Module 06 · Adjectives and adverbs · Īpašības un apstākļa vārdi · Level A2

Summary Table: Indefinite and Definite Endings

Noteikto un nenoteikto galotņu salīdzinošā tabula

Adjectives, ordinal numerals, and participles all decline according to one of these two paradigms. Use this table to test yourself.

Masculine

	indef. sg.	def. sg.	indef. pl.	def. pl.
N	liels	lielais	lieli	lielie
G	liela	lielā	lielu	lielo
D	lielam	lielajam	lieliem	lielajiem
A	lielu	lielo	lielus	lielos
I	ar lielu	ar lielo	ar lieliem	ar lielajiem
L	lielā	lielajā	lielos	lielajos

Feminine

	indef. sg.	def. sg.	indef. pl.	def. pl.
N	liela	lielā	lielas	lielās
G	lielas	lielās	lielu	lielo
D	lielai	lielajai	lielām	lielajām
A	lielu	lielo	lielas	lielās
I	ar lielu	ar lielo	ar lielām	ar lielajām
L	lielā	lielajā	lielās	lielajās

How to tell them apart by ear

The definite form in the nominative: -ais / -ā / -ie / -ās (lielais, lielā, lielie, lielās) — roughly the feel of "the" versus "a."
The definite accusative is always -o: lielo māju, lielo galdu.
The definite dative/locative contains -aj-: lielajam, lielajai, lielajā, lielajiem.
Trap: the indefinite feminine nominative liela and the definite masculine genitive lielā differ only in vowel length.

What follows this pattern

Adjectives (labs), ordinal numerals (pirmais — definite form only), participles (lasošs, izlasīts), the pronouns mans, tavs, savs, kāds, kurš (following the indefinite paradigm), pats (partly), and the comparative and superlative degrees.

Exercise

Identify the form: 1) jaunajā · 2) jaunu · 3) jaunās (2 possibilities) · 4) jauno

Answers

1) definite locative sg. (masc./fem.) · 2) indefinite accusative sg. (masc./fem.) or genitive pl. · 3) definite genitive sg. fem. / definite N or A pl. fem. / indefinite L pl. fem. · 4) definite accusative sg. (masc./fem.) or definite genitive pl.

Open the lesson in the trainer — with exercises and a “done” mark →Module test 06