CLASS 6 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE
Genitive in Latvian: possession and quantities (introduction)
How it works
In Latvian, the genitive is used to express possession or belonging, similar to the German “von” or the genitive with “des/der”. For example, ‹Emīla grāmata› means “Emīls’ book”; the genitive of ‹Emīls› is ‹Emīla›. The genitive also appears after quantity and measure words such as ‹daudz›, ‹glāze› or ‹kilograms›: ‹daudz ūdens›, ‹glāze piena›, ‹četri kilogrami kartupeļu›. With numerals, one has to distinguish more carefully: ‹divi āboli› means “two apples”, but in forms like ‹divu ābolu› the genitive is used.
Note
In Latvian, the genitive is used to indicate possession, for example in ‹Annas soma›. It also appears after quantity and measure expressions such as ‹daudz›, ‹glāze›, ‹pudele› or ‹kilograms›, for example in ‹daudz maizes›, ‹glāze piena› and ‹trīs pudeles ūdens›. Not every number requires the noun to be directly in the genitive: ‹divi āboli› is nominative plural, but in ‹divu ābolu› the genitive appears.
In Latvian, the genitive is used to indicate possession, for example in ‹Annas soma›. It also appears after quantity and measure expressions such as ‹daudz›, ‹glāze›, ‹pudele› or ‹kilograms›, for example in ‹daudz maizes›, ‹glāze piena› and ‹trīs pudeles ūdens›. Not every number requires the noun to be directly in the genitive: ‹divi āboli› is nominative plural, but in ‹divu ābolu› the genitive appears.
An example
How do you complete the sentence ‹Tā ir ___ soma.› based on ‹Anna›?
The correct form is ‹Annas›: ‹Tā ir Annas soma.›
Try it yourself now
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.