Latvian Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Latvian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Latvian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Latvian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Latvian.

Prepositions - Latvian
and un
above virs
under zem
before pirms
after pēc
in front of priekšā
behind aiz
far from tālu no
near tuvu
in iekšā
inside iekšpusē
outside ārpus
with ar
without bez
about aptuveni
between starp
but bet
for par, priekš
from no
to līdz

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Latvian
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] es ēdu bez naža
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] viņa dzīvo netālu no baznīcas
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] viņš ir garāks par viņu
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] viņš atnāca ar savu mazo sunīti
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] vai jūs varat nākt man līdzi?

Negation in Latvian

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Latvian
I understand you [affirmative form] es tevi saprotu
I don't understand you [negation + verb] es tevi nesaprotu
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] tas nav pareizais vārds
don't leave me [imperative negation] neatstāj mani
no problem [negation + noun] nav problēmu

Negative Sentences - Latvian
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] es nerunāju franču valodā
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] viņa nav apmeklējusi vāciju
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] viņš nevar mūs redzēt
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] vai viņa nespēlē šahu?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] mēs neieradīsimies vēlu

Questions in Latvian

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Latvian
how? kā?
what? ko? (kas?)
who? kurš?
why? kāpēc?
where? kur?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Latvian
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] kur tu dzīvo?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] vai viņa prot ķīniešu valodu?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] cik tas maksā?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] vai es varu jums palīdzēt?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] kā jūs sauc?

Adverbs in Latvian

It's time to learn the adverbs in Latvian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Latvian
now tagad
yesterday vakar
today šodien
tonight šovakar
tomorrow rīt
soon drīz
quickly ātri
slowly lēnām
together kopā
very ļoti
almost gandrīz
always vienmēr
usually parasti
sometimes dažreiz
rarely reti
never nekad

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Latvian
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] vai tagad jūs mani saprotat ?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] man nekavējoši ir vajadzīga palīdzība
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] viņa ir ļoti gudra
I will always love you [verb + adverb] es tevi mūžam mīlēšu
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] vai mēs nevarētu mācīties vācu valodu kopā?

Pronouns in Latvian

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Latvian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Latvian
I es
you tu/jūs
he viņš
she viņa
we mēs
they viņi /viņas//tie/tās

Object Pronouns - Latvian
me man /mani (accusative)
you tev, jums /tevi/jūs
him viņam /viņu
her viņai /viņu/viņas (posessive)
us mums /mūs
them viņiem /viņām//viņus/viņas//tiem/tām//tos/tās

Possessive Pronouns - Latvian
my mans /mana/mani/manas
your tavs/tava/tavi/tavas//jūsu
his viņa
her viņas
our mūsu
their viņu /to

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Latvian
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] es esmu jūsu (tavs) draugs
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] jūs runājat ļoti ātri (tu runā ļoti ātri)
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] viņam ir trīs suņi
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] viņa prot vācu valodu
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] mēs neieradīsimies vēlu
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] viņi nopirka pienu un maizi

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Latvian
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] vai jūs varat man pateikt savu vārdu?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] es iedošu jums naudu
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] viņa rakstīja viņam vēstuli
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] viņi viņu apmeklēja vakar
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] vai viņa varētu mums palīdzēt?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] viņš viņiem pasniedza ēdienu

Possessive Pronouns - Latvian
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] mans vārds ir maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] tavs brālis dzīvo šeit
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] viņas māte mums gatavo ēdienu
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] viņa hobijs ir grāmatu lasīšana
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] mūsu sapnis ir apmeklēt parīzi
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] viņu māja nav tālu

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Latvian
this is my house šī ir mana māja
that restaurant is far šis restorāns ir tālu
these apples are delicious šie āboli ir garšīgi
those stars are shiny tās zvaigznes ir mirdzošas

I hope you learned a lot about the Latvian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!