Take a look at the following example sentences: the odd-numbered sentences illustrate direct speech, while the even-numbered sentences show reported speech; notice that in Latvian direct speech is usually marked by double angle quotes ( « quotation » ) or by "Polish-style" double quotes ( „ quotation ” ); in the following sentences each verb form is shown in orange:
Here are a few more examples of reported speech, but these example sentences contain reflexive verbs. The two reflexive verbs are ģērbties 'to get dressed; dress (oneself)' and celties 'to get up; rise'; note that the indeclinable participle takes the form -ot-ies when formed from a reflexive verb; in the following examples every verb form is shown in orange:
It is possible to use teikt in the present tense and in the imperative, but then it has the meaning 'to praise'. It is also possible to use sacīt in the past or future tenses, but this sounds old-fashioned, and this usage is pretty well obsolete.)
In all of the above examples the reported speech has been in the present tense only. Actually the relative mood has four possible tenses: simple present, simple future, complex present, and complex future.
In the relative mood, the future tenses are formed using the indeclinable future participle ‑š‑ot (or ‑š‑ot‑ies, for reflexives). The indeclinable future participle is formed from the infinitive stem as follows: to the infinitive stem of the verb add the future-marking suffix ‑š, and then the indeclinable suffix ‑ot (and then ‑ies, if the verb is reflexive). To take specific examples, the indeclinable future participle form for the verbs sie‑t 'to tie' and glāb‑t‑ies 'to save oneself' would be derived as follows:
sie- → sie‑š → sie‑š‑ot
glāb- → glāb‑š → glāb‑š‑ot → glāb‑š‑ot‑ies
The complex tenses are formed using the helping verb bū‑t 'to be' in the appropriate relative form (relative present: es‑ot, or relative future: bū‑š‑ot), along with the past active participle (‑is, ‑usi, ‑uši, ‑ušas).
The following chart illustrates how each tense of the relative mood is formed, using the verbs pirk‑t 'to buy' and smie‑t‑ies 'to laugh' as examples:
| simple present | simple future | complex present | complex future | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| helping verb | none | none | es‑ot | bū‑š‑ot |
| participle | indeclinable ‑ot pple | indeclinable future ‑š‑ot pple | declinable past active pple | declinable past active pple |
| active verb pirk‑t | pērk‑ot | pirk‑š‑ot | es‑ot pirc‑is,
es‑ot pirk‑usi, es‑ot pirk‑uši, es‑ot pirk‑ušas | bū‑š‑ot pirc‑is,
bū‑š‑ot pirk‑usi, bū‑š‑ot pirk‑uši, bū‑š‑ot pirk‑ušas |
| reflexive verb smie‑t‑ies | sme‑j‑ot‑ies | smie‑š‑ot‑ies | es‑ot smē‑j‑is,
es‑ot smē‑j‑usi, es‑ot smē‑j‑uš‑i, es‑ot smē‑j‑uš‑as | bū‑š‑ot smē‑j‑is, bū‑š‑ot smē‑j‑usi, bū‑š‑ot smē‑j‑uš‑i, bū‑š‑ot smē‑j‑uš‑as |
Since the past active participle (which is used in the complex relative tenses) is declinable, it agrees in number and gender with the subject noun or pronoun. Furthermore, since a subject noun or pronoun always has nominative case, the participle will, therefore, always be in the nominative. Note the agreement in gender and number (evident in sentences 3, 4, 5, & 6 below) in the examples which follow. These example sentences illustrate the four different tenses in the relative mood; [P] = present tense, [F] = future tense, [CP] = complex present, and [CF] = complex future; in the following sentences the helping verb is shown in gold, while every other verb form is orange:
Remember that a sentence in the relative mood only provides hearsay: the speaker cannot affirm or deny the information from their own knowledge. As a result, the use of the relative mood could imply that the speaker is doubtful about the truth of the information provided.
In Latvian when the relative mood is used without an introductory clause containing the verbs teikt or sacīt, this implies that the speaker cannot vouch for the truth of the utterance, and even that the speaker thinks the information may be false.
Take a look at the following Latvian example sentences which illustrate this; in order to get across the correct "flavour" of disbelief, I have translated each sentence as though it begins with the word "supposedly" in English; as earlier, the helping verb is shown in gold, while any other verb form is orange:
To continue with verbs, click on → Verbs (Part XIII).
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Last revised January 11, 2010