Understanding Latviešu Adjective Declensions
In the Latvian language, adjectives describe nouns and need to match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. This is called declension. Let's learn how adjectives change their endings based on these rules.
Gender: Masculine and Feminine
Adjectives in Latvian have different endings depending on whether the noun they describe is masculine or feminine. Masculine adjectives often end in '-s' or '-š', while feminine adjectives usually end in '-a' or '-ā'.
Examples
- liels suns (big dog)
- liela māja (big house)
Number: Singular and Plural
Adjectives also change based on whether the noun is singular or plural. Singular adjectives have specific endings, and these endings change when describing more than one noun.
Examples
- zaļš koks (green tree)
- zaļi koki (green trees)
Cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Instrumental, Locative, and Vocative
Latvian adjectives change their endings to match the case of the noun they describe. There are seven cases in Latvian, and each has its own set of endings for adjectives.
Important Points
- Nominative: Used for the subject of the sentence.
- Genitive: Shows possession, like 'of the'.
- Dative: Used for indirect objects, like 'to the'.
- Accusative: Used for direct objects.
- Instrumental: Shows 'with' or 'by means of'.
- Locative: Shows location, like 'in' or 'on'.
- Vocative: Used for calling or addressing someone.
Examples
- skaists zieds (nominative - beautiful flower)
- skaista zieda (genitive - of a beautiful flower)
Now, let's practice by looking at some examples and see how adjectives change based on the rules we've learned.
Examples
- mazs kaķis (nominative - small cat)
- mazā kaķī (locative - in the small cat)
- mazam kaķim (dative - to the small cat)