There are two verbs in Georgian which describe English „to have”. How to distinguish which one to use and when? This is what you’ll learn from this article. What is more, you’ll get the verbs’ conjugation in present and past tense. How great is that?
In English and many other languages one uses only one verb when you say about possessing something. No matter if you say about having something, e.g. Georgian study book or someone, e.g. mother. However in Georgian there are 2 verbs – ქონა – to have something and ყოლა – to have someone.
How to use to have in Georgian?
Let’s start with how to use those verbs and when. ქონა is the verb which one uses when talking about all inanimate nouns (in general things), besides cars. Due to some a bit weird Georgian reasons when talking about cars many Georgians use the verb „to have someone”. The joke why is that, it’s because for Georgians the car is as important as the family members. It has replaced a horse (which is animate) therefore the verb ყოლა just stayed in use here. Nevertheless I know some philologists who argue this is a mistake and one should not use ყოლა when talking about cars (albeit many do).
As you have already figured out probably ყოლა will be used for the animate nouns, so in general everything that is alive.
How to conjugate the verbs to have?
Firstly, let’s look at the present tense:
ქონა
ის მე მაქვს
ის შენ გაქვს
ის მას აქვს
ის ჩვენ გვაქვს
ის თქვენ გაქვთ
ის მათ აქვთ
ყოლა
ის მე მყავს
ის შენ გყავს
ის მას ჰყავს
ის ჩვენ გვყავს
ის თქვენ გყავთ
ის მათ ჰყავთ
The word ის represents a person or a thing that you have. The second column of words are the personal pronouns for the people who have it. It already has shown us that this is so called objective conjugation. The other one is a subjective one. Compare those verbs with the verb to work in present tense and imperfect to see the differences.
Thereby, the one who has should be declined in the 3rd case, however who or what is owned by them stays in the 1st case. As you may see, learning the declination, especially 1st, 2nd and 3rd case is of great use when talking about the verbs.
How does the verb to have looks like in past tense?
As you already know, the basics of those verbs, let’s add to it the past forms. More about past continuous also known as „imperfect” in Georgian, you’ll learn from this article. While reading it you may compare today’s verbs with the verbs like „to work” in past.
ქონა
ის მე მქონდა
ის შენ გქონდა
ის მას ჰქონდა
ის ჩვენ გვქონდა
ის თქვენ გქონდათ
ის მათ ჰქონდათ
ყოლა
ის მე მყავდა
ის შენ გყავდა
ის მას ჰყავდა
ის ჩვენ გვყავდა
ის თქვენ გყავდათ
ის მათ ჰყავდათ
Looking at present and past forms, you have probably noticed that the particle typical for this tense is –და. Often this would be the indicator that your verbs are in the imperfect tense.
Lastly, I prepared 2 pieces of good news. Firstly, please notice that there is no change in the cases usage no matter if it’s present of past tense. What it means is, once you learn those for present, you’ll benefit from it in future. Secondly, both verbs we learn today have the same form for past simple also known as aorist and imperfect also known as past continuous.
How to build sentences with those verbs in Georgian?
When you want to say what and whom Salome has, you’ll do as follows:
სალომეს წიგნი აქვს. – Salome has a book.
სალომეს დედა ჰყავს. – Salome has a mother.
Based on those 2 examples you should be able to create similar sentences. And this is exactly your task now. If you want to practice, so to learn it better, write 2-3 sentences using both verbs. You can either post it in comments or subscribe The Caucasian Mail and send those answers by replying to the welcome e-mail you’ll receive. Otherwise, we’ll not be able to check it for you.