Latvian Verbs (Part VI)
- Person: first, second, third person
- Number: singular vs. plural
- Tense: present, past, future
- Conjugation classes: 1st conjugation, 2nd conjugation, 3rd conjugation
- Irregular verbs
- Reflexive verbs
- Complex tenses: complex present, complex past, complex future
- Participles: declinable, partially declinable, indeclinable
- Mood: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, etc.
- Voice: active vs. passive
Complex Tenses
So far we have only dealt with the three simple tenses. Latvian also has three complex tenses (salikti laiki). As in English, Latvian complex tenses consist of a helping verb (palīgdarbības vārds) &mdash sometimes called an auxiliary verb &mdash and a main verb, which is in a participial form. I will discuss participles in quite a bit of detail later, but for now we are only dealing with one type of participle: the past active participle.
In Latvian, the complex tenses are formed using the helping verb būt 'to be' and the past active participial form of the main verb. Here are a few example sentences illustrating the complex present tense in Latvian; the helping verb is shown in gold, and the main verb is orange:
- Raimonds ir
uzrakstījis grāmatu. 'Raymond has written a book.'
- Anna ir uzrakstījusi grāmatu. 'Anna has written a book.'
As you can see from the above examples, if the subject is masculine singular , the participle ends in -is; if it is feminine singular, the participial ending is -usi. However, if the subject is plural, the ending is -uši (for masculine nouns), or -ušas (for feminine nouns). Take a look at the following examples:
- Mani mazdēli ir uzrakstījuši grāmatu. 'My grandsons have written a book.'
- Manas mazmeitas ir uzrakstījušas grāmatu. 'My granddaughters have written a book.'
The distinction of gender and number also occurs in the first and second person, as illustrated by the following examples:
- Es esmu uzrakstījis grāmatu. 'I (masculine) have written a book.'
- Es esmu uzrakstījusi grāmatu. 'I (feminine) have written a book.'
- Vai tu esi uzrakstījis grāmatu? 'Have you (singular masculine) written a book?'
- Vai jūs esat uzrakstījušas grāmatu? 'Have you (plural feminine) written a book?'
As you can see, the Latvian participial form provides more information about gender than is typically indicated by English pronouns alone. Note that the participle is in the nominative case and that it always agrees in gender and number with the subject noun or pronoun.
All of the above examples have been in the complex present tense (saliktā tagadne). Although the present tense forms of the verb būt 'to be' are used, this tense does, in fact, refer to an action which is already completed. This is unsurprising, as the participle -is, -usi, -uši, -ušas expresses an action which is in the past. Let us move on to the other complex tenses.
Complex Past Tense
The complex past tense (saliktā pagātne) is used when a completed action is previous to a past action with which it is compared. Look at the following example sentences; as above, the helping verb is shown in gold, and the main verb is orange:
- Kad Rita ienāca, Roberts jau bija nomazgājis visus traukus. 'When Rita entered, Robert had already washed all (the) dishes.'
- Kad Rita ienāca, es jau biju nokrāsojusi visas sienas. 'When Rita entered, I (feminine) had already painted all (the) walls.'
- Kad Rita ienāca, mēs jau bijām nodziedājuši visas himnas. 'When Rita entered, we had already sung all (the) hymns.'
In all of the above examples, the main action is described as already having been completed when "Rita entered". The order of the clauses is not important; it is equally possible for the main clause to come first (i.e. Roberts jau bija nomazgājis visus traukus kad Rita ienāca. 'Robert had already washed all (the) dishes when Rita entered.').
Complex Future Tense
The complex future tense (saliktā nākotne) is used when a completed action is is previous to a future action with which it is compared. Look at the following example sentences; as above, the helping verb is shown in gold, and the main verb is orange:
- Kad Rita ienāks, Roberts jau būs nomazgājis visus traukus. 'When Rita comes in, Robert will have already washed all (the) dishes.'
- Kad Rita ienāks, es jau būšu nokrāsojusi visas sienas. 'When Rita comes in, I (feminine) will have already painted all (the) walls.'
- Kad Rita ienāks, mēs jau būsim nodziedājuši visas himnas. 'When Rita comes in, we will have already sung all (the) hymns.'
To see all the forms of the verb būt 'to be', go to: Irregular verb būt.
To continue on with verbs, go to → Latvian Verbs (Part VII)