Understanding Simple Past in Georgian

In this chapter you will learn some very simple and very common ways to talk about the past in Georgian, without going deeply into formal tense names or full conjugation systems. We will focus on patterns that absolute beginners can use immediately in real conversations.

Remember that Georgian verbs are complex. In this chapter we only touch the easiest and most useful ways to express past time. More detailed verb forms and aspects are treated in other chapters.

Using Time Words with Very Simple Forms

A very practical beginner strategy is to combine:

• a clear time word that shows the past, and
• a simple verb form you already know or can memorize as a chunk.

In Georgian, context and time words often make the meaning clear.

Common past time words:

You will not always say all of these in real speech, but they help you see how Georgian often uses ts’in (before, ago).

Example pattern:

• gçhin + sentence
  "Yesterday, [something]."

Examples:

1. გუშინ თბილისიში ვიყავი.
   Gçhin Tbilisshi viqavi.
   Yesterday I was in Tbilisi.
2. გუშინ მეგობარი ვნახე.
   Gçhin megobari vnaxe.
   Yesterday I saw a friend.

Notice that the verbs viqavi (I was) and vnaxe (I saw) are past forms that you can learn as complete units for now.

The Past Forms of “To Be” in Everyday Use

You already know the present forms of "to be" (from the earlier chapter about that verb). Here we only look at very common past forms you can memorize as phrases.

Singular forms

Examples with vocabulary you probably know:

1. გუშინ დაღლილი ვიყავი.
   Gçhin daghlili viqavi.
   Yesterday I was tired.
2. ბავშვობაში მშვიდი ვიყავი.
   Bavshvobashi mshvidi viqavi.
   In childhood I was calm.
3. გუშინ სახლში იყავი?
   Gçhin sakhshi iqavi?
   Were you at home yesterday?
4. გუშინ შენი ძმა აქ იყო.
   Gçhin sheni dzma aq iq’o.
   Yesterday your brother was here.

Plural forms

Examples:

1. შარშან ბათუმში ვიყავით.
   S’harshan Batumshi viqavdit.
   Last year we were in Batumi.
2. გუშინ ლექციაზე იყავით?
   Gçhin lektsiaze iqavdit?
   Were you at the lecture yesterday?
3. გუშინ ყველანი სახლში იყვნენ.
   Gçhin kvelani sakhshi iqvnen.
   Yesterday everyone was at home.

Learning Common Past Verb Chunks

Instead of learning full conjugation patterns here, you will learn a few ready to use past forms for very frequent verbs, only for I and he / she. This is enough for a lot of simple communication at this level.

“To go”

Examples:

1. გუშინ ბაზარში წავედი.
   Gçhin bazarshi ts’avedi.
   Yesterday I went to the market.
2. შარშან ზღვაზე წავედი.
   S’harshan zghvaze ts’avedi.
   Last year I went to the sea.
3. გუშინ სკოლაში წავიდა.
   Gçhin skolashi ts’aida.
   Yesterday he / she went to school.

“To come”

Examples:

1. გუშინ მასწავლებელი მოვიდა.
   Gçhin mastts’avlebeli moida.
   Yesterday the teacher came.
2. ერთი საათის წინ მოვედი.
   Erti saatis ts’in movedi.
   I came one hour ago.
3. მეგობარი გვიან მოვიდა.
   Megobari gvian moida.
   The friend came late.

“To see”

Examples:

1. გუშინ ფილმი ვნახე.
   Gçhin pilmi vnaxe.
   Yesterday I saw a movie.
2. გუშინ მეგობარი ნახა.
   Gçhin megobari naxa.
   Yesterday he / she saw a friend.
3. შარშან ეს ქალაქი ვნახე.
   S’harshan es qalaqi vnaxe.
   Last year I saw this city.

“To eat”

Examples:

1. გუშინ ხაჭაპური ვჭამე.
   Gçhin khach’apuri vïchame.
   Yesterday I ate khachapuri.
2. გუშინ არაფერი ვჭამე.
   Gçhin araferi vïchame.
   Yesterday I ate nothing.
3. ბავშვმა ნაყინი ჭამა.
   Bavshvma naqini ïchama.
   The child ate ice cream.

“To drink”

(You may hear some variation in colloquial speech, but use these forms for now.)

Examples:

1. გუშინ ყავა დავლიე.
   Gçhin qava daviave.
   Yesterday I drank coffee.
2. გუშინ ჩაი დალია.
   Gçhin chai dïala.
   Yesterday he / she drank tea.

Building Short Past Stories with “And then”

To describe a simple chain of actions in the past, you can connect past verbs with და (da, and).

Pattern:

• [time word] + subject + past verb + da + past verb + da + past verb...

Examples:

1. გუშინ დილით სახლში ვიყავი, მერე ბაზარში წავედი და ხილი ვიყიდე.
   Gçhin dilit sakhshi viqavi, mere bazarshi ts’avedi da khili viqide.
   Yesterday morning I was at home, then I went to the market and bought fruit.
2. გუშინ სკოლაში წავედი და მეგობარი ვნახე.
   Gçhin skolashi ts’avedi da megobari vnaxe.
   Yesterday I went to school and saw a friend.
3. შარშან ზღვაზე წავედი, ბევრი ვიდეო გავაკეთე და ბევრი ფოტო გადავიღე.
   S’harshan zghvaze ts’avedi, bevri video gavaqete da bevri poto gadavighe.
   Last year I went to the sea, made many videos and took many photos.

You do not need to know every verb form here in detail. You can copy such sentences as models and slowly replace words.

Saying “Used to” in a Very Simple Way

For a beginner, the easiest way to say something like "I used to..." is to combine:

• a time expression that shows a general period in the past, and
• a present tense or very simple description.

This is not perfect Georgian grammar, but people will understand you.

Common past period expressions:

Very simple "used to" style sentences:

1. ბავშვობაში თბილისში ვიყავი.
   Bavshvobashi Tbilisshi viqavi.
   In childhood I was in Tbilisi. / I used to live in Tbilisi.
2. ბავშვობაში ბევრი ვთამაშობდი.
   Bavshvobashi bevri vt’amashobdi.
   In childhood I used to play a lot.
   (You can memorize vt’amashobdi as a chunk.)
3. რამდენიმე წლის წინ იტალიაში ვიყავი.
   Ramdenime tslis ts’in Italiashi viqavi.
   A few years ago I was in Italy.
4. როდესაც სტუდენტი ვიყავი, ბევრს ვმუშაობდი.
   Rodesats studenti viqavi, bevrs vmushavobdi.
   When I was a student, I worked a lot.

Again, you do not need the full structure of these verbs yet. The idea is to recognize and use these typical combinations to talk about your past.

Very Simple Past Questions

At this level you can already ask simple past questions by using:

• a past time word,
• a question word you know, and
• a past form or a simple infinitive-like form plus context.

With “Where”

Use the question word სად (sad, where).

Examples:

1. გუშინ სად იყავი?
   Gçhin sad iqavi?
   Where were you yesterday?
2. შარშან სად იყავი ზაფხულში?
   S’harshan sad iqavi zaphkhulshi?
   Where were you last summer?
3. ბავშვობაში სად ცხოვრობდი?
   Bavshvobashi sad tskhovrobdi?
   Where did you live in childhood?

With “When”

Use როცა / როდესაც (rotsa / rodesats, when) or როდის (rodis, when).

Examples:

1. როდის იყავი ბათუმში?
   Rodis iqavi Batumshi?
   When were you in Batumi?
2. როდის პირველად ნახე თბილისი?
   Rodis pirvelad vnaxe Tbilisi?
   When did you first see Tbilisi?

With Yes–No questions in the past

You can use the same intonation pattern you already know for yes–no questions, but with a past form.

Examples:

1. გუშინ სახლში იყავი?
   Gçhin sakhshi iqavi?
   Were you at home yesterday?
2. ფილმი ნახე?
   Pilmi vnaxe?
   Did you see the movie?
3. ყავა დალევი? vs. ყავა დავლიე?
• ყავა დალევი?
  Qava dalebi?
  Will you drink coffee? / Do you want coffee?
• ყავა დავლიე?
  Qava daviave?
  Did I drink the coffee? (or "Shall I drink?" in some contexts, but at this level, treat it as past "I drank" in examples)

Context and time words will help you decide the meaning.

Practice Models for Your Own Sentences

Here are some templates you can copy and change:

1. Gçhin ______ viqavi.
   გუშინ ______ ვიყავი.
   Yesterday I was ______.

Fill with place:

• საქართველოში, Sakartveloshi
• სახლში, sakhshi
• უნივერსიტეტში, universitetshi

2. Gçhin ______ ts’avedi.
   გუშინ ______ წავედი.
   Yesterday I went to ______.

Fill with:

• სკოლაში, skolashi (school)
• მაღაზიაში, maghaziashi (shop)
• სამსახურში, samuskrshi (work)

3. Gçhin ______ vnaxe.
   გუშინ ______ ვნახე.
   Yesterday I saw ______.

Fill with:

• მეგობარი, megobari (a friend)
• ფილმი, pilmi (a film)
• ჩემი ოჯახი, chemi ojaxi (my family)

4. S’harshan ______ viqavi.
   შარშან ______ ვიყავი.
   Last year I was ______.

Fill with countries or cities:

• თურქეთში, Turqetshi
• იტალიაში, Italiashi
• ბათუმში, Batumshi

Try to say these aloud several times to feel the rhythm of Georgian sentences about the past.

New Vocabulary for This Chapter

Use these forms to start telling short, simple stories about your past in Georgian.

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