Georgian verbs are famous for having many different parts glued together.

You can think of a Georgian verb as a word built entirely out of Lego blocks.

Instead of using separate words for pronouns and tenses, Georgian attaches small pieces directly to the verb.

This guide breaks down the Georgian verb system into simple, easy-to-understand parts.

The lego block structure

Linguists call Georgian verbs polysynthetic.

This simply means that many different information pieces combine to form a single word.

A single Georgian verb can tell you who is acting, who is receiving the action, the direction of the action, and the time.

While this sounds complicated at first, it’s highly logical once you learn the basic pieces.

The standard template for a Georgian verb looks like this: Preverb + Person Marker + Root + Thematic Suffix + Ending.

You’ll rarely use all of these pieces at the exact same time.

The verb root

Every Georgian verb has a core piece called the root.

The root holds the basic meaning of the action.

For example, the root for writing is ts’er (წერ).

The root for doing or making is ket (კეთ).

All the other parts of the verb will attach around this central root.

Person markers

Georgian uses single letters added to the beginning or end of the verb to show who is doing the action.

These are called subject markers.

The most common group of subject markers is known as the “v-set”.

When you want to say “I” am doing the action, you place a v- at the front of the verb.

When you want to say “He” or “She” is doing the action, you add an -s to the very end of the verb.

Preverbs for direction and time

Preverbs are small pieces attached to the very beginning of the verb.

They originally showed the physical direction of an action.

For example, she- means “in” and ga- means “out”.

In modern Georgian, preverbs also serve a second major purpose.

Adding a preverb to a present tense verb usually changes it into the future tense.

Thematic suffixes

A thematic suffix is a small piece attached right after the verb root.

It helps form the present and future tenses of the verb.

These suffixes often disappear entirely when you change the verb into the past tense.

There are several different thematic suffixes in Georgian, such as -eb, -av, and -i.

For example, the verb for “building” uses the root shen and the thematic suffix -eb.

Regional and spoken variations

Standard Georgian follows strict rules for these verb markers.

Spoken Georgian across different regions is often much more relaxed.

In everyday speech in the capital city of Tbilisi, people frequently drop the v- first-person marker if the root starts with certain heavy consonants.

In eastern regions like Kakheti, you’ll often hear older verb endings that use -av instead of modern standard endings.

Western regions like Imereti also have unique colloquial habits, such as blending vowel sounds in the verb prefix together.

You should always focus on learning the standard verb forms first before worrying about these regional shortcuts.