Gamarjoba: the Georgian “hello” that wishes you victory.

გამარჯობა comes from გამარჯვება (gamarjveba), “victory” — so the greeting literally wishes the other person victory. In practice it is simply “hello”: neutral, polite, and usable at any time of day, with strangers, colleagues and friends.

You will also see it written gamarjoba in chats and SMS — Georgians often type Georgian with Latin letters. If you received it in a message, our translit translator page explains how to read and translate such messages.

• Four syllables: ga-mar-JO-ba, with a light stress on “jo”.
• ჯ is the “j” of “jam” — not the French or Spanish sound.
• Every letter is pronounced: Georgian spelling is almost perfectly phonetic.
• The “r” is a light single tap, closer to Spanish pero than to English “r”.

Hearing it beats reading about it: the free Phonetics course in tqvi lets you hear Georgian words in two voices, at normal and careful speed.

Simply say გამარჯობა back — an echo is a perfectly normal reply. To return the wish explicitly, say გაგიმარჯოს (gagimarjos), “may you be victorious too”.

Speaking to a group, an elder, or someone you address formally? Use the plural-polite form გამარჯობათ (gamarjobat). You will hear both in Tbilisi shops within your first hour.

• როგორ ხარ? (rogor khar?) — “how are you?”
• მადლობა (madloba) — “thank you”
• ნახვამდის (nakhvamdis) — “goodbye”

tqvi teaches Georgian one sentence at a time, building on what you already understand — greetings included. Courses run A1 through B1, in English or Russian, and the first 10 lessons are free.