Thank You, Hello and Cheers in Georgian: Phrases That Work

Most people under 30 in Tbilisi speak usable English, and you can do restaurants, hotels and the main sights without a word of ქართული (kartuli, the language's own name). But Georgian is hard, Georgians know it's hard, and a visitor who tries even a greeting gets a visibly different reception. Outside the capital, and with anyone over 50, the phrases below stop being a courtesy and start being useful.

Letters

33

Native speakers

3.8 million

Capital letters

None

FSI course

44 weeks

Georgian belongs to the Kartvelian family, which has no accepted relatives anywhere else in the world, and about 3.8 million people speak it as a first language. The US Foreign Service Institute puts it in its Category III, the 44-week group alongside Greek, Hebrew, Russian and Turkish, one tier below Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean (state.gov, read September 2026). None of that matters for a traveller. A phrasebook's worth of set expressions takes an evening.

The alphabet in five minutes

Georgian has its own script. The modern alphabet, მხედრული (mkhedruli), has 33 letters and is fully phonetic: one letter, one sound, every time. No silent letters, no letter combinations that change the sound. Once you know the letters you can read a menu or a metro sign aloud, even if you don't know what it means.

You don't need all 33 for a trip. These eight get you a surprisingly long way with street signs and menus.

Sounds that trip people up

Georgian has consonant clusters English never puts together. The word for coach or trainer, მწვრთნელი (mtsvrtneli), runs six consonants in a row before its first vowel, and გვფრცქვნის (gvprtskvnis, "he peels us") manages eight. Don't panic. For travel phrases you only need to handle a few sounds that English lacks.

Greetings and basics

These are the phrases you'll use every day. გამარჯობა (gamarjoba) alone carries you a long way. It shares its root with the word for victory, so a Georgian hello is closer to "may you win" than "good day".

At restaurants and ordering food

In Tbilisi, English menus are common and waiters usually have enough English to take an order. In a family-run place in Kakheti or a guesthouse kitchen in the mountains, these phrases become the menu. Ordering in Georgian anywhere gets you a warmer table and, often, a dish that isn't on the printed list.

Getting around

Navigation phrases matter most outside Tbilisi. In the capital, taxis run through apps (Bolt is the one we use, with Yandex Go as the alternative), so you rarely need to talk. But marshrutka drivers, bus station staff and people giving directions in small towns will mostly speak Georgian or Russian.

Shopping and markets

Prices at food markets like Tbilisi's Dezerter Bazaar are mostly fixed, so there's little bargaining to do. Asking the price in Georgian rather than English still tends to get you the local rate. Our markets guide covers where to go and what things cost.

Note the difference between the two "how much" questions: რა ღირს (ra ghirs) asks the price, რამდენი (ramdeni) asks the quantity. A vendor will understand either, but ra ghirs is what you want at the till.

Numbers you'll actually need

Georgian counts in twenties above 20, the way French does with 80: 30 is "twenty and ten", 50 is "two twenties and ten", 99 is "four twenties and nineteen". For a trip you need one to ten and a few round numbers for prices. For anything else, most Georgians will show you the figure on a phone.

Social situations and making friends

Get invited to a supra, the Georgian feast, and you'll want more than hello and thank you. These phrases let you take part rather than watch.

Emergencies

You're unlikely to need these (Georgia is a safe country for visitors), but they matter most exactly where English is rarest, on trails and in mountain villages.

How much English to expect

It depends entirely on where you are and who you're talking to. This is what we see day to day.

The generational line is sharp. People under 30 grew up with English at school and online; people over 50 grew up in the Soviet Union, where Russian was compulsory. Your barista speaks good English. Her grandmother speaks good Russian and none.

Should you use Russian?

Practically, Russian is widely understood: almost everyone over 40 speaks it, and many younger people have some. Relations between Georgia and Russia are strained, and a fair number of Georgians, younger ones especially, would rather a visitor tried Georgian or English first than opened in Russian. Nobody will be rude to you about it; the reception is simply warmer the other way round.

The approach that works: try Georgian first, even just gamarjoba and madloba, then English, and fall back to Russian only when nothing else lands. A Georgian greeting followed by a Russian conversation is received very differently from a conversation that starts in Russian.

Toasting phrases

Georgian toasts are a form of speech-making. At a supra the tamada, the toastmaster, leads a sequence of them: to the host, to family, to peace, to those no longer at the table. Nobody expects a guest to deliver one in Georgian, but knowing the words for the standard themes lets you follow along and raise your glass at the right moment.

Words you'll see everywhere

These aren't for conversation. They're the words on signs, doors, menus and shopfronts, and recognising them saves you walking into the wrong room or ordering the wrong thing.

Body language and manners

Language is only half of it. A few habits of Georgian conversation catch visitors out, and they're worth knowing before your first dinner invitation. Our etiquette guide has the full set.

Apps and tools that work here

When the phrases run out, your phone fills the gap. These are the tools we've found reliable in Georgia; each was checked in September 2026.

If you catch the bug and want to go past survival phrases, actually reading the script and training your ear, EasyGeorgian is the closest thing the language has to a proper modern course. A good starting point is their post on the 20 Georgian phrases travellers actually use, which covers much the same ground as this page but puts a native recording on every line, so you can hear the consonant clusters instead of guessing at them.

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