I know Georgian” – time to learn this sentence. From this article you will learn the conjugation of the verb “to know” in present tense and when to use it (and when definitely not).
The verb ცოდნა (to know), can be quite useful when we want to say what we can do or which languages we know. From the grammatical standpoint though, it is not the most regular one. That is why we often suggest to learn this verb once you know the basics of Georgian language – the typical conjugations and some simple cases.
What’s interesting, the word ცოდნა itself means “knowledge” as well. In Georgian language the infinitive forms are also similar to gerunds, so you can use it as nouns in sentence. As a result when learning the infinitive forms you get to know additional nouns!
How does the verb to know in Georgian conjugates?
Let’s now move on to the conjugation of to know in present tense. This verb is simple and short, so you may not have problems with pronouncing it. The only tricky part are the cases connected with it. See how it look like in present tense:
მე ვიცი
შენ იცი
მან იცის
ჩვენ ვიცით
თქვენ იცით
მათ იციან
As you maybe already noticed, the conjugation itself is similar to the one of so called ვ- group, but what’s different are the cases. Looking at 3rd person singular and plural you may notice the subject stays in 2nd case, in Ergative. The object, so what we know, is in 1st case. Exactly due to the more complex cases we suggest not to learn this verb as your first one.
When do you use the verb to know in Georgian?
The verb ცოდნა means to know, but only to know something. We do not use it when talking about people. For the latter there is a separate verb, გაცნობა, which you may know from the phrase სასიამოვნოა შენი გაცნობა – it’s nice to meet you. In English we do not have such a distinction, so it’s wort remembering the rule.
That is why the verb ცოდნა will be used when talking about our skills, e.g. I know Georgian or I know computers. The pattern of such sentences will be the same:
ვიცი + რა?
ვიცი ქართული
ვიცი კომპიუტერი
This verb can be also used in the context of “Do you know that…”- იცი, რომ…? That’s quite useful, isn’t it?
The other question worth remembering is: Who knows (something)?Then one uses the word ვინ, e.g. ვინ იცის ქართული ენა? – Who knows Georgian? The subject is still in 2nd case, Ergative, just the word “who” looks the same in 1st and 2nd case.
If you like this article and you want to know when the next ones will be published, join our Caucasian Mail (our newsletter). We send you each week updates about new articles and other mini-lessons and also share some interesting facts or thoughts about Caucasus.
Recommended articles
