is a girl there.” / “A girl is there.”

All nouns in these patterns are nominative: წიგნი, ვაშლი, სახლი, მანქანა, ბიჭი, გოგო.

You can also add adjectives or possessives:

• ეს ჩემი წიგნია.
  es chemi ts’ignia.
  “This is my book.”
• ის დიდი სახლია.
  is didi sakhli­a.
  “That is a big house.”

Nominative nouns: წიგნი, სახლი.

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Short Dialogues Using Nominative Nouns

Now see the nominative in small, natural exchanges. The goal is not to analyze every verb, only to notice which words keep the basic, nominative form.

Dialogue 1: At school

A: ეს არის შენი სკოლა?
es aris sheni skola?
“Is this your school?”

B: დიახ, ეს ჩემი სკოლაა.
diakh, es chemi skola­a.
“Yes, this is my school.”

Nominative nouns:

• სკოლა skola “school”

Dialogue 2: Meeting someone

A: ის სტუდენტია?
is studenti­a?
“Is he a student?”

B: არა, ის მასწავლებელია.
ara, is masts’avlebelia.
“No, he is a teacher.”

Nominative nouns:

• სტუდენტი studenti “student”
• მასწავლებელი masts’avlebeli “teacher”

Dialogue 3: Talking about family

A: ეს დედაა?
es deda­a?
“Is this (your) mother?”

B: არა, ეს ჩემი დაა. დედა იქ არის.
ara, es chemi da­a. deda ik aris.
“No, this is my sister. Mother is there.”

Nominative nouns:

• დედა deda “mother”
• და da “sister*

All keep the same form, since they are subjects or “what something is”.

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Practicing by Replacing the Subject

One practical way to feel the nominative in context is to replace the subject with another noun and see that the form stays the same.

Start with a model sentence:

• გოგო მღერის.
  gogo mgheris.
  “The girl is singing.”

Replace გოგო with other nouns in nominative:

The verb form stays the same, the noun shape also stays the same; it is the nominative subject.

Another model:

• ეს წიგნია. “This is a book.”

Change the noun:

All nouns appear in nominative, because each is what “this” is.

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Nominative in Short Descriptions

When you describe people or things in very simple sentences, the main noun is usually in nominative. You may add adjectives, colors, and basic information.

Pattern:

• [Nominative noun] + არის + [adjective / short phrase]

Examples:

You can also state where something is from:

• ის უცხოელია.
  is utsk’hoelia.
  “He / She is a foreigner.”
• ეს ქართული წიგნია.
  es kartuli ts’ignia.
  “This is a Georgian book.”

The main nouns გოგო, ბიჭი, წიგნი, სახლი, მანქანა, უცხოელი, წიგნი are nominative.

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Vocabulary from this Chapter

Below is a list of new or important words that appeared in the examples of this chapter. All are given in their basic, nominative form.

Use these words to build your own simple sentences with nominative subjects, especially using patterns like “This is X” and “X is Y.”

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