Module 02 · The noun · Lietvārds · Level A1
The Case System: Overview
Locījumu sistēma
Seven cases, each answering its own question. English has no case system at all — nouns keep one form and word order, prepositions, and articles (a/the) do the work that Latvian endings do. The instrumental and vocative are "the odd ones out": the instrumental always coincides with the accusative (singular) or dative (plural) form and almost always appears with the preposition ar; the vocative is only used for direct address.
| Case | Question | What it expresses | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominatīvs (nominative) | kas? (who/what?) | the subject | Brālis lasa. |
| Ģenitīvs (genitive) | kā? (whose/of what?) | possession, "there is no X", after many prepositions, after quantities | brāļa grāmata; nav brāļa; daudz draugu |
| Datīvs (dative) | kam? (to/for whom?) | recipient, "X has", "X likes", after prepositions in the plural | dodu brālim; man ir; man patīk |
| Akuzatīvs (accusative) | ko? (whom/what?) | the direct object, direction with uz | redzu brāli; eju uz skolu |
| Instrumentālis (instrumental) | ar ko? (with whom/what?) | "with someone/something" | ar brāli; ar autobusu |
| Lokatīvs (locative) | kur? (where?) | place, time | Rīgā; skolā; vasarā |
| Vokatīvs (vocative) | — | direct address | Brāli! Anna! |
One case, one job
It helps to think not of a list of endings but of the "job" each case does:
- Genitive — anything that's "whose" or "of what": tēva māja (father's house), kafijas tase (a cup of coffee), bez cukura (without sugar), pēc darba (after work). Also used after numbers from 11 up and quantity words: daudz cilvēku (many people), pieci gadi (five years) — but desmit gadu (ten years).
- Dative — "to/for whom, who has": Man ir… (I have…), Tev patīk? (Do you like it?), Palīdzu draugam (I help a friend).
- Accusative — "whom/what" and "where to": Es redzu māju. (I see a/the house.) Es eju uz māju. (I'm going home.)
- Locative — "where/when": mājā, Rīgā, pirmdienā, gadā.
Order of cases in tables
The Latvian tradition lists them as N — Ģ — D — A — I — L — V. All the tables in this course, and the "i" button in the dictionary, follow this order.
Exercise
Identify the case of the bolded word: 1) Es dzīvoju Rīgā. 2) Tā ir māsas grāmata. 3) Es redzu māsu. 4) Māsai patīk lasīt. 5) Eju ar māsu.
Answers
1) locative · 2) genitive · 3) accusative · 4) dative · 5) instrumentalOpen the lesson in the trainer — with exercises and a “done” mark →Module test 02