The Latvian language is an extensively inflected language, with complex nominal and verbal morphology. Word order is relatively free, but the unmarked order is subject–verb–object. Latvian has pre-nominal adjectives and both prepositions and postpositions. There are no articles in Latvian, but definiteness can be indicated by the endings of adjectives.
Nouns and adjectives
Latvian has two grammatical genders (masculine and feminine) and seven cases; there are no articles. Adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify, and agree in case, number, and gender. In addition, adjectives take distinct endings to indicate definite and indefinite interpretation: Viņa nopirka [vecu māju]. "She bought [an old house]." Viņš nopirka [veco māju]. "He bought [the old house]."
For details about the nominal morphology of Latvian (inflection of nouns, pronouns, numerals, and adjectives), see Latvian declension.
Verbs
Tenses and moods Latvian has three simple tenses (present, past and future), and three compound perfect constructions: present perfect, past perfect, future perfect.
Latvian verbs are used in five moods: indicative; imperative; conditional; conjunctive (Latvian literature, however, does not make a distinction between conditional and conjunctive. Even if such a distinction is made both of them are morphologically identical – ending in -u.); quotative, also known as relative, renarrative, or inferential mood (some authors distinguish analytically derived jussive as a subset of quotative; others, however, insist that a simple addition of a conjunction (lai) is not sufficient basis for distinguishing this grammatical construction as a grammatical mood); and debitive (for expressing obligation).
The relations between tenses and moods are shown in the following table. (The table does not include quotative.)
Indicative Imperative Conditional Conjunctive Debitive Simple present Simple past Simple future Present perfect Past perfect Future perfect
Latvian verbs have two voices, active and passive. The passive voice is analytic, combining an auxiliary verb (tikt "become", būt "be", or more rarely, tapt "become") and the past passive participle form of the verb. Reflexive verbs are marked morphologically by the suffix -s.
Conjugation classes Unlike, for example, Romance languages where conjugation classes are assigned based on thematic vowels (e.g., -are, -ere, -ire forming, respectively, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugation in Italian) Latvian verbs are classified in conjugations regardless of whether they end in -āt, -ēt, -īt, -ot or -t. The classification depends on whether the verb stem has a thematic vowel, and if so, whether it is retained in present tense.
First conjugation
The first conjugation class is characterized by an absence of the thematic vowel in infinitive, as well as in present and past tenses. Furthermore 1st conjugation verbs are always monosyllabic and their stems undergo sound shifts. Based on these sound shifts they are further divided in 5 subcategories.
Sound shifts bolded below
+ Conjugation of celt 'raise' INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) IMPERATIVE(pavēles izteiksme) Present(tagadne) Past(pagātne) Future(nākotne) 1st pers. sg. es ceļu cēlu celšu — 2nd pers. sg. tu cel cēli celsi cel 3rd pers. sg. viņš, viņa ceļ cēla cels lai ceļ 1st pers. pl. mēs ceļam cēlām celsim celsim 2nd pers. pl. jūs ceļat cēlāt celsiet,celsit celiet 3rd pers. pl. viņi, viņas ceļ cēla cels lai ceļ RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) PARTICIPLES (divdabji) Present ceļot Present Active 1 (Adj.) ceļošs Past esot cēlis Present Active 2 (Adv.) celdams Future celšot Present Active 3 (Adv.) ceļot Imperative lai ceļot Present Active 4 (Obj.) ceļam CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) Past Active cēlis Present Present Passive ceļams Past būtu cēlis Past Passive celts DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) NOMINAL FORMS Indicative (būt) jāceļ Infinitive (nenoteiksme) Conjunctive 1 esot jāceļ Negative Infinitive Conjunctive 2 jāceļot Verbal noun celšana
Second conjugation
The second conjugation class is characterized by retaining the thematic vowel in infinitive, past as well as present. 1st person singular present and past tenses coincide.
+ Conjugation of strādāt INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) IMPERATIVE(pavēles izteiksme) Present(tagadne) Past(pagātne) Future(nākotne) 1st pers. sg. es strādāju strādāju strādāšu — 2nd pers. sg. tu strādā strādāji strādāsi strādā 3rd pers. sg. viņš, viņa strādā strādāja strādās lai strādā 1st pers. pl. mēs strādājam strādājām strādāsim strādāsim 2nd pers. pl. jūs strādājat strādājāt strādāsiet,strādāsit strādājiet 3rd pers. pl. viņi, viņas strādā strādāja strādās lai strādā RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) PARTICIPLES (divdabji) Present strādājot Present Active 1 (Adj.) strādājošs Past esot strādājis Present Active 2 (Adv.) strādādams Future strādāšot Present Active 3 (Adv.) strādājot Imperative lai strādājot Present Active 4 (Obj.) strādājam CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) Past Active strādājis Present strādātu Present Passive strādājams Past būtu strādājis Past Passive strādāts DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) NOMINAL FORMS Indicative (būt) jāstrādā Infinitive (nenoteiksme) Conjunctive 1 esot jāstrādā Negative Infinitive Conjunctive 2 jāstrādājot Verbal noun strādāšana
Third conjugation
Verbs of the third conjugation class retain the thematic vowel in infinitive and past, however, it is absent in present and the stem takes on the full set of endings unlike 1st and 2nd conjugation where 2nd person singular and 3rd person present endings -i and -a are either absent or have given way to the thematic vowel.
+ Conjugation of lasīt INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) IMPERATIVE(pavēles izteiksme) Present(tagadne) Past(pagātne) Future(nākotne) 1st pers. sg. es lasu lasīju lasīšu — 2nd pers. sg. tu lasi lasīji lasīsi lasi 3rd pers. sg. viņš, viņa lasa lasīja lasīs lai lasa 1st pers. pl. mēs lasām lasījām lasīsim lasīsim 2nd pers. pl. jūs lasāt lasījāt lasīsiet,lasīsit lasiet 3rd pers. pl. viņi, viņas lasa lasīja lasīs lai lasa RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) PARTICIPLES (divdabji) Present lasot Present Active 1 (Adj.) lasošs Past esot lasījis Present Active 2 (Adv.) lasīdams Future lasīšot Present Active 3 (Adv.) lasot Imperative lai lasot Present Active 4 (Obj.) lasām CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) Past Active lasījis Present lasītu Present Passive lasāms Past būtu lasījis Past Passive lasīts DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) NOMINAL FORMS Indicative (būt) jālasa Infinitive (nenoteiksme) Conjunctive 1 esot jālasa Negative Infinitive Conjunctive 2 jālasot Verbal noun lasīšana
The 3rd conjugation is divided into 2 subgroups, the 1st one containing the thematic vowel ī, and the 2nd subgroup – all other vowels. The only difference between the two subgroups is that verbs belonging to the 2nd subgroup do not take on the 3rd person present tense ending -a. dziedāt, es dziedu, tu dziedi but viņš dzied unlike viņš lasa.
+ Conjugation of dziedāt INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) IMPERATIVE(pavēles izteiksme) Present(tagadne) Past(pagātne) Future(nākotne) 1st pers. sg. es dziedu dziedāju dziedāšu — 2nd pers. sg. tu dziedi dziedāji dziedāsi dziedi 3rd pers. sg. viņš, viņa dzied dziedāja dziedās lai dzied 1st pers. pl. mēs dziedam dziedājām dziedāsim dziedāsim 2nd pers. pl. jūs dziedat dziedājāt dziedāsiet,dziedāsit dziediet 3rd pers. pl. viņi, viņas dzied dziedāja dziedās lai dzied RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) PARTICIPLES (divdabji) Present dziedot Present Active 1 (Adj.) dziedošs Past esot dziedājis Present Active 2 (Adv.) dziedādams Future dziedāšot Present Active 3 (Adv.) dziedot Imperative lai dziedot Present Active 4 (Obj.) dziedam CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) Past Active dziedājis Present dziedātu Present Passive dziedams Past būtu dziedājis Past Passive dziedāts DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) NOMINAL FORMS Indicative (būt) jādzied Infinitive (nenoteiksme) Conjunctive 1 esot jādzied Negative Infinitive Conjunctive 2 jādziedot Verbal noun dziedāšana
Irregular verbs
Beside the three conjugations, there are three verbs characterized by different stems in present, past as well as infinitive. These verbs are referred to as "irregular" (nekārtni or neregulāri.) Irregular verbs and their stem changes are:
būt (esmu, biju) – to be (I am, I was) iet (eju, gāju) – to go (I go, I went) dot (dodu, devu) – to give (I give, I gave)
A verb's conjugation pattern can be deduced from three base forms: the infinitive form, the present stem and the past stem. The following table shows the correspondence between the base stem and the tense/mood.
stem moods and tenses derived from this stem present stem present indicative, imperative mood, debitive mood, present participles (except participle present active 2) past stem imperfect, past active participle infinitive stem infinitive, future indicative, conditional mood, future conjunctive, participle present active 2, past passive participle
References
Literature