8.4 Genitive Case for Possession

Understanding the Genitive Case for Possession

In this chapter you will see how Georgian shows possession with the genitive case. You already know what a case is from the parent chapter, so here we focus on the special role of the genitive for “of” and “’s”.

What the Genitive Case Expresses

The genitive case is most commonly used to express:

• Possession, like “Nino’s book”, “the child’s toy”
• “Of” relationships, like “door of the house”, “capital of Georgia”
• Belonging to a group, like “student of the university”

English usually uses:

• “’s” (Nino’s book)
• “of” (door of the house)

Georgian usually uses genitive noun + possessed noun, without a preposition.

Examples:

• ნინოს წიგნი
  ninos ts’igni
  “Nino’s book”
• სახლის კარი
  sakhlis kari
  “the door of the house / the house door”
• საქართველოს დედაქალაქი
  sakartvelos dedakalaki
  “the capital of Georgia”

The first noun is in the genitive case, the second noun is the thing that is possessed.

Basic Genitive Endings

Here are very common genitive patterns for singular nouns that you will meet often. There are more patterns in Georgian, but these simple ones cover many frequent words.

Type 1: Nouns ending in -ი (i)

Very many Georgian nouns in dictionary form end in -ი.

To form the genitive:

Examples:

Note that not only -ი words follow this. Many words in -ა also follow the same pattern: just add -ს, which you see as -ის in writing because Georgian usually shows the -ი.

Type 2: Nouns ending in a consonant

Some nouns end in a consonant in the nominative.

Common pattern:

Examples:

For now, remember that -ის is the most frequent genitive ending you will see.

Word Order with Possessive Genitive

In a simple possessive structure:

• The possessor (the “owner”) is in the genitive case
• The thing owned follows in the base form

The pattern is usually:

Examples:

The possessor does not go after the possessed noun, which would sound wrong.

Correct:

• ნინოს მეგობარი
  ninos megobari
  “Nino’s friend”

Incorrect pattern (do not use):

• მეგობარი ნინოს (wrong for “Nino’s friend”)

In Georgian, the ordering carries the possessive meaning together with the genitive form.

Pronouncing Common Genitive Forms

The ending -ის is pronounced -is. It follows smoothly after the noun. Practice saying these:

• სახლი → სახლის
  sakhli → sakhlis
• ბავშვი → ბავშვის
  bavshvi → bavshvis
• თბილისი → თბილისის
  tbilisi → tbilisis
  “of Tbilisi”
• მეგობარი → მეგობრის
  megobari → megobris
  “of the friend”

Read pairs aloud to feel the change:

• Nominative: თბილისი tbilisi (Tbilisi)
  Genitive: თბილისის tbilisis (of Tbilisi)
• Nominative: დედა deda (mother)
  Genitive: დედის dedis (of the mother)

Possession with People’s Names

People’s names behave like regular nouns and usually take a genitive ending -ის.

Examples:

Use them in phrases:

• გიორგის მანქანა
  giorgis mankana
  “Giorgi’s car”
• ანას ჩანთა
  anas chant’a
  “Ana’s bag”
• ნინოს მეგობარი
  ninos megobari
  “Nino’s friend”

Note: You do not need an extra word like “of”. The genitive ending already shows possession.

Possession with Family Members

Family nouns are very common in genitive phrases, especially with names and pronouns.

Some useful family words:

Now use them with genitive:

• ნინოს დედა
  ninos deda
  “Nino’s mother”
• გიორგის მამა
  giorgis mama
  “Giorgi’s father”
• ანას და
  anas da
  “Ana’s sister”
• დავითის ძმა
  davitis dzma
  “Davit’s brother”
• ბავშვის დედა
  bavshvis deda
  “the child’s mother”

You can also combine with pronouns in genitive, but the details of pronouns belong to their own chapter. Here are very basic examples so you can recognize the pattern:

Examples:

• ჩემი მამა
  chemi mama
  “my father”
• შენი ძმა
  sheni dzma
  “your brother”
• მისი შვილი
  misi shvili
  “his / her child”

The detailed structure of these “possessive pronouns” will be treated elsewhere. For now, notice that they come before the noun, just like a genitive possessor.

Non‑Human Possessors

The possessor does not have to be a person. It can be a place, object, country, and so on.

Examples:

• სკოლის ეზო
  skolis ezo
  “the school yard”, literally “yard of the school”
• უნივერსიტეტის ბიბლიოთეკა
  universitetis bibliotek’a
  “the university library”
• თბილისის ქუჩა
  tbilisis kutcha
  “a street in Tbilisi”, literally “street of Tbilisi”
• სახლის ფანჯარა
  sakhlis panjara
  “the house window”, “window of the house”
• მანქანის კარი
  mankhanis kari
  “the car door”

Note how flexible it is. As long as the possessor is in genitive and comes first, the relation is clear.

Chains of Possession

You can also have more than one genitive in a row, to express “X’s Y’s Z” or “Z of Y of X”.

The pattern is simply a chain:

Examples:

1. ნინოს დის წიგნი
   ninos dis ts’igni
• ნინოს ninos “Nino’s”
• დის dis “of the sister”
• წიგნი ts’igni “book”
  Whole meaning: “the book of Nino’s sister”
2. გიორგის ბების სახლი
   giorgis bebis sakhli
   “Giorgi’s grandmother’s house”
3. თბილისის უნივერსიტეტის სტუდენტი
   tbilisis universitetis studenti
   “a student of Tbilisi University”
4. საქართველოს პრეზიდენტის მანქანა
   sakartvelos prezidents mankana
   “the car of the president of Georgia”, “Georgia’s president’s car”

Although long chains are possible, in everyday speech people often keep them short. Still, it is important to recognize that each noun except the last is usually in genitive.

“Of” Relationships, Not Only Ownership

Sometimes the genitive does not express real ownership, but a general “of” relationship, such as content, origin, or description.

Examples:

• წყლის ბოთლი
  ts’khlis bot’li
  “a bottle of water”
• პურის ნაჭერი
  puris nats’eri
  “a piece of bread”
• ხელოვნების მუზეუმი
  khelovnebis muzeumi
  “museum of art”, “art museum”
• ქართული ენის მასწავლებელი
  kartuli enis mast’ts’avlebeli
  “teacher of Georgian language”, “Georgian language teacher”
• ქოხის სახურავი
  khoqhis sakhuravi
  “roof of the hut”

In these examples the first noun describes what the second noun is “of”. This is still the genitive case.

Short Practice Sentences

Here are some simple sentences that include genitive for possession. The focus is on recognizing the structure, not on full grammar.

1. ეს არის ნინოს წიგნი.
   es aris ninos ts’igni
   “This is Nino’s book.”
2. აი ჩემი მეგობრის სახლი.
   ai chemi megobris sakhli
   “Here is my friend’s house.”
3. ეს არის სკოლის კარი.
   es aris skolis kari
   “This is the school door.”
4. ჩემი ძმის მანქანა თეთრია.
   chemi dzmis mankana tetria
   “My brother’s car is white.”
5. ბავშვის სათამაშო იატაკზეა.
   bavshvis sat’amasho iatakzea
   “The child’s toy is on the floor.”
6. ეს არის საქართველოს რუკა.
   es aris sakartvelos ruka
   “This is a map of Georgia.”

Try to identify the genitive word in each sentence and translate it as “of X” or “X’s”.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Here are some typical problems and how to avoid them.

Forgetting the Genitive Ending

Incorrect:

• ნინო წიგნი for “Nino’s book”

Correct:

• ნინოს წიგნი ninos ts’igni

Always add the genitive ending to the possessor.

Wrong Order of Words

Incorrect:

• თვითმფრინავი თბილისის for “Tbilisi’s airplane”

Correct:

• თბილისის თვითმფრინავი tbilisis tvitmfrinavi
  “the airplane of Tbilisi (for example airline)”

The genitive possessor goes before the possessed noun.

Using “of” in Georgian

In English we say “of the house”. In Georgian you must not translate “of” as a separate word in this structure. The genitive ending covers it.

Incorrect:

• of სახლი or ოფ სახლი (nonsense)

Correct:

• სახლის კარი sakhlis kari
  “door of the house”

Vocabulary List for This Chapter

New or important words and forms used in this chapter:

With this you can already build many useful phrases of the type “X’s Y” in Georgian using the genitive case.