Nominative and accusative of more common nouns in Latvian
How it works
In Latvian, the ending of a noun changes depending on the case. The nominative, e.g. ‹zēns›, is used for the subject of a sentence, while the accusative, e.g. ‹zēnu›, often denotes the direct object. The endings depend on gender and declension. Common masculine nouns ending in ‹-s› or ‹-š› often take ‹-u› in the accusative singular, e.g. ‹skolotājs› → ‹skolotāju›. Feminine nouns ending in ‹-a› often take ‹-u› in the accusative singular, e.g. ‹grāmata› → ‹grāmatu›, and feminine nouns ending in ‹-e› often take ‹-i›, e.g. ‹meitene› → ‹meiteni›. The correct ending shows which role the noun has in the sentence.
In Latvian, the subject is usually in the nominative, and the direct object is usually in the accusative. In the singular, common masculine nouns ending in ‹-s› or ‹-š› often change in the accusative to forms ending in ‹-u›, feminine nouns ending in ‹-a› often change to forms ending in ‹-u›, and feminine nouns ending in ‹-e› often change to forms ending in ‹-i›.
An example
Choose the correct form in the accusative: Complete ‹Es redzu ___.› with the appropriate form of ‹zēns›.
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: Latvian. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.