Language/Standard-latvian/Grammar/The-verb-to-be-and-basic-sentence-structure
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As a Standard Latvian language teacher with 20 years of experience, I am thrilled to introduce you to our Complete 0 to A1 Standard Latvian Course. In this lesson, we will focus on understanding the basics of verb conjugation and word order in Latvian sentences.
Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: 0 to A1 Course & Latvian verb conjugation in the present tense.
The verb "to be" in Latvian
As in English, the verb "to be" is one of the most commonly used verbs in Latvian. It is used to describe the state of existence, identity or location of a subject in a sentence. The verb "to be" in Latvian is "būt".
Here is an example:
| Standard Latvian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Es esmu | [ɛs ɛsmu] | I am |
In this example, "es" means "I" and "esmu" means "am". Therefore, "Es esmu" translates to "I am".
Latvian verbs are conjugated according to person, number, tense, and mood.
Basic sentence structure in Latvian
The basic sentence order in Latvian is "subject-verb-object". Here is an example:
Subject + Verb + Object
| Standard Latvian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Es skatos filmu. | [ɛs skatos fiɫmu] | I am watching a movie. |
In this example, "es" is the subject, "skatos" is the verb, and "filmu" is the object. Therefore, "Es skatos filmu" translates to "I am watching a movie".
However, unlike English, Latvian often uses cases to indicate the function of words in a sentence. For example, "man" means "to me" and is in the dative case.
Here is an example:
| Standard Latvian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Man patīk Sports. | [man patiːk sports] | I like sports. |
In this example, "man" means "to me" and is the indirect object, while "patīk" means "like" and is the verb.
Verb conjugation in Latvian
In Latvian, verbs are conjugated based on the person, number, tense, and mood of the subject.
Here is a basic chart for conjugation:
| Person | Singular | Plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | -u | -am | 2nd Person | -i | -at | 3rd Person | -a | -a |
For example:
| Standard Latvian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Es runāju | [ɛs ruːnaːju] | I am speaking |
| Tu runā | [tu ruːnaː] | You speak |
| Viņš runā | [vinʃ ruːnaː] | He speaks |
In this example, "runāju" means "speaking" and is in the first person singular form.
Summary
In this lesson, we have learned the basics of verb conjugation and sentence structure in Latvian. We have also learned how to use the verb "to be" in Latvian and how to form basic sentences. Don't forget that Latvian often uses cases to indicate the function of words in a sentence.
In the next lesson, we will dive deeper into adjectives and their agreement with nouns in Latvian. Thank you for learning with us!
Other lessons
- The verb to be and basic sentence structure
- Nouns
- The past tense and other verb forms
- Pronouns
- Adverbs of time and location
- How to Use Have
- Adjectives and their agreement with nouns
- Future Tense
- Gender
- Conditional Mood
- Prepositions and their cases
- Nouns and their declensions
- The possessive forms and characteristics
- The genitive case and possession
| ◀️ Nouns and their declensions — Previous Lesson | Next Lesson — Adjectives and their agreement with nouns ▶️ |