Latvian Pronouns (continued)

Reflexive Pronoun

A reflexive pronoun (atgriezenisks vietniekvārds) is normally used if it follows the noun (or pronoun) to which it refers, when both are in the same clause (usually a simple sentence). For example, here are some Latvian example sentences which contain a reflexive pronoun (shown in olive green):

Ilga netic sevī. 'Ilga doesn't believe in herself.'
Cilvēkiem parasti patīk runāt par sevi. 'People usually like to talk about themselves.'
Es nostādiju Hermani aiz sevis. 'I positioned Herman behind me/myself.'
Jūs darīsit sev pāri. 'You (plural) will hurt yourselves.'

As you can see from the above examples, English reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves. However, the Latvian reflexive pronoun has the root sev-. Just like other pronouns, it occurs in several cases (except for the nominative case), but it uses the same form for singular and plural. Here is a chart showing how it is declined:

genitive	dative	accusative	locative
sevis	sev	sevi	sevī

Emphatic Pronoun

There is another type of pronoun which in English is called the emphatic reflexive pronoun. This refers to the use of the reflexive pronoun for intensification of a noun or pronoun. Here are a few English examples (the emphatic reflexive pronoun is in olive green):

I myself saw Mary.
John himself said it.
Will they themselves guarantee it?

This use of the pronoun emphasizes a noun (e.g. John) or another pronoun (e.g. I, they).

Latvian does not use the reflexive pronoun sev- for this meaning. Instead it uses the pronoun pats. Here are a few example sentences in Latvian which illustrate how it is used:

Roberts pats to teica. 'Robert himself said it.
Mēs paši neiesim. 'We ourselves are not going.'
Es pate to izdarija. 'I did it myself (feminine).'

Note that this pronoun is declined for case, number, and gender. Here is a chart showing its different forms:

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
nominative	pats	pati	paši	pašas
genitive	paša	pašas	pašu	pašu
dative	pašam	pašai	pašiem	pašām
accusative	pašu	pašu	pašus	pašas
locative	pašā	pašā	pašos	pašās

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns (jautājamie vietniekvārdi) occur in questions. This is not surprising &mdash the word "interrogate" means to pose questions. You can think of the interrogative pronoun as substituting for the answer to that question. Here are a few example Latvian sentences which contain interrogative pronouns (which are shown in olive green):

Kas nozaga konfektes? 'Who stole (the) candy?'
Kā cepure ir tā? 'Whose hat is that?'
Kam tu iedevi konfektes? 'To whom (did) you give (the) candy?'

The main interrogative pronouns in Latvian is kas. This can mean either 'who' or 'what'; there is no distinction between humans and objects. Thus, a sentence like: Kas pazuda? can mean either 'Who disappeared?' or 'What disappeared?'. The appropriate meaning would normally be clarified by the context. The pronoun kas is declined as follows:

nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
kas	kā	kam	ko

This pronoun does not distinguish between singular and plural, and there is no locative form.
(Note: instead of a locative form, one typically uses the indeclinable interrogative particle kur 'where').

In addition, Latvian can use interrogative adjectives as pronouns. There are two main interrogative adjectives: kurš 'which' and kāds 'what (kind of)'. Here are some examples of these words used as adjectives (the adjectives are shown in dark red, and the nouns that they modify are in olive green):

Kurš students zin atbildi? 'Which student knows (the) answer?'
Kurā stāvā Raimonds dzīvo? 'On which storey (does) Raymond live?'
Kādas cepures Anitai patīk? 'What (kinds of) hats (does) Anita like?'

Just as with many other adjectives, if one omits the modified noun, the remaining adjective can function as a pronoun. Here are the same sentences with the interrogative adjective now operating as a pronoun (in olive green):

Kurš zin atbildi? 'Who (i.e. which one) knows (the) answer?'
Kurā Raimonds dzīvo? 'On which (one) (does) Raymond live?'
Kādas Anitai patī? 'What (kinds) (does) Anita like?'

These interrogative adjectives/pronouns are declined basically according to the pattern of first (for masculine) and fourth (for feminine) declension nouns; specifically, as follows:

		kurš		kāds
		masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
singular	nominative	kurš	kura	kāds	kāda
	genitive	kura	kuras	kāda	kādas
	dative	kuram	kurai	kādam	kādai
	accusative	kuru	kuru	kādu	kādu
	locative	kurā	kurā	kādā	kādā
plural	nominative	kuri	kuras	kādi	kādas
	genitive	kuru	kuru	kādu	kādu
	dative	kuriem	kurām	kādiem	kādām
	accusative	kurus	kuras	kādus	kādas
	locative	kuros	kurās	kādos	kādās

Relative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns (attieksmes vietniekvārdi). Relative pronouns introduce a subordinate (i.e. dependent) clause, and function as a noun within that subordinate clause. Here are some example sentences which illustrate this (the relative pronoun is olive green, and the subordinate clause is italicized):

Latvian sentence	English translation	Role of pronoun
Hermanis ir ārsts, kas zin bakterioloģiju.	Herman is (a) doctor who knows bacterology.	subject
Roberts nedzirdēja dziesmu, ko Rita dziedāja.	Robert didn't hear (the) song which Rita sang.	direct object
Ilga neatcerās, kam viņa iedeva konfektes.	Ilga doesn't remember to whom she gave (the) candy.	indirect object
Raimonds pazaudēja cepuri, kuru viņš nopirka Rīgā.	Raymond lost (the) hat which he bought in Riga.	direct object

As you can see from the above examples, when the relative pronoun is in the nominative case (e.g. kas) it functions as the subject of the subordinate clause (e.g. kas zin bakterioloģiju 'who knows bacteriology'). On the other hand, when it is in the accusative case (e.g. ko) it functions as the direct object of the subordinate clause (e.g. ko Rita dziedāja 'which Rita sang').

Negative Pronouns

Negative pronouns (nolieguma vietniekvārdi) indicate the absence of people, objects, or other entities. In Latvian, the negative pronouns are: nekas 'nothing', nekāds 'no kind of', neviens 'no one'. They are declined just like the pronoun kas 'who/what', the adjective kāds 'what (kind of)', and the adjective viens 'one' respectively. Here are a few example sentences that illustrate their use:

Rita neredzēja neko. 'Rita saw nothing.'
Tā brūnā cepure nepieder nevienam. 'That brown hat belongs to no one.'
Hermanis palika bez nekā. Herman was left with nothing.'