Convenience Store

17 phrases · Georgian with romanization, English and audio

  1. ერთი პური მინდა, თუ შეიძლება.

    Erti p'uri minda, tu sheidzleba.

    One loaf of bread, please.

    Usage

    In a Georgian მაღაზია — the small corner shop — bread stands on a rack or in paper sacks beside the till. Naming a type helps: ლავაში, or შოთის პური, the long canoe-shaped loaf baked on the wall of a clay თონე oven

    Grammar Note

    "Მინდა" means "I want" but is built as "it is wanted to me", with the wanter marked as an object — a hallmark of Georgian. Adding "თუ შეიძლება" makes it polite, and that is how it is said in shops

  2. პური ახლახან მოიტანეს, ცხელია.

    P'uri akhlakhan moit'anes, tskhelia.

    The bread has just been delivered — it is still hot.

    Usage

    Said by staff. Bread arrives from the neighbourhood თონე several times a day and is genuinely hot when fresh. If you hear "ცხელია", buy it. Yesterday's cooled loaves are sometimes marked down

    Grammar Note

    "Ცხელია" is the adjective ცხელი plus the copula -ა, packing "it is hot" into one word (compare კარგია, "it is good"). The subjectless third-person plural მოიტანეს works impersonally: "someone brought it"

  3. ნახევარი კილო სულგუნი ამიწონეთ, თუ შეიძლება.

    Nakhevari k'ilo sulguni amits'onet, tu sheidzleba.

    Please weigh out half a kilo of sulguni cheese.

    Usage

    In a small Georgian shop, cheese, butter, olives and nuts sit in a glass case and are sold loose by weight. Sulguni, the springy cheese from Samegrelo, is the standard filling for khachapuri; there is also a smoked version, შებოლილი სულგუნი

    Grammar Note

    "Ამიწონეთ" breaks down as ა-მ-ი-წონ-ე-თ, where -მ- encodes "for me" and final -თ marks the polite plural. Georgian verbs build the beneficiary into the verb itself, so no separate word for "for me" is needed

  4. რამდენი გრამი გინდათ?

    Ramdeni grami gindat?

    How many grams would you like?

    Usage

    Said by staff. Any loose-weight order brings this question. Answer with a figure, or gesture and say "ამდენი" (about this much). Staff often cut a little over and check whether that is acceptable

    Grammar Note

    "Გინდათ" is გ- (to you) + ინდ (want) + -ათ (polite plural) — the same verb as მინდა with only the person marker changed. Staff always use the -თ polite form

  5. ხუთლიტრიანი წყალი გაქვთ?

    Khutlit'riani ts'q'ali gakvt?

    Do you have a five-litre bottle of water?

    Usage

    Tbilisi tap water is considered drinkable, but travellers usually buy bottled. Georgia is famous for sparkling mineral waters such as Borjomi and Nabeghlavi, so specify "უგაზო" (without gas) if you want still water

    Grammar Note

    The suffix "-იანი" forms adjectives meaning "having / containing": ხუთლიტრიანი (five-litre), გაზიანი (fizzy). "Noun + გაქვთ?" is the basic way to ask whether something is in stock

  6. პარკი გინდათ? პარკი ფასიანია.

    P'ark'i gindat? p'ark'i pasiania.

    Would you like a bag? Bags are chargeable.

    Usage

    Said by staff. Thin plastic bags have been banned in Georgia since 2019, so shops sell thicker ones for around 20-50 tetri. Decline with "არა, გმადლობთ"

    Grammar Note

    "Ფასიანი" is ფასი (price) + -იანი (having), i.e. chargeable; free is "უფასო", built with the circumfix უ- … -ო meaning "without". This pair of patterns is highly productive in Georgian

  7. პარკი არ მჭირდება, ჩანთა მაქვს.

    P'ark'i ar mch'irdeba, chanta makvs.

    I do not need a bag, I have one with me.

    Usage

    How to decline the chargeable bag. Locals commonly carry a cloth bag, so refusing is unremarkable. If you do want one, say "პარკი მომეცით, თუ შეიძლება"

    Grammar Note

    "Მჭირდება" again marks the needer as an object: literally "it is needed to me". Georgian has two verbs for "have": მაქვს for inanimate things and მყავს for people and animals

  8. ხურდა არ მაქვს, საღეჭი რეზინი მოგცეთ?

    Khurda ar makvs, saghech'i rezini mogtset?

    I have no change — shall I give you chewing gum instead?

    Usage

    Said by staff. Small shops run short of tetri coins and sometimes return the odd change as gum or sweets. You can decline and wait, though most people accept since it is only a few tens of tetri

    Grammar Note

    "Მოგცეთ" is მო-გ-ც-ე-თ: -გ- marks "to you" and final -თ the polite form, in the subjunctive. Because a Georgian verb encodes who does what to whom, word order stays free

  9. წვრილი ფული არ მაქვს, მხოლოდ ორმოცდაათლარიანი მაქვს.

    Ts'vrili puli ar makvs, mkholod ormotsdaatlariani makvs.

    I have no small money, only a fifty-lari note.

    Usage

    Say this up front when all you have is a large note. Early in the day a მაღაზია has almost nothing in the till, and a fifty-lari note may send the owner next door to change it. ATMs favour fifties and hundreds, so break them at a chain such as Nikora or Spar when you can

    Grammar Note

    Georgian numerals are vigesimal: 50 is ორმოცდაათი, literally "two twenties and ten". Banknotes are named "numeral + ლარიანი", as in ოცლარიანი (twenty-lari note)

  10. ნაღდით თუ ბარათით?

    Naghdit tu baratit?

    Cash or card?

    Usage

    Said by staff. Card acceptance spread quickly in Georgia, and terminals are common even in independent shops, not just Nikora or Spar mini-markets. In mountain villages and at small stalls, though, it is still cash only. A one-word "ნაღდით" or "ბარათით" is enough

    Grammar Note

    The ending "-ით" is the instrumental case, "by means of" (ბარათი → ბარათით). "Თუ" can mean "if", but placed between two nouns it offers a choice: "or"

  11. ბარათით გადახდისთვის მინიმალური თანხა არსებობს?

    Baratit gadakhdistvis minimaluri tankha arsebobs?

    Is there a minimum amount for paying by card?

    Usage

    Small shops dislike card fees and sometimes set their own floor, such as cards only above five lari. It has no legal basis, so if refused you either pay cash or add something to the basket. Paying by card for a single bottle of water is best avoided

    Grammar Note

    The postposition "-თვის" means "for" and attaches to the genitive: გადახდა → გადახდის → გადახდისთვის. Georgian postpositions are written as suffixes like this

  12. მეტროს ბარათის შევსება შეიძლება?

    Met'ros baratis shevseba sheidzleba?

    Can I top up a metro card here?

    Usage

    The Metromoney card used on Tbilisi's metro and buses can be topped up at station kiosks, at street payment terminals such as TBC Pay or Pay Box, and in some shops. Those terminals also handle phone credit and utility bills, which makes this a handy question

    Grammar Note

    "Შეიძლება" is an impersonal verb of possibility and permission that takes no subject. "Noun + შეიძლება?" alone asks "is … possible?", which makes it endlessly reusable while travelling

  13. ახლა თუ არ გაქვთ, მერე მოიტანთ.

    Akhla tu ar gakvt, mere moit'ant.

    If you do not have it now, you can bring it later.

    Usage

    Said by staff. Selling ნისიად — on tab — to neighbourhood regulars is still a living custom, and a traveller who has stayed on the same street for a few days can hear it too. It works purely on trust, so always settle up next time

    Grammar Note

    Here "თუ" is the conditional "if". "Მოიტანთ" is a future, and framing the concession as an expectation rather than an order keeps it gentle. The tab itself is called ნისია

  14. ამ რძის ვარგისიანობის ვადა როდის იწურება?

    Am rdzis vargisianobis vada rodis its'ureba?

    When does this milk expire?

    Usage

    Stock turns over slowly in small shops, so dairy can be close to its date. Labels read "ვარგისიანობის ვადა" or "გამოიყენეთ … -მდე"; even without reading Georgian you can check the date, which is in Arabic numerals. As everywhere, the fresher stock is at the back of the fridge

    Grammar Note

    Modification is shown by putting the first noun in the genitive "-ის": რძე → რძის, ვარგისიანობა → ვარგისიანობის. The verb იწურება means "to run out, to expire"

  15. რომელ საათამდე მუშაობთ?

    Romel saatamde mushaobt?

    Until what time are you open?

    Usage

    Round-the-clock shops are limited to main roads and station areas; a მაღაზია in a residential street closes somewhere between ten and midnight. Most open on Sundays too, but hours vary from shop to shop, so it is worth asking

    Grammar Note

    The postposition "-მდე" means "until" and attaches directly to the noun (საათი → საათამდე). Like Turkish and Azerbaijani, Georgian uses the verb "to work" for a shop being open

  16. ღამის თორმეტ საათამდე ვმუშაობთ.

    Ghamis tormet' saatamde vmushaobt.

    We are open until midnight.

    Usage

    Said by staff. If the shop never closes you will hear "24 საათი ვმუშაობთ". Tbilisi has plenty of all-night corner shops, usually signed "24 სთ"

    Grammar Note

    The prefix "ვ-" marks first person and the ending "-თ" plural, so ვმუშაობთ is "we work". Times take a qualifier for the part of day: დილის (morning), საღამოს (evening), ღამის (night)

  17. ცხელი ყავა გაქვთ?

    Tskheli q'ava gakvt?

    Do you have hot coffee?

    Usage

    Nikora and Spar mini-markets, and shops attached to petrol stations, keep a coffee machine that pours a paper cup for one to three lari. An independent shop may hand you sweetened instant coffee, so say "უშაქროდ" (without sugar) if you do not want it sweet

    Grammar Note

    Georgian adjectives precede the noun and stay unchanged in the nominative (ცხელი ყავა). The letter ყ is a distinctive back-of-the-throat consonant, written q in transliteration but not the same sound as English k

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