ს-/ჰ- (Him, Her, Them)

Him, Her and Them Markers

Level 4Sounds Like s-/h

Some verbs add ს- or ჰ- for him, her or them, the person in the dative.

How It Works

meyouhim, her or them
მჭირდებაგჭირდებასჭირდება (needs)
მძინავსგძინავსსძინავს (is asleep)
მცივაგცივასცივა (is cold)
მყავსგყავსჰყავს (has, of a person)
მკითხაგკითხაჰკითხა (asked)

The last column shows the marker. Before a vowel and before most other letters, there is none: უყვარს (he loves), აქვს (he has).

The person behind the marker is in the dative: ბავშვს სძინავს (the child is asleep), ნინოს ორი ძმა ჰყავს (Nino has two brothers). With ჰკითხა (asked him), the dative person is the one who was asked.

For them, the verb also ends in -თ: მათ ორი ძმა ჰყავთ (they have two brothers).

These markers tend to fade in modern Georgian, but standard writing keeps them.

Examples (5)

  1. ნინოს ორი ძმა ჰყავს.

    Nino has two brothers.

    ჰ- stands for Nino, who is dative.

  2. ბავშვს სძინავს, ჩუმად!

    The child is asleep, be quiet!

    ს- before ძ.

  3. ლუკამ მასწავლებელს ჰკითხა.

    Luka asked the teacher.

    ჰ- stands for the teacher.

  4. ბებიას სცივა, ფანჯარა დახურე.

    Grandma is cold, so close the window.

    ს- before ც.

  5. ნიკას ახალი ტელეფონი სჭირდება.

    Nika needs a new phone.

    ს- before ჭ.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the me-form for someone else.

    ნიკას ახალი ტელეფონი მჭირდება.
    ნიკას ახალი ტელეფონი სჭირდება.

    მ- means me. For Nika, use ს-.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ს-/ჰ- (Him, Her, Them)Level 4Him, Her and Them Markers

Learn This First

ს- and ჰ- mark him, her and them as objects.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.