Latviešu Adjective Agreement Guide
In Latvian, adjectives are words that describe or give more information about a noun, like 'big' or 'happy'. Just like in English, adjectives in Latvian need to agree with the nouns they describe. This means they change their form depending on the noun's gender, number, and case.
In Latvian, nouns can be masculine or feminine. Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. If a noun is masculine, the adjective will have a masculine ending. If a noun is feminine, the adjective will have a feminine ending.
Examples
- Liels suns (big dog) - 'suns' is masculine, so 'liels' is used.
- Liela māja (big house) - 'māja' is feminine, so 'liela' is used.
Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). Adjectives must also match the number of the noun. If a noun is singular, the adjective is singular. If a noun is plural, the adjective is plural.
Examples
- Jauns zēns (young boy) - singular
- Jauni zēni (young boys) - plural
Latvian nouns can be in different cases, which show their role in the sentence. Adjectives must match the case of the noun they describe. There are seven cases in Latvian: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and vocative.
Examples
- Nominative: Jauns zēns spēlē (A young boy plays)
- Genitive: Jauna zēna grāmata (The book of a young boy)
Important Points
- Masculine singular nominative often ends in -s.
- Feminine singular nominative often ends in -a.
- Masculine plural nominative often ends in -i.
- Feminine plural nominative often ends in -as.
Let's look at more examples to understand how adjectives change.
Examples
- Garš ceļš (long road) - masculine singular
- Garas naktis (long nights) - feminine plural
- Garā ceļa (of the long road) - genitive case