Noun Declensions (Cases):

Case

Latvian

Answers the question

Description

Nominative

Kas?

Who? What?

Used as a predicate within a sentence. Examples:

Šis alus ir labs. This beer is good.

Mans brālis raksta. My brother is writing.

Used after the verb in the debitive mood. The Debitive is the mood to denote necessity or obligation. Examples:

Man jāpērk grāmata. I must buy a book.

Man jāapskata vecrīga. I must look at old Riga.

(Note that the jā at the start of a verb means have to or must)

Genitive

Kā?

Of whom? Of what?

Used in the role of an attribute – in English it is

Posessive Genative: Example:

Mana brāļa istaba. My brother’s room.

Used in Street Names: Examples

Brīvibas iela Brivibas Street

Raiņa bulvāris’ Rains’ Boulevard

Marija iela Maria’s Street Anda Marijas iela

Used in Names, Surnames, Titles together with the words Kungs and Kundze. Examples:

Bērziņš Bērziņa kungs Anda says BS

Bērziņa Berziņas kundze Anda says BS

Kaspars Kaspara Kungs

Ilga Ilgas kundze

ministrs minstra kungs

ministre ministres kundze

Used after the words nav, trūkst, maz, pietiek, daudz. Examples:

Man nav grāmatas. I do not have a book.

Man nav laika. I have no time.

Man trūkst naudas. I don’t have enough money

Man maz draugu. I have few friends.

Man pietiek laika. I have sufficient time.

Man daudz draugu. I have many friends.

Used with prepositions aiz, bez, no, pēc, pie, pirms, uz, virs, zem if a noun is in the singular. Examples:

Šis bija aiz galda This was behind the table.

Viņs ir pie galda He is at the table.

Tas ir uz galda It is on the table

Tas ir virs galda It is above the table

Tas ir zem galda. It is under the table

Es bušu gatavs pēc stundas, I will be ready in an hour.

Tas bija pirms gada. It was one year ago.

Es esmu bez naudas. I am without money.

Shis ir no Rīgas. This is from Riga.

Tas ir no koka. It is made of wood.

Of part. Examples

Man ir siera gabals. I have a piece of cheese

Man ir maizes gabals I have a piece of bread.

Of qantity. Examples

Man ir piena glaze I have a glass of milk

Man ir piena litres I have a litre of milk

Of purpose. Examples

There is milk in this shop

Of unnacountable quantity: Examples

Glāzē ir mazliet piena The glass has a little bit of milk

Man, lūdzu mazliet piena I would like a little milk.

Use with: A lot of, much, many, a little: Examples

I have a lot of milk

Dative

Kam?

To whom? To what?

Used to express belonging. Examples:

Karlim (D.) ir māsa. Kārlis (N.) has a sister.

Used after prepositions līdz, pa if a noun is in the singular. Examples:

līdz Rīgai to Rīga

līdz vakaram till evening

pa diviem uzreiz two at a time.

Used with prepositions if the nouns are in the plural

uz galdiem on the tables

pēc diviem mēnešiem after two months

note:

uz galda (G.) on the tabe

uz galdiem (D.) on the tables

Instrumentative

Ar ko?

By?

Whereby?

Wherewith?

Singular case – same as accusative

Plural case - same as dative

Examples:

dzert kafiju ar balzamu to drink coffee with balsam

braukt ar vieglo automašīnu to go by car

nodarboties ar sportu to go in for sports

Direct instrumental: to go by bus

Of Way: to go along the street

Of time: in day time

Of Cause: To have an influenza

To die from

To to complain about

Accusative

Ko?

Whom? What?

Is used with transitive verbs as an object. A transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects.

Harry sees Adam. (Adam is the direct object of "sees")

You lifted the bag. (bag is the direct object of "lifted")

I punished you. (you is the direct object of "punished")

I give you the book. (book is the direct object of "give" and "you" is the non-prepositional indirect object of "give")

John traded Jane an apple for an orange. ("Jane", "apple", and "orange" are all objects of "traded").

Examples:

Nopirkt (ko?) Pienu (A.), Maizi (A.) To buy (what?) milk, bread

Redzēt (ko?) dragus (A.), jūra (A.) To see (what?) friends, sea

Lasīt (ko?) vēstuli (A.) grāmatu (A.) To read (what?) a letter, a book

Is used after the prepositions ap, gar, pār, starp, pret, uz (direction) if noun is in singular

gar mežu Along the wood

pār tiltu across the bridge

pret vēju against the wind

uz Latviju, Ameriku to Latvia, America

Of time: in summer; this week

Direct time: I saw Joseph

Locative

Kur?

Kad?

Where?

When?

Indicates a place or time and is never used with prepositions. Examples:

Dzīvot (kur?) Rīgā, Tukumā, Saldū, Saulkrastos To live in (where?) in Riga, Tukums, Saldus, Saulkrasti

Atpūsties (kur?) Jūrmalā (kad/) rudenī – to have a rest in (where?) in autumn.

The vowel in the ending in lokatīvs is long: vakarā, pavasarī, dienā, upē, valstī, mājās, upēs, valstīs

Bear in your mind!

brokastis, brokastīs breakfast, for the breakfast

pusdienas, psdienās dinner, for the dinner

vakaiņas , vakariņas supper, for the supper

The names of seasons, months, days of the week in their forms in locative. Example:

kas?	kad?	what?	when?
Seasons
ziema	ziemā	winter	in winter
pavasaris	pavasarī	spring	in spring
vasara	vasarā	summer	in summer
rudens	rudenī	autumn	in autumn
Months
janvāris	janvārī	January	in January
februāris	februārī	February	in February
marts	martā	March	in March
aprīlis	aprīlī	April	in April
maijs	maijā	May	in May
jūnijs	jūnijā	June	in June
jūlijs	jūlijā	July	in July
augusts	augustā	August	in August
septembris	septembrī	September	in September
oktobris	oktobrī	October	in October
novembris	novembrī	November	in November
decembris	decembrī	December	in December

Days of the week
pirmdiena	pirmdien	pirmdienās	Monday	on Monday	on Mondays
ortdiena	otrdien	otrdienās	Tuesday	on Tuesday	on Tuesdays
trešdiena	trešdien	trešdienās	Wednesday	on Wednesday	on Wednesdays
ceurdiena	ceurdien	ceurdienās	Thursday	on Thursday	on Thursdays
piekdiena	piekdien	piekdienās	Friday	on Friday	on Fridays
sestdiena	sestdien	sestdienās	Saturday	on Saturday	on Saturdays
svētdiena	svētdien	svētdienās	Sunday	on Sunday	on Sundays

Vocative

Used when addressing a person: Come here.

The case form for addressing; of vokatīvs may coincide with the form of nominatīves. Examples:

tēvs (N.) tēvas!; or tēv! (V.)

The nouns of the second declension in vokatvīvs in most cases have the ending (i). Jānis – Jāni Vilnis – Vilni! Kārlis – Kārli!

Examples:

Iepzīstieties, tas ir Jānis (N. Kas?)!

Tas ir Jāņa (ģ. Kā?) tētis.

Jānim (D. Kam?) ir suns.

Es redzu Jāni (A. Ko?).

Mēs ar Jāni (I. Ar ko?) brauksim uz laukiem.

Tas Jānī izsauc dusmas.

Jāni (V.), nāc mājās!