10.4 Using Time Expressions in Sentences

Using Time Expressions in Sentences

In this chapter you practice putting time words into complete Georgian sentences. You already know basic past and future forms from earlier chapters, so here the focus is how to combine those verb forms with expressions like “yesterday,” “every day,” or “next week.”

We will look at three common uses:

1. Placing time words in the sentence.
2. Showing frequency, such as “always” or “often.”
3. Connecting different time expressions, such as “from… to…”

Throughout, pay attention to typical word order and which postpositions the time words take.

Where to Put Time Expressions

In very simple sentences, a neutral and common place for a time expression is near the beginning, often right after the topic or subject. It can also stand alone at the very start.

Typical patterns:

• [Time] + [Subject] + [Object] + [Verb]
• [Subject] + [Time] + [Object] + [Verb]

Both are usually correct. The difference is often just emphasis. Putting the time first highlights the time.

Compare:

• გუშინ მეგობარს ველაპარაკე.
  gushin megobars velaparak’e
  “Yesterday I talked to a friend.”
• მეგობარს გუშინ ველაპარაკე.
  megobars gushin velaparak’e
  “I talked to a friend yesterday.”

In speech, Georgians move time expressions quite freely, but for a beginner it is safest to keep them close to the beginning of the sentence.

Examples with Present, Past, and Future

Use past forms with past time words, future forms with future time words, and present forms with “habitual” or “general” time words like “always.”

Notice that “this week,” “next week,” and “last week” all use the dative case form კვირას kviras. This is typical of many time expressions.

Basic Time Adverbs in Sentences

Here are some of the most useful time words you will combine with verbs.

“Today,” “Yesterday,” “Tomorrow”

Examples:

• დღეს ვმუშაობ.
  dghes vmushavob
  “Today I am working.”
• გუშინ არ ვმუშაობდი.
  gushin ar vmushavobdi
  “Yesterday I was not working.”
• ხვალ ვისვენებ.
  khval visveneb
  “Tomorrow I am resting / I will rest.”

You can also use them with a more complete subject:

• დღეს მე უნივერსიტეტში ვარ.
  dghes me universitetchi var
  “Today I am at the university.”
• გუშინ ის სახლში იყო.
  gushin is sakhlshi iko
  “Yesterday he / she was at home.”
• ხვალ ჩვენ თბილისში ვიქნებით.
  khval chven tiflisshi viknebit
  “Tomorrow we will be in Tbilisi.”

“Now” and “Later”

Examples:

• ახლა ვსწავლობ.
  akhla vsts’avlob
  “Now I am studying.”
• ახლა არა, მერე.
  akhla ara, mere
  “Not now, later.”
• ცოტახანში დაგირეკავ.
  tsotakhanshi dagirekav
  “I will call you in a little while.”

Notice the postposition ში shi in ცოტახანში, which you already know from place words like სახლში sakhlshi.

Days and Parts of the Day in Sentences

You already know the names of days from a previous chapter. Here you learn how to use them with verbs and with parts of the day like “in the morning.”

Days of the Week with “on”

Georgian typically uses the dative form of the day to say “on Monday,” “on Tuesday,” etc.

Examples:

• ორშაბათს ბევრს ვმუშაობ.
  orshabats bevrs vmushavob
  “On Mondays I work a lot.”
• შაბათს და კვირას ვისვენებ.
  shabats da kviras visveneb
  “On Saturday and Sunday I rest.”
• პარასკევს მეგობრებს შევხვდები.
  paraskevs megobrebs shevkhddebi
  “On Friday I will meet friends.”

Parts of the Day

Often parts of the day take ში shi or ზე ze.

Examples:

• დილით ყავას ვსვამ.
  dilit k’avas vsvam
  “In the morning I drink coffee.”
• საღამოს ფილმს ვუყურებ.
  saghamos pilms vuq’ureb
  “In the evening I watch a film.”
• ღამით კარგად არ მძინავს.
  ghamit kargad ar mdzinavs
  “At night I do not sleep well.”

You can combine day and part of the day:

• შაბათ საღამოს სახლში ვიქნები.
  shabat saghamos sakhlshi viknebi
  “On Saturday evening I will be at home.”

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“This,” “Next,” and “Last” with Time Words

You often need to say “this week,” “next year,” “last month.” Georgian usually uses adjectives like:

• ამ am “this”
• მომავალ momal or მომავალ momaral in colloquial forms “next”
• გასულ gasul “last / past”

The noun usually appears in the dative when used as a time phrase.

Examples:

• ამ კვირას ბევრს ვმუშაობ.
  am kviras bevrs vmushavob
  “This week I work a lot.”
• მომავალ კვირას სამსახურში არ ვიქნები.
  momaral kviras samushchrshi ar viknebi
  “Next week I will not be at work.”
• გასულ თვეში თბილისში ვიყავი.
  gasul tveshi tiflisshi vikavi
  “Last month I was in Tbilisi.”

Frequency Words in Sentences

Frequency adverbs show how often something happens. These usually stand before the verb, or right after the subject.

Common ones:

Position in the Sentence

Patterns:

• [Subject] + [Frequency] + [Object] + [Verb]
• [Frequency] + [Subject] + [Verb] for emphasis

Examples:

• მე ყოველთვის დილით ვსვამ ყავას.
  me k’oveltvis dilit vsvam k’avas
  “I always drink coffee in the morning.”
• ის ხშირად კითხულობს წიგნებს.
  is khshirat kitkhulobs ts’ignebs
  “He / she often reads books.”
• ზოგჯერ კვირას ვმუშაობ.
  zogjer kviras vmushavob
  “Sometimes I work on Sundays.”

With “never” you must use negation:

• მე არასდროს ვსვამ ჩაის.
  me arasdros vsvam chais
  “I never drink tea.”

You can combine time and frequency:

• შაბათს ხშირად სახლში ვრჩები.
  shabats khshirat sakhlshi vrch’ebi
  “On Saturdays I often stay at home.”
• საღამოს ჩვეულებრივ ფილმს ვუყურებ.
  saghamos chveulebriv pilms vuq’ureb
  “In the evening I usually watch a film.”

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Duration: “for two hours,” “for a week”

To say how long something lasts, Georgian often uses the accusative (bare number + time word) without postpositions. In many everyday phrases you simply put the number before the time word.

Common patterns:

• [Time period (accusative)] + [Verb]
  meaning “for [time period]”

Examples:

In a sentence:

• ორი საათი ვმუშაობდი.
  ori saat’i vmushavobdi
  “I was working for two hours.”
• სამი დღე თბილისში ვიყავით.
  sami dghe tiflisshi viqavit
  “We were in Tbilisi for three days.”
• ერთი კვირა ვიქნები საქართველოსში.
  erti kvira viknebi sakartveloshshi
  “I will be in Georgia for one week.”

You can also put the time period at the end:

• ვმუშაობდი ორი საათი.
  vmushavobdi ori saat’i
  “I worked for two hours.”

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Relative Time: “in two days,” “after three months”

To talk about something that will happen a certain time from now, Georgian often uses the postpositionში shi with a time phrase.

Pattern:

• [Number + time word + ში] + [Future verb] = “in [time]”

Examples:

Sentences:

• ორ დღეში დავბრუნდები.
  or dgneshi davbrundebi
  “I will return in two days.”
• სამ კვირაში გამოცდა მაქვს.
  sam kvirashi gamotsda makvs
  “I have an exam in three weeks.”
• ერთ თვეში თბილისში გადავალ.
  ert tveshi tiflisshi gadaval
  “In one month I will move to Tbilisi.”

For “after [time]” there is also შემდეგ shemdeg “after,” which you will see more later, for example ორი დღის შემდეგ “after two days.”

Connecting Time Expressions: “from … to …”

You may want to say “from Monday to Friday,” “from 9 to 5,” or “from morning till night.” The most basic pattern uses:

• დან dan “from”
• მდე mde “until / up to”

Pattern:

• [Time word + დან] + [Time word + მდე]

Examples with days:

Sentences:

• ორშაბათიდან პარასკევამდე ვმუშაობ.
  orshabat’idan paraskevamde vmushavob
  “I work from Monday to Friday.”
• შაბათიდან კვირამდე დასვენება მაქვს.
  shabat’idan kviramde dasveneba makvs
  “I have a break from Saturday to Sunday.”

With time of day:

Sentences:

• ცხრა საათიდან ხუთ საათამდე ოფისში ვარ.
  tskhr a saat’idan khut saat’amde ofisshi var
  “From nine to five I am in the office.”
• დილიდან საღამომდე მუსიკას ვუსმენ.
  dilidan saghamomde musik’as vusmen
  “From morning till evening I listen to music.”

You can combine with frequency:

• ორშაბათიდან პარასკევამდე თითქმის ყოველთვის ვმუშაობ.
  orshabat’idan paraskevamde takmitsa k’oveltvis vmushavob
  “From Monday to Friday I almost always work.”

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Combining Several Time Expressions

It is common to have more than one time expression in the same sentence, for example day + part of the day + duration + frequency.

Rules of thumb:

1. Larger time unit first: year, then month, week, day.
2. More specific words closer to the verb: part of the day, duration, frequency right before the verb.

Example building:

Start with a simple sentence:

• ვვარჯიშობ.
  vvarjishob
  “I exercise.”

Add frequency:

• ხშირად ვვარჯიშობ.
  khshirat vvarjishob
  “I exercise often.”

Add part of the day:

• დილით ხშირად ვვარჯიშობ.
  dilit khshirat vvarjishob
  “In the morning I often exercise.”

Add days:

• ორშაბათსა და ხუთშაბათს დილით ხშირად ვვარჯიშობ.
  orshabats da khutshabats dilit khshirat vvarjishob
  “On Monday and Thursday mornings I often exercise.”

Add duration:

• ორშაბათსა და ხუთშაბათს დილით ერთი საათი ხშირად ვვარჯიშობ.
  orshabats da khutshabats dilit erti saat’i khshirat vvarjishob
  “On Monday and Thursday mornings I often exercise for one hour.”

The sentence becomes long, but the structure is logical:

• [Days] + [Part of the day] + [Duration] + [Frequency] + [Verb].

Another example:

• მომავალ კვირას საღამოს ხუთ საათიდან შვიდ საათამდე ყოველდღე ვიმუშავებ.
  momaral kviras saghamos khut saat’idan shvid saat’amde k’oveldge vimushaveb
  “Next week in the evening from five to seven I will work every day.”

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Affirmative and Negative Sentences with Time Words

You can freely use time expressions in both positive and negative sentences. Negation does not change the time phrase.

Examples:

• ხვალ უნივერსიტეტში არ ვიქნები.
  khval universitetchi ar viknebi
  “Tomorrow I will not be at the university.”
• დღეს სამსახურში არ მივდივარ.
  dghes samushchrshi ar mivdivar
  “Today I am not going to work.”
• ამ კვირას საერთოდ არ ვვარჯიშობ.
  am kviras sabchot ar vvarjishob
  “This week I do not exercise at all.”

Combine with “never”:

• კვირას არასდროს ვმუშაობ.
  kviras arasdros vmushavob
  “On Sundays I never work.”

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Short Practice: Mix and Match

Here are some model sentences you can adapt. Try changing the time word and the verb to describe your own routine.

• გუშინ საღამოს სახლში ვიყავი.
  gushin saghamos sakhlshi vikavi
  “Yesterday evening I was at home.”
• დღეს საღამოს მეგობარს შევხვდები.
  dghes saghamos megobars shevkhddebi
  “This evening I will meet a friend.”
• ხვალ დილით სამსახურში ძალიან ადრე ვიქნები.
  khval dilit samushchrshi dzalian adre viknebi
  “Tomorrow morning I will be at work very early.”
• ყოველი შაბათს დედასთან მივდივარ.
  k’oveli shabats dedastan mivdivar
  “Every Saturday I go to my mother.”
• ერთ კვირაში თბილისიდან გავფრინდები.
  ert kvirashi tiflisidan gavprindebi
  “In one week I will fly from Tbilisi.”
• ორი დღე თბილისში დავრჩები.
  ori dghe tiflisshi davrch’ebi
  “I will stay in Tbilisi for two days.”

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Vocabulary List

New or important words and phrases from this chapter.