Latvian Language: Lesson 6

Conversation

Speaker	Latvian	English translation
Pēteris	Man patīk tas koks. Tas koks ir tik liels un resns.	I like that tree. That tree is so big and fat.
Anna	Jā. Tas ir ļoti vecs ozols.	Yes. That's a very old oak (tree).
Pēteris	Kam tā māja pieder?	Who owns that house?
Anna	Tā ir Ritas māja.	That's Rita's house.
Pēteris	Skaista. Man arī patīk viņas mašīna.	(It's) beautiful. I also like her car.
Anna	Tā ir Roberta mašīna.	That's Robert's car.
Pēteris	Kas ir Roberts?	Who's Robert?
Anna	Viņš ir Ritas dēls.	He's Rita's son.
Pēteris	Vai viņai ir meita arī?	Does she have a daughter too?
Anna	Nē. Tikai dēls.	No. Just a son.
Pēteris	Vienalga. Man patīk viņas dēla mašīna.	(It) doesn't matter. I like her son's car.

To hear this conversation: click here → Conversation 6

Vocabulary

Vocabulary notes

(b) man patīk; kam tā māja pieder; viņai ir meita: all of these are phrases which use the dative case; they are discussed in more detail in the grammar section below.

(c) mašīna: this word literally means "machine". It's an abbreviation of the word automašīna "automobile". While the word mašīna can also be used just to mean any type of machine, it is the most common way to say "car".

(d) vai: I have translated this word as "whether". However, it is most commonly used to start a yes/no question, in which case there is really no English translation (except maybe "?"). This is discussed in more detail in the grammar section below.

(e) vienalga: this word literally means "same + wage". It expresses the same idea as "six of one - half dozen of the other". It's the most common way of saying "It doesn't matter".

Pronunciation and spelling

Latvian letter	English example words (closest equivalent is underlined)	Latvian example word (word links to audio track)
e (e*)	at, cap, back	desa 'sausage'
ē (ē*)	add, dam, hang	ēdam 'we eat'

Until this lesson you were only exposed to words in which the letter e was pronounced with a "close" or "closed" pronunciation (šaurais e); that is with the lips slightly parted and spread. However, Lesson 6 introduces three words with the "open" pronunciation (platais e). In this case, the lips are further apart, and, thus, mouth is somewhat more open. The open e pronunciation is very similar to the way that English speakers pronounce what is sometimes called the "short a" (as you can see from the example English words in the table above).

The problem with the "open e" is not its pronunciation; this is very easy for English speakers to say. The problem is knowing when to use it, since the spelling doesn't show it. The following is the list of vocabulary items containing the letter e which you have learned to date:

close "e":	aritmētika 'arithmetic', bet 'but', es 'I', nē 'no', šefpavārs 'chef', tēja 'tea', telefons 'telephone', tev 'to you'
open "e":	dēls 'son', resns 'fat', vecs 'old'

Latvian grammars will occasionally distinguish between a close and open e by writing the latter with a hook or cedilla under it (for example: vȩcs "old"). However, I have chosen not to do this (basically since I haven't been able to find the right computer code for a long open e with both a macron above and a cedilla below it!). Instead, I will continue to mark the open e pronunciation with an asterisk following it in the vocabulary list.

For more detailed information on the close and open e, please see my appendix on the Two Latvian e's.

Grammar

(a) patikt: this verb is often translated as "like", but a much better translation would be "to be pleasing to". Take a look at the following example sentences:

Dative noun or pronoun	Verb (in 3rd person)	Nominative noun construction	More literal translation	Freer translation
Man	patīk	tas koks	To me that tree is pleasing	I like that tree
Tev	patīk	aritmētika	To you arithmetic is pleasing	You like arithmetic
Ritai	patīk	sula	To Rita juice is pleasing	Rita likes juice

What it comes down to is that Latvian doesn't really have a verb "to like". Instead you have to (i) use the verb patikt "to be pleasing" in the third person (i.e. patīk for the present tense), (ii) place the item you like in the nominative case, and (iii) put the person who likes it in the dative.

If both the "liker" and the object of the liking are pronouns, then the one in the nominative case must come first in the sentence, as in the following example:

Viņš man patīk

Literally this says "He to me is pleasing". but this is the only way you can say "I like him."

This kind of situation isn't actually unusual. For example, French uses the verb plaire in a very similar way. For example: ça me plaît literally means "that to me is pleasing", but it is the most common way to say "I like that" in French.
(Note that in French the verb aimer has connotations of romantic love, and, thus, would not normally be used to describe a liking for some object)

(b) piederēt "to belong to": This verb uses the same kind of dative construction. Take a look at the following examples:

Dative noun or pronoun	Verb (in 3rd person)	Nominative noun construction	More literal translation	Freer translation
Man	pieder	māja	To me belongs (a) house	I own a house
Tev	pieder	mašīna	To you belongs (a) car	You own a car
Robertam	pieder	tas laikraksts	To Robert belongs that newspaper	Robert owns that newspaper

Once again, the verb piederēt requires that the owner be placed in the dative case, and the item owned be in the nominative case, while the verb is always in the third person (pieder for the present tense).

(c) ir "have, has": finally let's look at how to say "have" or "has". Latvian doesn't have any verb equivalent to the English verb "to have"; instead you must use the verb "to be" (ir in the present tense) with a dative construction, as in the following examples:

Dative noun or pronoun	Verb (in 3rd person)	Nominative noun construction	More literal translation	Freer translation
Man	ir	kafija	To me (there) is coffee	I have some coffee
Tev	ir	paka	To you (there) is a package	You have a package
Jāzepam	ir	dēls	To Joseph (there) is a son	Joseph has a son

Just remember if you want to say "I have" or "you have" in Latvian, you must (i) use a third person form of the verb "to be" (ir in the present tense), (ii) put the person who "has" in the dative case, and (iii) put the item which the person has into the nominative case. Got it?

Nouns and pronouns: genitive case

Possessor (genitive case):	Item possessed	Translation
Roberta	laikraksts	Robert's newspaper
Annas	piens	Anna's milk

As the conversation shows, masculine and feminine genders have different genitive suffixes:

Genitive suffixes:	masculine:	-a	feminine:	-as

These endings are also used for the third person personal pronouns. Thus, the genitive forms of "he" and "she" are viņa "his" and viņas "her", respectively. (The first and second person pronouns have somewhat different forms, which you will see in a later lesson.)

Please note that Latvian also uses the genitive for a number of constructions which, in English, contain a prepositional phrase headed by of. Thus, instead of saying "the Queen of England", the Latvian quivalent would be Anglijas karaliene (literally: "England's queen"). The case is similar for expressions like "end of the road"; the Latvian version would be ceļa gals (literally: "the road's end").

Yes-no question formation

Yes/no questions in English can be complicated. Take a look at the following English example statements and their related questions:

As you can see from these examples, making a yes/no question in English can be complicated. If the sentence has a helping verb (like "is"), you have to move it out of the middle of the sentence and put it at the beginning of the question sentence. If the sentence doesn't have a helping verb, you have to add one (like "do") and put it at the beginning of the question sentence, but you have to make sure it is in the right form (i.e. "do" or "does"), and then you have to fix the main verb and make sure it is in the right form (e.g. "like", not "likes").

All this is actually pretty complicated. By comparison, making yes/no questions in Latvian is extremely easy. Take a look at the same sentences in Latvian:

As you can see, there is only thing you need to do: add the interrogative word vai at the beginning. Now you have a yes/no question! (Of course, you should add a question mark at the end as well!)

Exercises

Please translate the following sentences into Latvian:

1. I like that dictionary.
2. Do you have a big pot?
3. Does she own a good telephone?

1. Es sūtu Ritai Roberta mašīnu.
2. Ko viņa dara?
3. Vai tu lasi viņas grāmatu?

Ready for Lesson 7? Please click here → Latvian Language Lesson 7