Colloquial Latvian (2010).pdf

Colloquial

Latvian The Complete Course for Beginners Dace Prauliņš and Christopher Moseley

Routledge Taylor & Francis C roup LO N D O N A N D NEW YORK

First published 1996 by Routledge This second edition published 2010 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, Ny 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1996 Christopher Moseley © 2010 Dace Prauliņš and Christopher Moseley Typeset in 9.5/13pt Helvetica by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Prauliņš, Dace, 1951— Colloquial Latvian : the complete course for beginners / Dace Prauliņš and Christopher Moseley. — 2nd ed. p. cm. — (The colloquial series) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Latvian language—Textbooks for foreign speakers— English. 2. Latvian language— Spoken Latvian. I. Moseley, Christopher. II. Title. PG8839.5.E5P73 2009 491'.9382421— dc22 2009004073 ISBN13: 978-1-138-94989-8 (pbk)

Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction How to use this book The sounds of Latvian Abbreviations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Sveiki! Hello! Lūdzu brauciet uz . . . ! Please drive to . . . ! Man ir rezervēts numurs I have a reservation Brauciens ar vilcienu Travelling by train Restorānā At the restaurant Ģimene Family Ko tu dari brīvajā laikā? What do you do in your free time? Iesim iepirkties! Let’s go shopping! Iesim uz tirgu! Let’s go to the market! Kā tu pavadi dienas? How do you spend your days? Kur tu biji atvajinājumā? Where did you go on holiday? Kas jums kaiš? What’s wrong with you?

vii X xii XV xxi

1 16 29 42 54 67 78 91 105 119 131 146

Contents

VI

13 14 15

Jaunais dzīvoklis The new flat Kāds šodien būs laiks? What will the weather be like today? Sakari un masu informācijas līdzekļi Communications and mass media

160

Grammar summary Key to exercises Latvian-English glossary English-Latvian glossary Bibliography Index

199 217 237 252 263 265

173 187

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ingrida Bude and the late Margons Bude with­ out whose love and support my Latvian would not have survived, and Uģis Prauliņš without whom I would not have started to teach Latvian. Dace Prauliņš My thanks go to the late Reinis Mertens. In a way, you could say that he taught me everything I know. He was a great friend to me and a most unusual man. Christopher Moseley Both authors would like to thank Gary King for his helpful comments at the draft stage of this edition, as well as Ligita Grigule whose detailed comments on current usage and methodology have been invaluable. In addition, we would like to thank Annamarie Kino, Sonja van Leeuwen and Anna Callander at Routledge who have nursed this new edition through from start to finish. Claire Trocrne has done an excellent job of going over the manuscript and finding inconsistencies so we are very grateful to her for that. We would also like to thank the following for permission to use photographs and other material: Ceļu Satiksmes Drošības Direkcija (Road Traffic Safety Directorate) www.csdd.lv (road signs, Unit 11) Artem Prokur - www.riga.in (photographs of numbers, Unit 1; tram, Unit 2; station, Unit 4; Laima clock, Unit 7; market, Unit 9; Riga street, Unit 14) Latvijas Banka (the Bank of Latvia) - www.bank.lv (reproductions of bank notes and new euro design, Unit 3) Hotel Naktsmājas - www.nakstmajas.lv (price list, Unit 3) Latvijas Televīzija (Latvian Television) - www.ltv.lv (logo and TV pro­ gramme, Unit 15) Latvijas Dzelzceļš (Latvian Railway) - www.ldz.lv (timetable and prices, Unit 4)

viii

A cknow ledg em ents

Latvia Tourism - www.latviatourism.lv (photographs of Turaidas Pils, Unit 10; Andrupene, Unit 11) Latvian Hotel and Restaurant Association - www.hotel.lv (history of Latvia, Unit 14) Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze (Independent Morning Newspaper) - www.nra.lv (logo, Unit 15) Fortūna Travel - www.fortunatravel.lv (itinerary, Unit 11) The magazine Saimniece - www.saimniece.lv (jokes, Unit 12) Dace Prauliņš and Christopher Moseley

Latvija

Introduction

This course aims to provide a working knowledge of the contemporary Latvian language. Latvian is one of the two surviving members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Its closest relative is Lithuanian, the language of Latvia’s southern neighbour. The Baltic languages are of great antiquity and therefore of much interest to historians of Indo-European linguistics. At one time there may have been up to ten members of the Baltic branch, but little is known of them; the most recent language in this group to die out was Old Prussian, which was defunct by the end of the seventeenth century. The Republic of Latvia re-emerged as a sovereign nation in 1991; the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were the first to declare their independence from the Soviet Union. Like its northern and southern neighbours, Latvia had enjoyed a period of independence earlier in the last century, from 1918 to 1940, between the two world wars, a period which saw a rapid growth in the country’s prosperity to a position to which it is only now returning. In previous centuries, Latvia was, with its northern neighbour Estonia, subsumed under the name of the Duchy of Livonia as part of the Russian empire, and before that under Swedish and Polish rule. In medieval times its territory was conquered and Christianized by the Teutonic Knights from Germany, and their descendants remained until the last century as the educated nobility of ‘Livonia’. All these tides of history are reflected in the present-day Latvian language. Embedded in the Baltic bedrock of the language one can find traces of German, Russian and even Swedish, which serve to give a more cosmopolitan character to this old-established tongue of peasants and seafarers. Even in the twenty-first century, the lan­ guage is still undergoing considerable changes: as it shakes off the jargon of fifty years of ‘Sovietese’, it eagerly embraces the inter­ national terminology of commerce and information technology, much of it recognizable to English speakers.

Introduction

During the Soviet period, the Latvians almost became a minority in their own country, and in the capital, Riga, they were in fact so. Russian came to predominate in most areas of life, and for native Latvians bilingualism became an everyday fact of life. It is for this reason that, since independence, stringent laws have been passed and implemented in Latvia to ensure the primary position of Latvian as the state lan­ guage of the country. In the last years of the Soviet era, real fears had been expressed that, if existing trends were to continue, the Latvian language would soon die out. Now the language is in a much healthier position. Owing to certain similarities between the structures of the Latvian and Russian languages, and a certain amount of common vocabulary, Latvian linguistic ‘purism’ has perhaps taken on a more vigilant edge than in, say, Estonia, whose language has no genetic affiliation with Russian. Incidentally, the only other language native to Latvia, Livonian, which is now on the point of extinction, is most closely related to Estonian. After the collapse of Latvia’s independence following the MolotovRibbentrop Pact of 1939 and the Soviet occupation of 1940, large numbers of Latvians were deported from or fled the country. Conse­ quently, in the post-war years sizeable Latvian communities established themselves abroad, notably in Germany, Sweden, Canada, the United States, Australia and Britain. Throughout the subsequent decades these communities have proudly maintained their country’s ancient language and traditions. Many of them are now enjoying the opportunity to revisit their ancestral homeland and re-establish ties with the approximately 1.4 million Latvians who remained there. Altogether, then, there are perhaps upwards of 2 million speakers of Latvian in the world today. In recent years, since Latvia joined the European Union in 2004, there has been a much greater movement of people coming from Latvia to work in other European countries, as well as people going to Latvia to live and work there. In addition, there are also far greater business contacts, and Latvia has also become a popular tourist destination as people discover the architectural gems and wonderful nature that Latvia has to offer. It is with this in mind that the new edition of Colloquial Latvian has come into being. Its aim is to give learners who might need Latvian for everyday purposes a basic grounding in the vocabulary and structures they will need to get around and communicate with Latvians.

XI

How to use this book

The course comprises the book and free audio. Although the book can be used on its own without the free audio, we do recommend that you download the audio material if you have not already done so as this will greatly enhance your learning experience. The free audio are recorded by native Latvian speakers so you will be able to hear exactly how audio is recorded.

The book The book is divided into 15 units each of which focuses on a communicative function, e.g. eating out at a restaurant. There is a pronunciation guide at the front of the book, while at the back you will find a grammar summary, the key to the exercises, Latvian-English and English-Latvian glossaries, as well as an index of functions and grammar points.

Structure of units Each unit follows a similar structure with two or more dialogues which introduce the functional, communicative language for the topic, as well as the grammar to be covered within that unit. The dialogues are followed by a vocabulary throughout the book, and for the first five units there are also translations of the dialogues. Language points are introduced in a user-friendly way with simplified explanations and tables to help you learn. The language points are followed by exercises, some of which are also recorded. At the end of each unit there is a selection of exercises entitled ‘What can you remember?’ These bring together the grammar and language of that unit. In Units 5, 10 and 15

How to use this b ook

this section brings together the language from the previous five units as revision. We have introduced something of the culture of Latvia throughout the book, e.g. Latvian cuisine. These sections are written in English but include extra vocabulary in Latvian. We hope you find these interesting and useful in learning more about the people whose language you are studying.

Audio recordings Using the recordings will help you in a number of ways: it will help you to understand spoken Latvian; it will help you to memorize the struc­ tures and vocabulary; it will improve your pronunciation and intonation. We suggest that in the first instance you listen to the recording without looking at the transcript of the dialogue in the book. Although each new dialogue includes new vocabulary which you will not know, listen and try to understand as much as you can at least a couple of times before moving on to the transcript. This is very much like listening to Latvian for real when there will always be words that you don’t understand but you will need to be able to understand the gist of what is said. When you have understood as much as you can, move on to the transcript and vocabulary for the dialogue, work through the dialogue and learn the vocabulary. Now listen to the recordings again and you will find that you will be able to understand them in much more detail. At this stage play the recordings several times - you can do this while you’re doing something else such as driving or ironing. In this way, you will be able memorize the vocabulary and expressions much more easily. Some of the exercises are also recorded. Where an exercise shows that it is recorded, listen to the recorded key first before you look at the key in the back of the book. There are also extra exercises on the recording which are not in the book. These are for extra practice. In addition, use the recordings for pronunciation practice by repeat­ ing the dialogues out loud in the first instance and later by reading the dialogue in sections and then playing the recording and comparing your pronunciation with that of the native speaker.

xiii

How to use this b ook

XIV

Learning a language The important thing in learning a new language is to take one step at a time and not to overdo it. You shouldn’t leave your language learn­ ing for the weekend when you might have a couple of hours’ time to devote to it. Instead, divide these two hours up over the week, spend­ ing 3 0 -4 0 minutes on your language learning every couple of days. Don’t try to cram too many grammar activities into these sessions it’s much more beneficial to do one grammar point and the exercise that goes with it per 30-minute session together with other activities such as listening and learning new vocabulary. In this way, you can digest what you have learnt much more easily. Although the vocabulary is written out in a very clear way in the book, it is a great help if you write out the words yourself in a vocabulary book. Small cards are also very useful in learning new words - you can make small flashcards with the Latvian on one side and the English on the other. These can be put into your pocket or handbag and are there ready to be used whenever you have a spare moment. You can also record the lists of vocabulary and play them as you’re driving or doing something else. Do use the Internet as a learning resource. There are links to various websites in the last unit, but you can search for any topics, e.g. after you have learnt the vocabulary for houses and flats, search for dzīvokļi Rīgā ‘flats in Riga’ and you will find many websites selling or renting flats. These will give you plenty of reading practice. Similarly you can look for hotels after you have done Unit 3. Most hotel websites do have pages in English but you can usually click to change to Latvian. Try to find somebody to speak to, particularly if you are learning on your own. You may be able to find a Latvian who would like to improve their English conversation skills in exchange for practice in Latvian conversation. Lai Jums veicās!

Wishing you success!

The sounds of Latvian

The alphabet The Latvian alphabet consists of thirty-five letters: A Ā B C Č

D Dz Dž E Ē F G Ģ

a ā b c Č d dz dž e ē f g

H 1 Ī J K Ķ L Ļ M N Ņ 0

h i I j k ķ 1 1 m n ņ o

P p R r S s Š Š T t U u Ū Ū V V z z Ž Ž

ģ

The digraphs Dz, dz and Dž, dž are treated as single letters in Latvian books. The letters q, w, x and y are not used, even in writing foreign names, although they can now be seen in www, for example, or in the lesson about hotels we will see lux, short for luxury, although you will also see it written as lukss.

Pronunciation Latvian is pronounced as it is written, and once you learn the alphabet you will have a reliable idea of how each word is pronounced.

The sounds o f Latvian

XVI

All

Vowels

(Audio 1:2)

There are five vowels in Latvian, and, apart from o, they can occur in both short and long forms. The long forms are indicated in writing by placing a macron (") above the letter. a

is pronounced like the ‘u’ in English ‘but’ (like a in most European languages), for example, ala ‘cave’, ā is pronounced as in English ‘art’, for example, ātri ‘quickly’, e is pronounced in two different ways, like the ‘e’ in ‘bed’ or like the ‘a’ in ‘cat’, depending on the word in question. These are referred to as ‘narrow’ (šaurais) e and ‘broad’ (platais) e, respectively. In the vocabulary lists, narrow e will be left unmarked, and broad e will be indicated by a small hook underneath: ģ, for example, es Ģsmu ‘I am’, tu esi ‘you are’. Remember that this is only a pronunciation guide; it is not used in writing, ē the same applies to the longer version of e, and will be indicated as such in the vocabulary lists, for example, redzēt (narrow) ‘to see’, krfsls (broad) ‘chair’. i is pronounced as in English ‘bit’, but a little further forward in the mouth with tenser lips: for example, sirds ‘heart’. I sounds like the vowel in English ‘beat’, for example, sirdī ‘in the heart’. o is also pronounced in two different ways. In words of older Latvian origin, this vowel is pronounced as a diphthong [uo], almost like the ‘wa’ in English ‘wasp’; in more recent borrowings, it is a monophthong [o], pronounced as in English ‘got’, for example, ozols (two diphthongs) ‘oak’, kino (monophthong) ‘cinema’, u is pronounced as in English ‘puli’, for example, pulkstenis ‘clock’. ū the longer version of u, is pronounced rather like the vowel in the English ‘pool’, for example, pūles ‘efforts’.

Diphthongs

(Audio 1:3)

Apart from the sound [uo] written as o, Latvian has a range of other diphthongs. Each one is written as it is pronounced, a combination of two vowels as follows:

The sounds o f Latvian

ai au ei ie oi ui

is pronounced as in the English ‘like’, for example, skaists ‘beautiful’. is pronounced as in the English ‘sound’, for example, tauta ‘nation’. is pronounced as in the English ‘make’, for example, meita ‘daughter’. is pronounced rather like the English ‘fear’, for example, iela ‘street’. is pronounced as in the English ‘boy’, for example, boikots ‘boycott’. is pronounced rather like the French ‘oui’, for example, puika ‘boy’.

There are no other true diphthongs in native words; other vowel com­ binations are the result of adding a prefix to a root, such as paēst ‘eat (one’s fill)’, saiet ‘go together’, Saeima ‘Latvian Parliament’.

Consonants

(Audio 1:4-6)

b, d, f, I, m, n, s, v and z are pronounced as in English. Here are some examples: baits diena filma labs meita nakts salds viss zeme c č dz dž h

white day film good daughter night sweet all earth

is pronounced like ‘ts ’ in ‘cats’. Thus, for example, cits ‘other’ begins and ends with the same sound, is like the ‘ch’ in English ‘church’, for example, četri ‘four’, is pronounced as the ‘ds’ in the English ‘buds’, for example, dzied ‘sings’. is like the ‘j ’ in English ‘job’, for example, džezs ‘jazz’, is pronounced like the ‘h’ in English ‘hair’, for example, hokejs ‘hockey’.

XVII

The sounds o f Latvian

xviii

j r š ž

is pronounced like ‘y’ in ‘yes’, for example, jo ‘because’, is pronounced with a moderate trill (two or three flaps of the tongue), for example, redz ‘sees’, is like the ‘sh’ in English ‘ship’, for example, šis ‘this’, is like the ‘s’ in ‘pleasure’, for example, žurka ‘rat’.

k, p and t are pronounced without the initial puff of air (aspiration) so often heard at the beginning of English words, for example, koks ‘tree’, putns ‘bird’, tas ‘it’. When they occur between two short vowels, unvoiced consonants such as k, p and t tend to be lengthened to almost double length: hence aka ‘well’ sounds like [akka], upe ‘river’ sounds like [uppe], bite ‘bee’ sounds like [bitte]. The consonants ģ, ķ, I and ņ are all what we call ‘palatalized’ sounds, the result of adding a [j] sound to a consonant. They are pronounced with the tongue arched further towards the palate (hence the name ‘palatalized’) to make a single sound. ģ ķ I ņ

is a bit like the [dj] sound in ‘due’, for example, ģimene ‘family’, is not like any sound in English, but most closely resembles the [tj] sound in ‘Tuesday’ or ‘cut you’, for example, ķer! ‘catch!’. is like the ‘IN’ in ‘million’, for example, loti ‘very’, is like the ‘ni’ in English ‘onion’, for example, ņem! ‘take!’.

Stress

(Audio 1:7)

Stress nearly always occurs on the first syllable of a word (except in a few words which are actually contractions of longer phrases), even if this syllable is a prefix. Remember that stress and length in Latvian are quite independent of each other. Any syllable can be long, but only the first syllable can be stressed, as indicated by the syllable written in capital letters, for example, KĀPT ‘climb’, IZkāpt ‘climb out’, Upe ‘river’, Upe ‘in a/the river’, MAšīna ‘car’, MAšīna ‘in a/the car’. Here are some common words which do not follow this rule - the stressed syllable is written in capital letters: labRĪT labVAkar

good morning good evening

The sounds o f Latvian

visLIEIakais neKAS neVIENS labDIEN palDIES neKAD

XIX

the biggest (this is true of all words prefixed with visin the superlative) nothing nobody (most other words prefixed with ne- ‘not’ have the stress on the first syllable) good day thank you never

Pronunciation exercise

(Audio i:8)

Using the guidelines above, try pronouncing the following words. If you have the audio, try pronouncing the words first before you listen to the recording. zirgs lācis kaķis bullis govs cūka putns troksnis roka ola pirksts akmens pasaule diena kuģis slēdzis ceļš rotaļa dziesma aka upe bite bļoda

horse bear cat bull cow pig bird noise hand egg finger stone world day ship switch road game song well river bee dish

zirgi lāči kaķi buļļi govis cūkas putni trokšņi rokas olas pirksti akmeņi pasaules dienas kuģi slēdži ceļi rotaļas dziesmas akas upes bites bļodas

horses bears cats bulls cows pigs birds noises hands eggs fingers stones worlds days ships switches roads games songs wells rivers bees dishes

The sounds o f Latvian

XX

nazis svece zvērs tornis mirklis

knife candle beast tower moment

naži sveces zvēri torņi mirkļi

knives candles beasts towers moments

Abbreviations

acc. adj. adv. conj. dat. dim. fam. fem. gen. intr. irreg. lit. loc.

accusative adjective adverb conjunction dative diminutive familiar feminine genitive intransitive irregular literally locative

masc. n. nom. pi. pol. prep. reg. s.b. sing. sthg tr. V. voc.

masculine noun nominative plural polite preposition regular somebody singular something transitive verb vocative

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Unit O ne

Sveiki! Hello!

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

say hello and goodbye introduce yourself and others give and ask for personal information ask questions count to 10

Dialogue 1 Prieks iepazīties

A pleasure to m eet you

(Audio

Peteris Prieditis is at a reception with his wife Anda when they meet a colleague of Peteris. JĀNIS PĒTERIS JĀNIS PĒTERIS ANDA JĀNIS ANDA

Sveiks, Pēter, kā iet? Sveiks, Jāni! Paldies, labi, un tev? Arī labi, paldies. Te ir mana sieva Anda. Labdien! Labdien! Prieks iepazīties. Man arī.

JĀNIS Hello, Peter, how are you? PĒTERIS Hello, Janis, [I’m] well, and you?

9)

Unit 1: Sveiki!

2

JANIS PĒTERIS ANDA JANIS ANDA

[I’m] well too, thanks. This is my wife Anda. Good day! Good day! A pleasure to meet you. Me too.

Vocabulary sveiks

hello, hi

te

here, this

kā

how

ir

is

iet

to go; goes

mana (fem.)

my

paldies

thanks

sieva

wife

labi

well

labdien

good day

un

and

prieks

pleasure

tev

to/for you

iepazīties

to get to know

arī

also, too

Language point Gender All nouns, names and adjectives in Latvian are declined according to gender. They may be masculine (masc.) or feminine (fern.). You can usually tell easily whether a Latvian noun is masculine or feminine. The masculine ending for nouns is nearly always -s or -is, and the feminine is mostly -a or -e in the basic form, as given in the vocabulary lists and the glossary. (Gender will not be shown in these lists unless the word is an exception to this rule.) Note that gender endings apply to names as well. Pēteris Priedītis is masculine, and his wife is Anda PriedTte: even the ending of her surname is feminine. As a cultural point, Latvian women born outside Latvia often use the masculine ending of their surname, partly follow­ ing the conventions of their parents and grandparents as the use of the feminine ending was not universal in the interwar years, and partly because this was the name registered on their birth certificates.

Unit 1: Hello!

3

Greetings and goodbyes

(Audio

i:io)

sveiks! (masc. sing.) sveika! (fern, sing.) sveiki! (masc. pi.) sveikas! (fern, pi.)

greetings! hello! - the form must agree with the gender and number of people you are speaking to

labdien!

good day! - used at any time in the daytime - at more specific times of the day you can use: good morning! - usually used only when you get up good evening!

labrīt! labvakar!

(In the words labdien, labrīt and labvakar the stress falls on the second syllable.) Čau!

Visu labu! Atā! Arlabunakti!

ciao - from the Italian - used by young people both as a greeting and for saying goodbye Goodbye! lit. ‘Until we see each other again’, like the French lau revoir’. All the best! Bye! (With a) good night!

Prieks iepazīties! Ļoti patīkami!

A pleasure to meet you! Very pleased (to meet you)!

Ka (tev/jums) iet? Kā (tev/jums) klājas?

How are you? Tev is used when addressing one person you are familiar with, while jums is used with a person you are not familiar with or when addressing more than one person. Fine thanks. And you?

Uz redzēšanos!

Labi, paldies. Un tev/jums? Nekas, normāli. Nu, tā./Šā tā.

OK. lit. ‘nothing’, i.e. nothing bad, (everything’s) normal. So so.

Unit 1: Sveiki!

4

Language points Addressing people When you use a person’s first name to address them, short feminine names and nouns stay the same, e.g. Anita!, but masculine words drop the final -s: Gunārs is addressed as Gunār!, Jānis as Jāni!, and so on. Longer feminine names also drop the final ending, e.g. Elizabeti and a longer masculine name will drop the -is ending, e.g. Pēter! This is called the vocative case.

Exercise 1 (Audio 1:11) What would you say in answer to these phrases? The first one is done for you as an example. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5

Labdien! Labdien!

Kā iet? Arlabunakti! Sveiks, Jāni! Visu labu! Čau, Pēter!

6 7 8 9

Ka jums klajas? Atā! Uz redzēšanos! Labvakar!

Personal pronouns es tu viņš viņa mēs jūs viņi viņas

(Audio 1:12)

I you (sing, fam.) he she we you (sing. pol. and pi.) they (masc.) they (fern.)

Like many other European nationalities, Latvians distinguish between familiar and polite ways of addressing each other. Tu is used for family members, children and close friends; jūs is used for more formal rela­ tions with adults who are less familiar, as well as being the plural form.

Unit 1: Hello!

5

If it refers to a single person in the polite form, it is written with a capital J: Jūs, for example, in letter writing. Young people start using tu to address each other very quickly. If you are not sure which to use, start with jūs and follow the lead of the person you are talking to.

Present tense ot the verb but to be', positive and negative (Audio 1:13) es £smu tu esi viņš/viņa ir mēs §sam jūs Ģsat viņi/viņas ir es nĢĢsmu tu neesi viņš/viņa nav mēs nĢĢsam jūs nĢĢsat viņi/viņas nav

1 am you (sing.) are he/she is we are you (pi.) are they (masc./fem.) are 1 am not you (sing.) are not he/she is not we are not you (pi.) are not they (masc./fem.) are not

Exercise 2 Match the words in the box on the left with the appropriate form of the verb using a positive and a negative form for each item, e.g. es esmu. es viņa

viņš

Anda

tu

Daniels un Lija

Pēteris

viņas

viņi

mēs

nav

jūs

esam

Inga

esmu esi

neesmu

neesi nav

ir

neesat

neesam

esat

n

Dialogue 2 Kur jūs dzīvojat?

Where do you live?

(Audio

i:i4)

o

At the reception Anda meets Stuart Anderson and introduces herself. ^ &

Unit 1: Sveiki!

6

ANDA stuart anda stuart anda stuart

anda stuart anda stuart

anda stuart

anda stuart anda stuart

anda stuart anda stuart

Labdien. Mani sauc Anda Priedīte. Labdien. Mans vārds ir Stjuarts Andersons. Ļoti patīkami. Vai jūs esat anglis? Nē, es esmu skots. Kur jūs dzīvojat? Es dzīvoju Edinburgā. Es esmu students. Par ko jūs strādājat? Es esmu skolotāja. Kur jūs dzīvojat? Es dzīvoju Rīgā. Jūs labi runājat latviski. Paldies. Hello. My name is Anda Priedite. Hello. My name is Stuart Anderson. Very pleased [to meet you]. Are you an Englishman? No, I’m a Scot. Where do you live? / live in Edinburgh. I am a student. What work do you do? [lit. ‘As what do you work?’] I’m a teacher. Where do you live? / live in Riga. You speak Latvian well. Thank you.

Vocabulary mani

me

kur

where

mani sauc

1am called

dzīvot

to live

vārds

name

Edinburgā

in Edinburgh

vai

question word, at the beginning of a yes/no question

students (masc.)

student

par

as

ko

what (object)

strādāt

to work

skolotāja (fern.)

teacher

anglis

Englishman

nē

no

skots (masc.)

Scot

Unit 1: Hello!

Language points Writing foreign names All foreign names are written in Latvian according to their pronun­ ciation, with the addition of an appropriate masc./fem. ending, e.g. Stjuarts Andersons for ‘Stuart Anderson’ or Šīla Andersone for ‘Sheila Anderson’. The same applies to place names which mostly add the feminine -a ending or sometimes the -e ending, e.g. Edinburga, Vašingtona, Bristole. Places names ending in -o generally do not change, e.g. Toronto.

How to say ‘in /a t’ a place To say ‘in’ or ‘at’ a place, we make the final vowel long: a -> ā, e -> ē, e.g. Rīgā ‘in Riga’, Bristolē ‘in Bristol’. We will meet more examples of this later.

Cases Relations between words in a Latvian sentence are largely governed by a series of cases, the distinctive endings of which are placed on nouns and adjectives. We can give the example in English of saying ‘the boy’s ball’ where ‘boy’s’ is possessive. However, in English we mainly show the relationship between words by word order. In Latvian, word order is much more fluid so, if the words of a sentence in Latvian, literally translated, are ‘man bite dog’, we need the endings of the nouns to indicate who bit whom. Pronouns also change according to case. The basic dictionary form of nouns and pronouns is known as the nominative case so the personal pronouns we learnt above are in the nominative, e.g. es T. The next paragraph deals with the accusative case, which is used for the object of a sentence, e.g. ‘me’ in English.

Personal pronouns in the accusative case Note the expression Mani sauc ‘I am called’, lit. ‘Me call’. The usual English translation of one of Verdi’s arias is ‘They call me Mimi’ and

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Unit 1: Sveiki!

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this is a good way to remember the Latvian expression - the word ‘they’ is understood. This expression uses the accusative form of the pronoun. The accusative personal pronouns are: mani sauc tevi sauc viņu sauc mūs sauc jūs sauc viņus/viņas sauc

I am called you (sing.) are called he/she is called we are called you (pol./pl.) they (masc./fem.) are called

We will learn more about the accusative case in the next unit.

Possessive adjectives You now know how to say ‘I am called’ .. . Another way of introducing yourself is using Mans vārds ir . . . Vārds ‘name’ is a masculine noun and the possessive adjective ‘my’ agrees with it. This is true for mans and tavs, but the other possessive adjectives in Latvian listed below don’t change. mans/mana tavs/tava viņa viņas

Exercise 3

my your (sing.) his her

mūsu our jūsu your (pol./pl.) viņu their savs/sava my/your/his, etc. own

(Audioi; 15)

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate pronoun or possessive adjective and then check your answer on the audio. Example:

- Kā tevi sauc? - _____ sauc Baiba. Un k ā ______ sauc? - _____ vārds ir Juris.

Answer:

- Kā tevi sauc? - Mani sauc Baiba. Un kā tevi sauc? - Mans vārds ir Juris.

1 - K a _____ sauc? - Viņas vārds ir Ieva.

Unit 1: Hello!

9

2

- K a ______ sauc? - Viņas ir Baiba un Inita.

3

- Kā viņu sauc? - _____ vārds ir Andrejs.

4

- K ā ______ sauc? - Viņi ir Baiba un Andrejs.

5

- Kā jūs sauc? - ____ sauc Imants.

6

- Kā viņu sauc? - _____ vārds ir Anita.

7

V iņas______ ir Anda.

8

V iņ u _____ Andrejs.

9

- Kā jūs sauc? - M ū s _____ Oļģerts un Anna.

Latvian verbs The form of the verb shown in the word lists is the infinitive: ‘to speak, to shine’, and so on. Many of the verbs in Latvian follow a pattern where the infinitive ends in -āt, -ēt, -It or -ot. Quite a few others end in a consonant + -t. They behave in different ways and we will look at these in much more detail later, but for the moment just learn the verbs as they come up. The ‘he/she’ forms are always the same as the ‘they’ form, i.e. third person sing, and pi., so there are only five forms to learn.

Present tense of the verb dzīvot to live' es dzīvoju tu dzīvo viņš/viņa/viņi/viņas dzīvo mēs dzīvojam jūs dzīvojat

I live you (sing.) live he/she lives, they (masc./fem.) live we live you (pol./pl.) live

Unit 1: Sveiki!

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Present tense of the verb stradat to work7 es strādāju tu strādā viņš etc. strādā mēs strādājam jūs strādājat

I work you (sing.) work he/she works, they work we work you (pol./pl.) work

Present tense of runat 'to speak' es runāju tu runā viņš etc. runā mēs runājam jūs runājat

I speak you (sing.) speak he/she speaks, they speak we speak you (pol./pl.) speak

Negatives To make a verb negative, we simply add ne- to the beginning of the verb so we get es nerunāju

I don’t speak

mēs nestrādājam

we don’t work

Asking a question; yes' and no' If we place vai before a statement, we turn it into a question: Jūs esat anglis. Vai jūs esat anglis? Tu esi amerikāniete. Vai tu esi amerikāniete?

You (pol.) are an Englishman. Are you an Englishman? You (fam.) are an American (woman). Are you an American (woman)?

Vai ne is added as a tag question after a statement to ask for agree­ ment: isn’t it?, don’t you?, and so on: Jūs esat amerikānis, vai ne? You’re an American (man), aren’t you? (pol.)

Unit 1: Hello!

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Jus esat anglietes, vai ne? You are English (women), aren’t you? (pi.) The short answers to these questions are: Jā, es esmu. Nē, es neesmu.

Yes, I am. No, I’m not.

Other question words are: kur kad kas ko kāpēc

where when who/what - as a subject who/what - as an object why

Languages Names of languages in Latvian are usually followed by the word valoda ‘language’: for example, angļu valoda ‘the English language’, latviešu valoda ‘the Latvian language’. In a language is expressed by the end­ ing -ski: latviski ‘in Latvian’, angliski ‘in English’.

Exercise 4*1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Fill in the gap with the correct form of the verbs dzīvot, strādāt and runāt: Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

M e s_____ Toronto. Mēs dzīvojam Toronto.

Par ko v iņ a ______? Kur t u _____ ? Vai A ndrejs_____ Rīgā? Vai t u ____ latviski? V iņ š _____ Londonā. V iņ a _____ angliski, vai ne? Par ko v iņ š ______? E s _____ par skolotāju. J ū s _____ Latvijā, vai ne?

Unit 1: Sveiki!

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Nationalities In Latvian you say ‘I am an Englishman/woman5, rather than using the adjective ‘English’ as we do in English. Here are some nationalities in their masculine and feminine forms: anglis skots amerikānis latvietis austrālietis kanādietis īrs velsietis

angliete skotiete amerikāniete latviete austrāliete kanādiete īriete velsiete

We will meet several more nationalities in future units.

Jobs And here are some common jobs and occupations, again with their masculine and feminine forms: skolotājs žurnālists oficiants ārsts students inženieris mākslinieks pārdevējs jurists sekretārs arhitekts

skolotāja žurnāliste oficiante ārste studente inženiere māksliniece pārdevēja juriste sekretāre arhitekte

(school)teacher journalist waiter/waitress doctor student engineer artist sales assistant lawyer secretary architect

Exercise 5 Fill in the gaps with the appropriate masculine or feminine form. Memorize the nationalities and jobs first before you do the exercise and then cover them up.

Unit 1: Hello!

Masculine latvietis

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Feminine latviete

angliete kanādietis austrāliete īrs žurnāliste ārsts studente skolotājs oficiante

House numbers in Riga

Cardinal numbers to 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

nulle viens divi trīs četri pieci seši septiņi astoņi deviņi desmit

(Audio 1:16)

Unit 1: Sveiki!

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Exercise 6 Do the following calculations as in the example: Example: 2 + 2 = Answer: 2 + 2 = divi plus (and) divi ir četri. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4 8 3 6 7 5 2 9 1 3

+ + + + + + + + + +

1 2 5 4 2 5 4 1 5 2

What can you remember? A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How do you say the following in Latvian? He lives in Riga. Is he an architect? She is a waitress. I work in Liepaja. They (fem.) are in London. Is she called Marija? Are you (sing, pol.) American? Do you live in Washington? He is called Andris. She is a teacher, isn’t she?

/ ' “ 'N B What are the questions that match the following replies? Check I g your answers on the audio. (Audio 1:17) 1 2 3 4 5

Mani sauc Aija. Viņš dzīvo Berlīnē. Viņus sauc Mārtiņš un Aina. Viņa ir ārste. Mēs dzīvojam Jūrmalā.

Unit 1: Hello!

6 7 8 9 10

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Viņu sauc Rolands. Nē, es nerunāju latviski. Jā, es dzīvoju Rīgā. Es esmu skolotāja. Nē, viņš nav ārsts.

C Rearrange the letters to find the numbers, and then match the words to the numbers. svine 4

8

10

5

6

9

2

1

cepii

ričet ņivedi

saņoti

stemid eišs

vidi

D Answer the following questions about yourself, in complete sentences: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kā jūs sauc? Kur jūs dzīvojat? Par ko jūs strādājat? Vai jūs dzīvojat Londonā? Vai jūs esat anglis/angliete? Vai jūs runājat latviski? Kur jūs dzīvojat? Jūs esat Pēteris, vai ne? Vai jūs runājat angliski? Jūs esat amērikānis/amērikāniete, vai ne?

Unit Two

Lūdzu brauciet uz . . . ! Please drive to . . . !

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

ask where places are tell a taxi driver where to go buy things in a kiosk count to 100 use the nominative and accusative cases

Dialogue 1 Kur ir pasts? Where's the post office?

(Audio 1:20)

^ ^ Here are Peteris and Anda in Valmiera (a town in the north of Latvia) asking where various places are. Valmierniece is a woman from Valmiera, Valmiernieks is a man from Valmiera. PĒTERIS Atvainojiet, ludzu, kur ir pasts? VALMIERNIECE Pasts ir pa labi. ANDA Atvainojiet, kur ir banka? VALMIERNIEKS Banka ir pa kreisi. PĒTERIS Atvainojiet, kur ir viesnīca? VALMIERNIECE Viesnīca ir taisni uz priekšu. Paldies. PĒTERIS ANDA Atvainojiet, kur ir teātris? VALMIERNIEKS Teātris ir te.

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Atvainojiet, kur ir tirgus? PĒTERIS VALMIERNIECE Ejiet pa labi, tad pa kreisi, pēc tam atkal pa kreisi. Tur ir tirgus. PĒTERIS Excuse me, please, where is the post office? VALMIERNIECE The post office is on the right. ANDA Excuse me, where is the bank? VALMIERNIEKS The bank is on the left. Excuse me, where is the hotel? PĒTERIS VALMIERNIECE The hotel is straight ahead. PĒTERIS Thank you. ANDA Excuse me, where is the theatre? VALMIERNIEKS The theatre is here. PĒTERIS Excuse me, where is the market? VALMIERNIECE Go to the right, then to the left, then to the left again. The theatre is there.

Vocabulary atvainojiet (polite)

excuse me

uz priekšu

ahead

kur

where

teātris

theatre

pasts

post office

tirgus

market

banka

bank

ejiet (polite

go

pa labi

on the right

viesnīca

hotel

imperative/ command form)

taisni

straight

tur

there

Language point Nouns in the nominative case As we know, Latvian nouns can be either masculine or feminine, and each gender has characteristic endings. Each gender is then further divided into three groups depending on the ending. The nominative case is the basic form of the noun, i.e. the one you find

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in the dictionary, and it is the subject of the verb, i.e. the ‘doer’ of the action of the verb, e.g. ‘The museum is big, The car hit the dog’. Look at these examples and note the different endings. We have already seen that the -s ending is normally masculine. However, there is a small group of feminine nouns which also have an -s ending. NB: Muzejs and ceļš belong to the same group of nouns even though their endings are slightly different. Masculine

Feminine

muzejs, ceļš

teatrļs

tirgus

banka

universitāte

pils

museum, road

theatre

market

bank

university

castle

The plural forms are more regular than the singular; look at their end­ ings below. Masculine

Feminine

muzeji, ceļi

teatn

tirgi

bankas

universitātes

pills

museums, roads

theatres

markets

banks

universities

castles

Places around town aptieka stacija kafejnīca veikals lielveikals universālveikals restorāns kino skola stadions

chemist station cafē shop supermarket department store restaurant cinema school stadium

baseins kiosks katedrāle baznīca birojs slimnīca opera bibliotēka parks

swimming pool kiosk cathedral church office hospital opera house library park

Exercise 1 (Audio 1:21) Imagine you are standing on the spot indicated in the illustration. How would you tell a stranger how to get by the shortest route to any of these places?

Unit 2: Please drive to . . . !

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k a te d r ā le

Example: Answer:

1 2 3 4 5

the the the the the

the cathedral Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un tad pa kreisi. Go straight ahead, and then left.

park opera house ‘Daugava’ restaurant ‘Zvaigzne’ cinema church

6 7 8 9

the the the the

library stadium station supermarket

Exercise 2 Put the following words into the plural: aptieka aptiekas stacija kafejnīca veikals slimnīca kino

skola stadions tirgus kiosks restorāns katedrāle

opera bibliotēka parks baznīca birojs ceļš

Unit 2: Lūdzu brauciet uz . . . !

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l3

Dialogue 2 Lūdzu, uz staciju

Please (drive) to the station

* ^ (Audio 1:22) Peteris and Anda take a taxi to a couple of places. Listen to the dialogues in the taxi. taksometra šoferis

Pēteris

Labdien. Uz kurieni? Labdien. Lūdzu, uz staciju.

TAKSOMETRA ŠOFERIS ANDA

Labdien. Uz kurieni? Labdien. Brauciet, lūdzu, uz Rīgas pili . . . Cik lūdzu? TAKSOMETRA ŠOFERIS Astoņus latus, lūdzu. ANDA Paldies. Uz redzēšanos. Good day. Where to? Good day. To the station, please.

taxi driver peteris

TAXI DRIVER ANDA

Good day. Where to? Good day. Please drive to Riga Castle. . . How much does it cost? Eight lats, please. Thank you. Goodbye.

TAXI DRIVER ANDA

Vocabulary uz kurieni?

where to?

cik

how much

stacija

station

m aksāt

to cost, pay

brauciet

drive (pol. imperative/ command form)

lats

major unit of currency

santīm s

minor unit of currency

Rīgas pils

Riga Castle

Language point Agreement of numbers The taxi driver asked for astoņus latus (which is the accusative form of astoņi lati - we’ll deal with the accusative in full later in

Unit 2: Please drive to . . . !

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this unit) as the fare. Note that the numbers 1 to 9 have masculine and feminine forms that agree with the noun (and adjective). Here are the nominative, i.e. dictionary, forms of the numbers in both their masculine and feminine forms. M a s c u lin e

F e m in in e

viens

viena

divi

divas

trīs

trīs (this one doesn’t change)

četri

četras

pieci

piecas

seši

sešas

septiņi

septiņas

astoņi

astoņas

deviņi

deviņas

Examples: četras baznīcas divas aptiekas pieci veikali astoņi lati

four churches two chemists’ shops four shops eight lats

Exercise 3 How do you say the following in Latvian? two restaurants nine cinemas

five libraries one hospital

three stadiums eight schools

Dialogue 3 Lūdzu?

(May

I

help you) please?

(Audio 1:23)

Anda needs a few things from the kiosk. PĀRDEVĒJS ANDA PĀRDEVĒJS ANDA

Lūdzu? Lūdzu, avīzi Diena un žurnālu Santa. Ko vēl? Un minerālūdeni. Cik lūdzu?

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Divus latus un piecdesmit piecus santīmus. Lūdzu.

pārdevējs

ANDA

SALES ASSISTANT (May I help you) please? ANDA The newspaper Diena and the magazine Santa please. SALES ASSISTANT What else? ANDA And mineral water. How much is that? SALES ASSISTANT Two lats and fifty-five santims. ANDA Here you are.

Vocabulary avīze

newspaper

vel

still, else

žurnāls

magazine

minerālūdens

mineral water

ko (acc.)

what

Language point Direct object - accusative case In the dialogue above, all the items asked for are in the accusative case, the object form of the noun, i.e. if we say in English The dog caught the stick’, ‘the dog’ is the subject of the sentence and goes into the nominative case, ‘the stick’ is the object and goes into the accusative. Usually this case would be governed by a verb, but in a dialogue like this one, the verb is understood: ‘to buy’, ‘to want’. Ko is the accusative form of kas ‘what’ so ko vēl means ‘what else (do you want)?’ Look at the accusative forms below and compare them with the nominative. They are easy to remember because in the singular the ending is either -u or -i, all the masculine plural endings are the same and the feminine plural endings are the same as the nominative plural.

Unit 2: Please drive to . . . !

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M a scu lin e

Nominative - sing. -s, -Š Accusative - sing. -u Accusative - pi. -us Examples - nom. žurnāls acc. sing. žurnālu acc. pi. žurnālus

F e m in ine

-is

-us

-a

-e

-s

-i

-u

-u

-i

-i

-us

-us

-as

-es

-is

šoferis tirgus stacija inženiere šoferi tirgu staciju inženieri šoferus tirgus stacijas inženieres

pils pili pilis

The word for ‘water’ ūdens is slightly irregular: acc. sing, ūdeni, pi. ūdeņus. Words of foreign origin ending in -o, e.g. kino ‘cinema’, don’t change for either case or number, e.g. divi kino ‘two cinemas’. If you think back to Dialogue 2, the taxi driver asked for astoņus latus. Numbers need to agree with the case so in the accusative we get:

M a s c u lin e

F e m in in e

vienu

vienu

divus

divas

trīs

trīs

četrus

četras, etc.

Apart from ‘one’, the feminine numbers don’t change from the nominative.

Things you might buy at the kiosk avīze žurnāls konfektes saldējums šokolāde minerālūdens

newspaper magazine sweets ice cream chocolate mineral water

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Exercise 4 How would you ask for the above things in a kiosk? For example: Ludzu, avīzi Diena un divus saldējumus. A Diena newspaper and two ice creams, please. Ko vēl? What else would you buy?

Language point Verbs iet 'to go ' and braukt 'to travel" Latvian has two distinct verbs with the approximate meaning ‘to go’: iet is ‘to go’ on foot or proceed generally, while braukt is ‘to travel’ using some means of transport. Look at the way they are conjugated, i.e. take different endings. es eju tu ej viņš, etc. iet mēs ejam jūs ejat

es braucu tu brauc viņš, etc. brauc mēs braucam jūs braucat

Means of transport around town trolejbuss tramvajs autobuss vilciens taksometrs lidosta autoosta tramvaja/trolejbusa pietura taksometra stāvvieta

trolleybus tram bus train taxi airport bus station tram/trolleybus stop taxi rank

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A restored tram which does city tours around Riga

Language point Prepositions uz 'to ' and ar 'by, w ith' The prepositions uz ‘to ’ and ar ‘w ith/by’ both govern the accusative case in the singular, i.e. the noun following them must be in the accusative case. These are the prepositions we use to describe going ‘to ’ a place or ‘by’ a means of transport, e.g. uz staciju ‘to the station’, ar tramvaju ‘by tram ’.

Exercise 5 Fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the verb and the noun. Example: V iņ i_____ a r ______ . Answer: Viņi brauc ar trolejbusu. 1 2 3 4

Mēs Viņa Jūs Tu

uz ar uz ar

(braukt - trolejbuss)

(iet - restorāns) (braukt - vilciens) (iet - tirgus) (braukt - tramvajs)

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5 6 7 8 9

Vinas Viņš Es Mēs Viņš

uz uz uz uz uz

(iet - kino) (braukt - stadions) (iet - banka) (braukt - Rīgas pils) (iet - stadions)

Numbers up to 100

(Audio 1:24)

AM To form the numbers 11-19 in Latvian, we add the ending -padsmit to the base of the numbers 1-9, i.e. we take off the final -s on viens or -i on the other numbers and then add -padsmit, thus: vienpadsmit divpadsmit trīspadsmit

11 12 13, and so on

Then, for the multiples of 10, we simply add -desmit 10 to the same bases: divdesmit trīsdesmit četrdesmit

20 30 40, and so on

These numbers do not have distinctive masculine and feminine forms, e.g. četras bankas, četrpadsmit bankas. Compound numbers are formed by simply adding the number as a separate word: trīsdesmit pieci četrdesmit septiņi astoņdesmit seši

35 47 86

The number 100 is simts. It is a masculine noun in itself when used on its own; that is, it doesn’t agree for gender with other nouns and adjectives.

Exercise 6

(Audio 1:25)

Listen to the audio and write down all the numbers you hear. If you don’t have the audio, go to the key for this exercise and practise reading.

Unit 2: Please drive to . . . !

What can you remember? A

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How do you ask where the tram stop is? How do you ask where the taxi stand is? How do you tell somebody that the taxi stand is on the left? How do you tell somebody to go straight ahead and then right? How do you ask for chocolate? How do you ask for ice cream? How do you ask for sweets? How do you ask for a newspaper? How do you say Thank you’? How do you say ‘Here you are’?

B

1 How would you ask a taxi driver to take you to the stadium? 2 How would you ask a taxi driver to take you to the station? 3 How would you ask a taxi driver to take you to the airport?

C

Do the following calculations as in the example. Example: Answer:

CM

42 = 18 : o

CO

+ + + + + + + + + +

CO

42 31 50 70 12 11 66 40 15 24

CO CO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

20 + 20 = 20 + 20 = 40 divdesmit plus divdesmit ir četrdesmit

14 : 33 : 14 = 3= 6=

27

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Unit 2: Lūdzu brauciet uz

D Find 12 places around town hidden horizontally and vertically in this word square. The first one has been done for you.

Unit Thre e

Man ir rezervēts numurs I have a reservation

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

check into a hotel and order breakfast count using numbers above 100 say first, second, etc. say the names of the months spell words out

Dialogue 1 Man ir rezervēts numurs

I have a reservation

(Audio 1:29) Peteris and Anda are checking into a hotel during their trip to Valmiera. Listen to the dialogue between Peteris and the receptionist (reģistratore). REĢISTRATORE Labdien! PĒTERIS Labdien! Man ir rezervēts numurs. REĢISTRATORE Kā jūs sauc? PĒTERIS Mans uzvārds ir Priedītis. REĢISTRATORE Labi. Jums ir divvietīgs numurs ar dušu - numurs 218. Lūdzu aizpildiet šo veidlapu. PĒTERIS (Pēteris aizpilda veidlapu) Kāds šodien ir datums? REĢISTRATORE Šodien ir 12. jūnijs. (Pēteris nodod veidlapu) REĢISTRATORE Paldies. Te ir jūsu atslēga. Lifts ir pa kreisi.

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RECEPTIONIST PĒTERIS RECEPTIONIST PĒTERIS RECEPTIONIST PĒTERIS RECEPTIONIST RECEPTIONIST

Hello. Hello. I ’ve got a reservation. What’s your name? My surname is Prieditis. Fine. You have a double room with a shower number 218. Please fill in this form. (Filling in form) What’s the date today? Today is the 12 June. (Peteris hands over the form) Thank you. Here is your key. The lift is on the left.

Vocabulary for me

šis, šī (masc./fem.)

rezervēt

to reserve, book

(acc. šo)

numurs

(hotel) room; number

veidlapa

form

uzvārds

surname

kāds/kāda

what (kind of)

labi

good, well

šodien

today

jum s

for you

datums

date

divvietīgs

double

a ts lfg a

key

duša

shower

lifts

lift

lūdzu

please

pa kreisi

on the left

aizpildīt

to fill in

nodot

hand over

man

this

Numbers above 100 The number 100 on its own is simts. Used in compound numbers, the form is simt. Simt is added to the base of the numbers 2 -9 in exactly the same way as for the teens and multiples of 10 as we saw in the last unit: divsimt piecsimt

two hundred five hundred

And to form compound numbers we just put the different elements together:

Unit 3: / have a reservation

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simt trīsdesmit četri četrsimt piecdesmit septiņi

134 457, and so on

Exercise 1 (Audio 1:30) Listen to the audio and write down all the numbers you hear. If you don’t have the audio, go to the key for this exercise and practise reading.

if

Language point Ordinal numbers The ordinal numbers ‘first, second, third’, and so on, take different endings depending on whether they are followed by a masculine or a feminine noun. In other words, they are adjectives and they always have to agree with the noun in gender, case and number. M a s c u lin e

F e m in in e

p ir m a is

p irm ā

o tra is

o trā

tr e š a is

tre š ā

c e t u rt a is

c e t u rt ā

p ie k ta is

p ie k tā

s Ģ s ta is

SĢStā

s e p t īt a is

s e p tītā

a s to ta is

a s to tā

d e v īta is

d e v ītā

d e s m it a is

d e s m it ā

v ie n p a d s m it a is

v ie n p a d s m it ā

d iv d e s m it a is

d iv d e s m itā

d iv d e s m it p irm a is

d iv d e s m it p irm ā

first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth eleventh twentieth twenty-first

Look at these examples to see how the cardinal and ordinal numbers behave with nouns: seši veikali sestais veikals piecpadsmit baznīcas piecpadsmitā baznīca

six shops the sixth shop fifteen churches the fifteenth church

Unit 3: Man ir rezervēts numurs

32

r

\ Months and dates - Meneši un datumi

V V (Audio 1:31) The names of the months are all masculine. Capitals are not used. janvāris februāris marts

aprīlis maijs jūnijs

jūlijs augusts septembris

oktobris novembris decembris

So this is how to say a date: divpadsmitais jūnijs ‘12 June’. To write it in figures, we put a full stop after the 12 to show that it is an ordinal number: 12. jūnijs.

Exercise 2

(Audio 1:32)

Write out the following dates and then listen to the audio to check your answers. Example: Answer: 25 Dec. 1 Jan.

10 Nov. desmitais novembris

1 May 30 Sept. 3 Mar. 21 June 15 Apr. 24 Feb. 15 July

( O Spelling o

(Audio 1:33)

Listen to the pronunciation of the alphabet in Latvian, then repeat each letter. The long vowels don’t have a separate name, you just say ‘long a’. A

a garais ā B bē C cē Č čē D dē E e Ē garais ē F ef G gā Ģ ģē

A

H I ī J K Ķ L Ļ M N

Ņ

hā i garais ī jē kā ķē el eļ em en eņ

O P R S

Š T U Ū V

z ž

o Pē er es eš tē u garais ū vē zē žē

Unit 3: / have a reservation

33

It’s useful to be able to say the letters of the alphabet in Latvian so that you can spell out your name or give an e-mail address, etc. However, sometimes it might be easier to offer to write it down for the other person. Don’t worry about the verb forms for the moment, just learn the expressions. Es to uzrakstīšu. Vai lai es to uzrakstu?

Exercise 3

I’ll write it down. Shall I write it down?

(Audio 1:34)

Now practise spelling out these place names and then listen to the audio to check your answers. Rīga Londona Latvija Vašingtona Austrālija

Jūrmala

Valmiera Tokija

Limbaži

Majori

Exercise 4 Now answer these questions: 1 2 3 4

Kā raksta jūsu uzvārdu? (‘How is your surname written?’, i.e. ‘How do you spell your surname?’) Kā raksta jūsu vārdu? Kur jūs dzīvojat? (Give the name of the town where you live) Kā to raksta? (‘How is that written?’)

Language points Indirect object - the dative case When in English we say ‘I gave my friend a present’, what was given was ‘a present’. This is the direct object and goes into the accusative case, which we looked at in the last unit. ‘My friend’ was the receiver; this is the indirect object and goes into the dative case. So the dative case expresses the idea of ‘to ’ or ‘for’ a person or thing. Here are the endings you need; the masculine plural is quite easy to remember as the endings are the same for all three groups.

Unit 3: Man ir rezervēts numurs

34

M a scu lin e

Nominative Dative - sing. Dative - pi. Examples - nom. dat. sing. dat. pi.

-s, -Š

-is

-us

-am

-im

-um

-iem

-iem

-iem

skolotājs skolotājam skolotājiem

inženieris inženierim inženieriem

tirgus tirgum tirgiem

-a

-e

-s

-ai

-ei

-ām

-ēm

-ij -īm

skolotāja skolotājai skolotājām

inženiere inženierei inženierēm

pils pilij pilīm

F e m in in e

Nominative Dative - sing. Dative - pi. Examples - nom. dat. sing. dat. pi.

The dative forms of the personal pronouns are: man tev viņam viņai mums jums viņiem viņām

to/for to/for to/for to/for to/for to/for to/for to/for

me you him her us you them (masc. them (fem.)

Here are some examples; dodiet is the pol./pl. imperative/command form of the verb dot ‘to give’: Lūdzu, dodiet man minerālūdeni. Please give me some mineral water. Dodiet skolotājam minerālūdeni. Give the teacher (masc.) some mineral water. Dodiet skolotājām minerālūdeni. Give the teachers (fern, pi.) some mineral water. Dodiet Andai minerālūdeni. Give Anda some mineral water.

Unit 3: / have a reservation

To have Man ir rezervets numurs. I have a reservation, (lit. ‘to me is reserved room’) There is no verb in Latvian equivalent to the English verb ‘to have’. Instead we use the dative case of the possessor with the appropriate form of the verb ‘to be’ in the present tense, i.e. ir in the positive. We will look at the negative later. With the pronouns it will be: man ir tev ir viņam ir viņai ir mums ir jums ir viņiem ir viņām ir

I have you (sing, fam.) have he has she has we have you (pi./pol.) have they (masc. pi.) have they (fern, pi.) have

What is possessed appears in the nominative case. Thus, if we want to say ‘Gunārs has a key’, we say Gunāram ir atslēga, lit. T o Gunārs is a key’. And ‘He has a key’ will therefore be: Viņam ir atslēga ‘To him is a key’. This construction translates both ‘He has’ and ‘He has got’.

Exercise 5 How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: I have a newspaper. Answer: Man ir avīze. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Jānis has a magazine. leva’s got a single room, (vienvietīgs) Do they (fern, pi.) have a key? We’ve got a restaurant. Have they (masc. pi.) got ice cream? Have you (fam.) got 5 lats? Do you (pol.) have a double room? I’ve got a key. He’s got three magazines.

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Unit 3: Man ir rezervēts numurs

36

Dialogue 2 Atnesiet man, lūdzu .

Please bring me . . .

'* * (Audio 1:35) Anda is having breakfast on her own in the hotel as Peteris is having a lie-in. ANDA Labrīt. OFICIANTS Labrīt. Ko jums, lūdzu? ANDA Atnesiet man, lūdzu, saldskābmaizi, sieru, apelsīnu sulu un kafiju. OFICIANTS Labi. ANDA WAITER ANDA WAITER

Good morning. Good morning. What will you have, please? Please bring me some sourdough bread, cheese, orange juice and coffee. OK.

Vocabulary to bring

siers

maize

bread

apelsīns

orange

saldskābm aize

sourdough bread (lit. sweet-sour bread)

sula

juice

kafija

coffee

atnest

cheese

Things you might have for breakfast tostermaize baltmaize rupjmaize saldskābmaize siers šķiņķis sviests

toast white bread dark rye bread sourdough bread cheese ham butter

Unit 3: / have a reservation

ievārījums jogurts musli ar pienu ola apelsīnu/ābolu sula kafija tēja

Exercise 6

37

jam yoghurt muesli with milk egg orange/apple juice coffee tea

(Audio 1:36)

Ask for the following for breakfast. Don’t forget that everything you ask the waiter to bring you must be in the accusative case. Then listen to the audio to check your answers. Please bring me . . . 1 2 3

toast, butter, jam and tea with milk dark rye bread, butter, cheese, yoghurt and coffee white bread, butter, ham, apple juice and tea

Reading Read the following and then answer the questions in English. CENRĀDIS Numura veids

Istabas

Apraksts

Cenas

Vienvietīgs numurs

1

Duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis

18 Ls

Vienvietīgs numurs

1

Lielā gulta, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons

28 Ls

Divvietīgs numurs

1

Atsevišķas gultas, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis

28 Ls

Divvietīgs numurs

1

Lielā gulta, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons

34 Ls

Lux numurs

2

Lielā gulta, atpūtas telpa, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons, iespējama papildvieta

40 Ls 1 pērs. 34 Ls

Unit 3: Man ir rezervēts numurs

38

Numura veids

Istabas

Apraksts

Cenas

Lux numurs

2

Atsevišķas gultas, atpūtas telpa, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons, iespējama papildvieta

40 Ls 1 pērs. 34 Ls

Ģimenes numurs

2

4 atsevišķas gultas, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis

56 Ls

Ģimenes numurs

2

3 atsevišķas gultas, atpūtas telpa, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons, iespējama papildvieta

46 Ls 2 pērs. 40 Ls

Ģimenes numurs ar 2 guļamistabām

3

4 atsevišķas gultas, atpūtas telpa, duša, tualete, TV, ledusskapis, telefons, iespējama papildvieta

66 Ls 3 pērs. 46 Ls

Visas cenas iekļautas brokastis un PVN. Papildvieta uz dīvāna, cena 10 Ls. 1 suns/kaķis - 3.00 LVL/nakts 2 un vairāk suņi/kaķi - 5.00 LVL/nakts par visiem dzīvniekiem numurā Iebraukšana no 15:00. Izbraukšana līdz 11:00, brīvdienās un svētku dienās līdz 12:00.

Vocabulary cenrādis

price list

veids

kind, type, form

istaba

room

apraksts

description

cena

price

vienvietīgs divvietīgs

single double

ledusskapis

refrigerator

(ledus skapis

ice cupboard)

telpa

space, room

uz

h e re :

vairāk

more

on

suns (pl. suņi)

dog

PVN =

value added tax

duša

shower

pievienotās

lux*

luxury

vērtības nodoklis

Unit 3: / have a reservation

nakts (fem.)

night

iebraukšana

arrival

brīvdiena

papildvieta

additional space (bed)

free day, holiday

guļam istaba

bedroom

(brīvs diena

free day)

viss

all

tualete

toilet

iekļauts

included

liels

big, large

dīvāns

sofa, divan

gulta

bed

kaķis (pl. kaķi)

cat

telefons

telephone

dzīvnieks

animal

atpūta

rest, relaxation

izbraukšana

departure

atsevišķs

separate

līdz

until, by

iespējams

possible

sv ftku diena

ģim ene

family

festival, public holiday

(also written as lukss since Lat\

1

2 3

4 5

39

doesn’t have the letter x)

You are a family of four, mum, dad and two teenage children who do not want to share a room with their parents. Which is the best option and how much will it cost? How much extra do you have to pay if you have your two dogs with you? You’re travelling with your friend - you want to share a room to reduce the cost but you want twin beds. Which is the best option and how much will it cost? It’s Easter Monday - when must you vacate the room? You are a couple travelling with a young child. What’s the cheapest option for you?

Cultural point Currency • LATVIJAS BANKAS NAUDASZĪME

• LATVIJAS BANKAS NAUDAS ZlME *

PIECSIMT LATU

Latvian banknotes

A 11,301

DESMIT LATU

40

Unit 3: Man ir rezervēts numurs

As we saw earlier, the main unit of Latvian currency is the lats, divided into 100 santīmi. Prices are indicated with the abbreviation Ls, Ls., or sometimes the international currency code LVL is used. A comma is used instead of a decimal point, thus: Ls 1,60, Ls. 1,60, LVL 1,60. It had been the currency of the first independent Latvian republic (1918-40) and was reintroduced in 1993 after the country regained its independence in 1991. Since Latvia joined the European Union in 2004, it has been preparing to convert to the euro. At the time of writing, it is thought the conversion may take place in 2012 or 2013. All the current lats notes show the cultural heritage and environ­ ment of Latvia. The backgrounds to the pictures are illustrations of the woven textiles for which Latvia is famous. These are either of linen or of wool. The denominations on the notes are also designed to depict woven textiles. Another shared feature on the notes is the small stylized oak leaf in the bottom left-hand corner of the main picture. The oak is a national symbol of Latvia depicting strength. All the notes also share a vertical band on the right-hand side which features segments from the Lielvārde belt. This is part of the regional costume of Lielvārde in the centre of Latvia and, of all the belts woven in Latvia, this is the most intricate, with the design divided into sections and incorporating many elements of Latvian mythology. The 5-lats note shows an oak tree ozols. The 10-lats note has a view of the River Daugava, Daugavas upe, which is the longest and most loved river in Latvia. The 20-lats note shows ancient farm buildings, lauku mājas ‘country buildings’. These were built from wood and had thatched roofs. The 50-lats note has an ancient sailing ship, kuģis. Latvians have always been great sailors, even back to the time of the Vikings when sailors from the west of Latvia, the Kurs, went on raids across the Baltic Sea. Legend has it that the Danes prayed to God to be spared from the Kurs. The 100-lats note is the only one to show a person. This is the folklorist Krišjānis Barons (1835-1923) who devoted most of his life to collecting and publishing folk songs, dainas, from around Latvia. The 500-lats Design of new Latvian euro

Unit 3: / have a reservation

note shows the archetypal Latvian girl, nicknamed Milda. This image was first used on the 5-lats coins issued during the first period of independence. It is also planned to use this image for the new euro.

What can you remember? A Fill in the following form for yourself. Tautība ‘nationality’; paraksts ‘signature’. Iebraukšana: Izbraukšana: Vārds: Uzvārds: Tautība: Kompānija: Adrese: Telefons: Fakss: E-pasts: Paraksts: B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How do you say the following in Latvian? Please bring me toast, jam and coffee. We’ve got a double room with a shower. They have a family room with a shower and a toilet. Andris has two dogs. Dace has three cats. Do you have a single room? Have you (fam.) got any animals? (you don’t need to translate the word ‘any’) Today is 4 July. Today is 21 January. Today is 25 October.

41

Unit Four Brauciens ar vilcienu Travelling by train

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

tell the time ask for train tickets get timetable information read a train timetable and price information use the present tense of the verbs nākt ‘to come’ and pienākt ‘to arrive’

Dialogue 1 r"'') Cikos atiet vilciens? leave? (Audio 1:39)

V M train

W hat time does the

Peteris is walking in town. He meets his friends Andris and Irena who are on their way to get a train to Liepaja, a town in the west of Latvia. Pēteris Andris Pēteris Andris irēna

ANDRIS Pēteris irēna

Sveiks, Andri! Sveika, Irēna! Kur jūs ejat? Uz staciju. Mēs braucam uz Liepāju, jo man rīt ir sanāksme. Cikos atiet vilciens? Es domāju, astoņpadsmitos trīsdesmit. Cik tagad ir pulkstenis? Pusseši. Tad mums vēl ir laiks aiziet uz kafejnīcu. Labi. Vai te tuvumā ir kāda kafejnīca? Jā, tepat ir viena pa kreisi.

Unit 4: Travelling by train

peteris

Andris Pēteris Andris Irena Andris peteris

Irena

43

Hello, Andris! Hello, Irena! Where are you going? To the station. We’re travelling to Liepaja because I have a meeting tomorrow. What time does the train leave? A t 18.30, I think. What’s the time now? Half past five. Then we’ve still got time to go to a cafe. Good. Is there a cafe near here? Yes, there’s one just here on the left.

Vocabulary stacija

station

atiet

leave, depart

braukt

go, travel

vilciens

train

jo

because

dom āt

to think

rīt

tomorrow

aiziet

go off

sanāksm e

meeting, conference

kafejnīca

cafe

cikos

at what time

tuvumā

near by

cik ir

what time is it?

pulkstenis?

(tuvums

nearness)

tagad

now

tad

then

laiks

time; a lso weather

labi

good

te

here

kāds, kāda

here:

tepat

just here

any

The square outside Riga station with its famous clock tower, which is a popular meeting place

Unit 4: Brauciens ar vilcienu

44

Language point Telling the time

(Audio i:40)

To say ‘the time is . . in Latvian we use the phrase Pulkstenis i r . . . ‘What is the time?’ is Cik (ir) pulkstenis? - Cik pulkstenis? - Divi.

- What is the time? - Two o ’clock.

For exact half-hours we add pus- ‘half to the number. Note that in Latvian ‘half past’ is expressed as half of the next hour. The pus- prefix is not stressed so the stress goes on the second syllable as indicated by the capital letters. Pulkstenis ir pusDEviņi. The time is half past eight, (half of nine) Note the use of the preposition pāri (+ dat. pi.) for ‘past’. Knowing this, we can now form other clock times past the hour: divdesmit trīs minutes pāri diviem twenty-three minutes past two ir sešpadsmit minūtes pāri četriem it’s sixteen minutes past four Note also: pāri vieniem ‘past one’, pāri trijiem ‘past three’. Lastly, minutes to the hour are expressed as the next hour minus (bez + dat. pi. ‘without’) the number of minutes in this way: bez divdesmit četrām minūtēm pieci twenty-four minutes to five bez vienpadsmit minūtēm divpadsmit eleven minutes to twelve Remember that the numbers ‘one’ to ‘nine’ agree with the noun and, for time ‘three’ also agrees but it is irregular so we get: bez trijām minūtēm četri

three minutes to four

With singular words, however, bez takes the genitive: bez vienas minūtes ‘one minute to ’; bez ceturkšņa viens ‘a quarter to one’. We’ll look at the genitive in detail later in this unit.

Unit 4: Travelling by train

45

‘Quarter of an hour’ is ceturksnis, and this is how we express quarter hours: Ir ceturksnis pari sešiem.

It is a quarter past six.

But more commonly people simply say piecpadsmit ‘fifteen’ for ‘quarter’.

Exercise 1 (Audio 1:41) Write the times shown on the clock faces. Example: Answer:

Pulkstenis ir divdesmit pāri trijiem.

Dialogue 2 Cikos atiet vilciens? train leave? (Audio 1:42)

W hat time does the

Peteris is asking about the time various forms of transport depart. Ierēdne ‘clerk’ (fern.)

Unit 4: Brauciens ar vilcienu

46

P ē t e r is ie r ē d n e

P ē t e r is ie r ē d n e

P ē t e r is ie r ē d n e

P ē t e r is c ler k

P ē t e r is c ler k

p e t e r is c ler k

Cikos atiet vilciens uz Jurmalu? Pulksten divpadsmitos. Cikos atiet trolejbuss uz centru? Astoņos un piecās minūtēs. Cikos atiet autobuss uz Valmieru? Deviņpadsmitos un trīsdesmit piecās minūtēs. A t what time does the train leave for Jūrmala? A t twelve o ’clock. A t what time does the trolleybus leave for the centre? A t five past eight A t what time does the bus leave for Valmiera? A t nineteen thirty-five

Language point How to say at what time something happens A t a precise hour is expressed with pulksten + the number in the locative plural which ends in -os. (Don’t worry about the locative at this point, it will be dealt with later.) A t what time is cikos: - Cikos atiet vilciens uz Jūrmalu? - At what time does the train to Jūrmala leave? - (Pulksten) divpadsmitos. - At twelve o’clock. To add minutes to this, they also have to go in the locative which in practical terms just means that the final vowel in minūtes becomes long: minūtēs, and the numbers which change also become long: četros un divās minūtēs

at two minutes past four

Note that we are now using the word un to join the hour and minutes.

Unit 4: Travelling by train

47

vienos un trīsdesmit trijās minūtēs trijos un četrpadsmit minūtēs astoņpadsmitos un desmit minūtēs

at thirty-three minutes past one at fourteen minutes past three at 18.10

The number three again behaves irregularly as you can see in the first two examples.

Exercise 2

(Audio 1:43)

Write out the times shown on the clock faces in Exercise 1 in Latvian so that they mean at the time given. Example: Answer:

At 3.20 Trijos divdesmit

Dialogue 3 Divas biļetes līdz . . .

Two tickets to . . .

(Audio 1:44) Peteris’ friend Andris is now buying tickets to Liepaja. ANDRIS k a s ie r e

A n d r is k a s ie r e

ANDRIS k a s ie r e

A n d r is k a s ie r e

A n d r is k a s ie r e

A n d r is k a s ie r e

ANDRIS k a s ie r e

Labdien. Lūdzu, divas biļetes līdz Liepājai. Vienvirziena biļetes vai biļetes turp un atpakaļ? Turp un atpakaļ. Cik tas maksā? Viena biļete maksā četrus latus sešdesmit piecus santīmus. Tātad kopā deviņus latus trīsdesmit santīmus. Paldies. Cikos atiet vilciens uz Liepāju? Astoņpadsmitos un trīsdesmit minūtēs. Un c ik o s t a s pienāk Liepājā? Divdesmit vienos un trīsdesmit septiņās minūtēs. No kura perona tas atiet? No ceturtā. Liels paldies. Nav par ko. Laimīgu ceļu! Paldies. Uz redzēšanos. Uz redzēšanos.

Unit 4: Brauciens ar vilcienu

48

A n d r is c a s h ie r

A n d r is c a s h ie r

A n d r is c a s h ie r

A n d r is c a s h ie r

ANDRIS c a s h ie r

A n d r is c a s h ie r

A n d r is c a s h ie r

Hello. Two tickets to Liepājā, please. One-way tickets or return [lit., ‘there and back’] ? Return. How much does it cost? One ticket costs four lats sixty-five santims. So that’s nine lats thirty altogether. Thanks. A t what time does the train leave for Liepaja? A t eighteen-thirty. And when does it arrive in Liepaja? A t twenty-one thirty-seven. From which platform does it leave? From number four. Thanks very much. Don’t mention it. Have a nice trip! Thanks. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Vocabulary kasiere

cashier (here: fem.)

p ie n ā k t

arrive

b iļe te

ticket

ku rš, kura

which

līd z

here:

p e ro n s

platform

vie n virzie n a

one-way

no

from

(virziens

direction)

liels p a ld ie s

tu rp un

there and back

thank you very much, lit. big thanks

to, lit. as far as

a tp a ka ļ

a tp a ka ļ

thither, to there back)

ta s

that, it

tā ta d

so

kopā

altogether

a tie t

depart

(turp

don’t mention it (lit. not for anything) (par prep. + acc. for) nav p a r ko

la im īg s

happy

ceļš

journey, road, way

Unit 4: Travelling by train

49

Language points 'if In Latvian the word tas is used as the word for ‘it’ for inanimate objects so we had the question: Cikos tas pienāk Liepājā?

What time does it arrive in Liepaja?

It is followed by the same verb endings as viņš.

The verb nakt 'to co m e 7 es nāku tu nāc viņš, etc. nāk mēs nākam jūs nākat

Verb prefixes In this lesson we find two verbs that are clearly related: nākt ‘to come’ and pienākt ‘to arrive’. Many verbs in Latvian can have their mean­ ings altered by the addition of a prefix. Some of these prefixes are identical to prepositions (such as pie- ‘at’), and in a general sense the prefixes carry the same meanings as the prepositions do. Basically, all the prefixes contain a sense of ‘direction’, but the meaning of the verb can only sometimes be guessed from the prefix. Another example of a prefixed verb occurred in the exchanges above: Cikos atiet vilciens uz Liepāju? At what time does the train depart for Liepaja? (iet ‘to go’, atiet ‘to depart’; at- has the meaning of ‘away’) In the first dialogue we had: Mums vēl ir laiks aiziet uz kafejnīcu. We still have time to go to the cafe.

Unit 4: Brauciens ar vilcienu

50

Aiz- has the meaning of ‘away’ so aiziet can mean ‘leave, go away’, but it can also mean ‘go, go off’ as here. As you learn more prepositions, you will also get a sense of what verbs with prefixes mean. A list of the most common prefixes can be found in the grammar summary at the back of the book. Remember that in Latvian the stress is generally on the first syllable of a word. This is also true of verbs with prefixes so here is how to pronounce the words introduced above: PIEnākt, ATiet, AlZiet.

Exercise 3 A Use the correct form of the verbs nākt or pienākt to fill in the gaps. Example: V iņ š_____ uz restorānu. Answer: Viņš nāk uz restorānu.

2 3 4

A utobuss_____ desmitos. A in a _______uz lidostu. V iņas_____ uz viesnīcu. Vilciens_____ sešpadsmitos un trīsdesmit minūtēs.

B

Now fill in the gaps with atiet or iet.

1

Example: V iņ š______ uz restorānu. Answer: Viņš iet uz restorānu. 1

2 3 4

A utobuss_____ sešos. M ē s _______uz kino. Vilciens_____ no ceturtā perona. V iņas_____ uz restorānu.

Exercise 4 Look at this train timetable and prices for trains from Riga to Valmiera and back, and then answer the questions. Write out the times and prices in words.

Unit 4: Travelling by train

■

51

LATVIJAS DZELZCEĻŠ

Vilcienu saraksts un biļešu cenas

Transporta tips

Atiet

Pienāk

Vilciena maršruts

Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens

06:35 10:02 13:54 18:05 21:00

08:54 12:24 16:17 20:13 23:25

Rīga pasažieru -> Valga Rīga pasažieru —► Valmiera Rīga pasažieru —>Valga Rīga pasažieru -*• Valga Rīga pasažieru -> Valmiera

Transporta tips

Atiet

Pienāk

Vilciena maršruts

05:23 06:19 11:21 14:26 18:22

07:40 08:40 13:39 16:52 20:39

Valmiera ->Rīga pasažieru Valga ->Rīga pasažieru Valga -»Rīga pasažieru Valmiera —>Rīga pasažieru Valga ->Rīga pasažieru

Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens |

ļ

j

Biļešu cenas (LVL)

i

Biļešu veids

Transporta tips

| Vagonu tipi 1 Cena

Pilna biļete (turp) Dīzeļvilciens Pilna biļete (turp, atpakaļ) Dīzeļvilciens Bērnu biļete (turp) Dīzeļvilciens Bērnu biļete (turp, atpakaļ) Dīzeļvilciens Bagāžas biļete (turp) Dīzeļvilciens Dīzeļvilciens Bagāžas biļete (turp, atpakaļ) Sīko mājdzīvnieku biļete (turp) Dīzeļvilciens Sīko mājdzīvnieku biļete (turp, atpakaļ) Dīzeļvilciens Vagonu tipi: 0 - vagons ar nenumuretam sēdvietām

O O 0 0 0 0 0 0

Vocabulary d ze lzce ļš

railway

(pasažieris

passenger)

(dzelzs

iron)

p ilna b iļe te

s a ra k s ts

timetable

adult (lit. full) ticket

tip s

type

b fr n s

child

m a rš ru ts

route

bagāža

baggage

d īze ļvilcie n s

diesel train

sīks

small

p a sažieru

passenger station

m ā jd zīvn ie ks

pet

(stacija)

1 2

Cikos atiet vakara vilciens no Rīgas uz Valmieru? Cikos tas pienāk Valmierā?

2,13 4,15 1,05 2,04 0,64 1,25 0,64 1,25

1

Unit 4: Brauciens ar vilcienu

52

3 4 5 6

Cikos atiet pirmais vilciens no Valmieras uz Rīgu? Cik maksā vienvirziena biļete? Cik maksā suņu biļete turp un atpakaļ? You are a family of four - two adults and two children - mum and dad have a suitcase each. You want return tickets to Valmiera. How much is it going to cost you?

To say that something belongs to somebody or something in English, we u s e ’s or ‘o f’, e.g. ‘the boy’s football’ or ‘the roof of the house’. In Latvian we use the genitive case for this and also in expressions such as ‘train timetable’. We can see several examples in the train infor­ mation extract above: Latvijas dzelzceļš, vilcienu saraksts, biļešu cenas, transporta tips, vilciena maršruts, biļešu veids, vagonu tipi, bērnu biļete, mājdzīvnieku biļete; and we saw other examples earlier: Rīgas pils, ģimenes numurs. Also in Rīga pasažieru, pasažieru is short for pasažieru stacija. So here are the endings you need: M a scu lin e

Nominative Genitive sing. Genitive pi. Examples - nom. gen. sing. gen. pi.

-s, -Š

-is

-us

-a -u

-a -u

-u s -u

vilciens vilciena vilcienu

inženieris inženiera inženieru

tirgus tirgus tirgu

-a

-e

-s

-as -u

-es -u

-s -u

bagāža bagāžas bagāžu

inženiere inženieres inženieru

valsts valsts valstu

F e m in in e

Nominative Genitive sing. Genitive pi. Examples - nom. gen. sing. gen. pi.

The endings are quite easy to learn and remember - all the plural ones are -u. An interesting parallel between Latvian and English is

Unit 4: Travelling by train

53

that Latvian feminine nouns form their plurals by adding -s, and the genitive singular in the same way: skolotāja skolotājas skolotājas žurnāls

teacher (fern.) teachers (fern.) the/a teacher’s magazine

Note that in Latvian the possessor (in the genitive case) always pre­ cedes the possessed object: skolotājas žurnāls

the/a teacher’s magazine

Since place names are feminine in Latvian, we get the following: Latvijas dzelzceļš, Rīgas pils. Note that in vilciena maršruts ‘train’ is singular (the route of one train) but in vilcienu saraksts it is plural (the timetable of many trains). Another thing to note is in biļešu cenas the t in the singular (biļete) has changed to an š in the genitive plural. We will look at this in more detail at a later stage.

Exercise 5 How do you say the following in Latvian? For example, ‘taxi stand’ taksometra stāvvieta. train station bus stop tram ticket ticket prices the student’s newspaper a family room the restaurants of Riga the castles of Latvia orange juice taxi driver

What can you remember? How do you say the following in Latvian? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

What time is it? It’s two o’clock. It’s half past six. It’s ten past nine. It’s twenty to ten. When does the train leave for Jūrmala? The train leaves at 18.35. Have a pleasant journey! Thank you!

10 11 12 13 14 15

The taxi driver is going to Riga castle. The train is going to Liepaja. The tram is going to the centre. I’m going to the supermarket, (on foot) The bus arrives at 16.22. The train departs from platform 6.

Unit Five Restorānā At the restaurant

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

ask for things in a restaurant understand a menu say what will or is going to happen say ‘there isn’t any, we don’t have’ say you like something

L ! Dialogue 1

V*

Mums šodien arī i r . . .

Today we also have . . .

(Audio 1:47) Peteris and Anda are out for dinner with their friend Imants. P ē t e r is

o f ic ia n t e

P ē t e r is o f ic ia n t e

anda

OFICIANTE P ē t e r is o f ic ia n t e

Labdien. Mums ir rezervētas vietas. Mans uzvārds ir Priedītis. Jā. Lūdzu, nāciet man līdzi . . . Te ir jūsu galds pie loga. Paldies. Te ir ēdienkarte. Mums šodien arī ir garšīgs cūkas cepetis ar skābiem kāpostiem. Mmm, man ļoti garšo skābi kāposti. Lūdzu. Mēs neesam vēl gatavi pasūtīt. Vēl piecas minūtes. Labi.

Unit 5: At the restaurant

OFICIANTE PĒTERIS

ANDA OFICIANTE ANDA OFICIANTE IMANTS OFICIANTE IMANTS OFICIANTE PĒTERIS

PĒTERIS

WAITRESS

PĒTERIS WAITRESS

ANDA

WAITRESS PĒTERIS WAITRESS

WAITRESS PĒTERIS

ANDA WAITRESS

ANDA WAITRESS IMANTS WAITRESS IMANTS

WAITRESS PĒTERIS

Lūdzu, vai tagad esat gatavi pasūtīt? Jā, man lūdzu cūkas cepeti ar skābiem kāpostiem un vārītiem kartupeļiem. Vai jums ir arī veģetārie ēdieni? Jā, protams. Mums ir grilēti dārzeņi ar tomātu mērci. Labi, es ņemšu tos, lūdzu, ar rīsiem. Un jums? Lūdzu, man vistas stroganovu. Diemžēl mums stroganova vairs nav. Vai cik žēl! Tad man arī grilētus dārzeņus ar rīsiem. Labi. Un ko jūs dzersit? Divus alus un vienu minerālūdeni bez gāzes. Hello. We’ve made a reservation [lit. ‘We have reserved places’]. My surname is Prieditis. Yes. Please come with me . . . Here’s your table by the window. Thanks. Here’s the menu. Today we have tasty roast pork with sauerkraut. Mmm, I really like sauerkraut. Yes, please? We’re not ready to order yet. Another five minutes. Fine. Are you ready to order now, please? Yes, I ’ll have the roast pork with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. Do you also have vegetarian dishes? Yes, of course. We have grilled vegetables with tomato sauce. Good, I ’ll have those please, with rice. And for you? Chicken stroganoff for me, please. Unfortunately we have no more stroganoff. What a shame! Then I’ll have the grilled vegetables with rice too. Fine. And what will you drink? Two beers and one still mineral water [ ‘without gas’].

55

Unit 5: Restorānā

56

Vocabulary re ze rvē ta s vie ta s n ā c ie t

līdzi (postposition

reserved places command form of n ā k t come with

+ dat.) ga ld s

table

pie (+ gen.)

at, by

lo gs

window

ē d ie n k a rte

menu

ga ršīg s

tasty, delicious

cū ka

pig

(cūkas - gen.

pork)

c e p e tis

roast

skā b s

sour; pickled

k ā p o s ti (pl.)

d z e rt

to drink

gāze

gas

(ar gāzi

sparkling)

ļo ti

very (much)

g a rš o t

taste, be tasty to

šo d ie n

today

ga ta vs

ready

p a s ū tīt

to order

v ā rīt

to boil

v ā rīts

boiled (adj.)

v e ģ e tā rs

vegetarian (adj.)

ē d ie n s

dish, meal

p ro ta m s

of course

g rilē t

grill

dā rze n is

vegetable

cabbage

to s (acc.)

those

skā b i kā p o s ti

sauerkraut

diem žē l

unfortunately

to m ā ts

tomato

s tro g a n o v s

stroganoff

vista

hen, chicken

vai c ik ž f 1!

what a pity!

m ē rce

sauce

alus

beer

rīsi (pl.)

rice

bez (+ gen.)

without

Unit 5: At the restaurant

57

Ē d ie n u k a r t e Zupas Skābu kāpostu zupa Frikadeļu zupa Dārzeņu zupa

1,40 1,30 1,10

Salāti un aukstās uzkodas Šķiņķa salāti Tomātu-gurķu salāti Burkānu salāti

1,00 0,80 0,60

Karstie gaļas un zivju ēdieni Vistas gaļas stroganovs Mājas kotlete ar šampinjoniem Cepts laša steiks ar dārzeņiem Piedevas Frī kartupeļi Vārīti kartupeļi Vārīti rīsi

2,50 2,80 4,40

0,90 0,90 0,70

Saldie ēdieni Šokolādes krēms ar ogu ķīseli Vaniļas krēms Zemenes ar putukrējumu Citronu krēms ar zemeņu jogurtu Saldējums Dzērieni Augļu sula Minerālūdens ar gāzi Minerālūdens bez gāzes Kafija - melna Kafija ar putukrējumu Tēja Tēja ar citronu Alus (pudele) Baltvīns (glāze) Sarkanvīns (glāze)

0,95 0,95 1,50 0,95 1,90

0,50 0,60 0,60 0,70 0,75 0,40 0,45

1,10 1,80 1,80

Things you could expect to see on a menu Like restaurants in many other countries, Latvian restaurants generally divide their menus into sections such as zupas ‘soups’, salāti un aukstās uzkodas ‘salads and cold snacks’, karstie gajas un zivju ēdieni ‘hot meat and fish dishes’, piedevas ‘side dishes’, saldie ēdieni ‘desserts’, dzērieni ‘drinks’ (maybe on a separate wine list at the more expensive places). Note that the definite form of the adjective (saldie, karstie, and so on) is used in menus - this will be explained later. Take a look at the menu above and see how much you understand.

Unit 5: Restorānā

58

Vocabulary frik a d e le

meat ball

sa rk a n v īn s

red wine

b u rkā n s

carrot

g u rķ is

cucumber

k o tle te

rissole

m ajas

š a m p in jo n s

button mushroom

house {h ere: chef’s special)

s te ik s

steak

C Ģ p tS

fried

krē m s

cream dessert

lasis

salmon

ķīse lis

stewed fruit thickened with potato flour

f r ī k a rtu p e ļi

chips, French fries

oga

berry

vaniļa

vanilla

zem ene

strawberry

krē ju m s

cream

p u tu k rē ju m s

whipped cream

c itro n s

lemon

a u g lis

fruit

mĢlns

black

pu de le

bottle

vīn s

wine

b a ltv īn s

white wine

Language point The future tense - nākotne We had two examples of the future tense in the dialogue: Labi, es ņemšu tos, lūdzu, ar rīsiem. Un ko jūs dzersit?

OK, I’ll have those with rice, please. And what are you going to drink?

To form the future tense of any verb, we remove the final -t of the infinitive and add these endings:

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, vinas mes jūs

-Š U

-si -s -sim -sit

Unit 5: At the restaurant

59

The examples show the verb dzīvot and the three irregular verbs but, iet and dot: but

ie t

dot

d z īv o t

to be

to go

to give

to live

es būšu

es iešu

es do šu

es d z īv o š u

tu būsi

tu iesi

to d o si

tu d z īv o s i

viņš, etc. būs

viņš, etc. ies

viņš, etc. do s

viņš, etc. d zīvo s

m ēs bū sim

m ēs iesim

m ēs do sim

m ēs d z īv o s im

jū s b ū s it

jū s ie s it

jū s d o s it

jū s d z īv o s it

The only exceptions to this rule are some verbs ending in -st - these can be found in the grammar summary at the back of the book.

Exercise 1 Fill in the gaps with the future tense of the verb given. Example: E s _____ uz Latviju, (braukt) Answer: Es braukšu uz Latviju. 1 V iņ i_____ uz restorānu, (iet) 2 Mēs te v _____ atslēgu, (dot) 3 V iņ š_____ Rīgā. (dzīvot) 4 E s _____ cūkas cepeti, (ņemt) 5 Ko jū s _____? (dzert) 6 Vilciens_____ 18.33. (atiet) 7 Autobuss______ 20.34. (pienākt) 8 Vai jū s _____ uz Rīgu? (braukt) 9 Vai t u _____ uz kino? (iet)

Language point 'There isn't any7; 'w e d o n 't have' Remember that to say ‘to have’ in Latvian we use the dative plus ir (Unit 3). To negate the idea of the verb ‘to have’, we use a similar construction: the dative (Unit 3) of the possessor with the negative

Unit 5: Restorānā

60

of the verb ‘to be’, i.e. nav. So when the waitress said they didn’t have any stroganoff, she used this construction: Diemžēl mums . . . nav.

Unfortunately, we don’t have . . .

The thing that is lacking appears in the genitive case (Unit 4) so stroganovs changes to stroganova and we get: Diemžēl mums stroganova nav. Unfortunately, we don’t have any stroganoff. You can also miss out the pronoun and say: Diemžēl stroganova nav. Unfortunately, there isn’t any stroganoff.

Exercise 2 How do you say the following in Latvian: Example: He doesn’t have any chips. Answer: Viņam nav frī kartupeļu. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

I don’t have any tea. We haven’t got a cat. They (fem.) don’t have the keys. Don’t you (sing.) have a ticket? There aren’t any trains today. There isn’t any coffee. Isn’t there any apple juice? There isn’t any red wine. Don’t you (pol.) have any beer?

2} Language point Saying you like something In general, in Latvian when we wish to say ‘I like something’, we use the construction man patīk - lit. ‘it pleases to me’. With food, however, we use a different Latvian verb, man garšo, which literally means ‘to me is tasty’. Notice that the dative case of the person doing

Unit 5: At the restaurant

61

the liking is used with both verbs and the thing that is liked is in the nominative case. Thus in the dialogue we read: Man ļoti garšo skābi kāposti.

I like sauerkraut very much.

Here are some more examples: Dacei patīk kaķi. Pēterim patīk latviešu valoda. Bērniem garšo šokolāde.

Dace likes cats. Peter likes the Latvian language. Children like chocolate.

Exercise 3 How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: He likes roast pork. Answer: Viņam garšo cūkas cepetis. 1 They like chips. 2 I like coffee. 3 Do you (pol.) like coffee? 4 Do you (fam.) like red wine? 5 We like tea with lemon. 6 They (fern.) like strawberries and cream. 7 I like Latvia. 8 They like cats. 9 We like Riga.

Language point Prepositions with nouns Latvian, like English, has quite a number of prepositions which we will meet in the course of the next few lessons. In the singular, each pre­ position takes a particular case of the noun (and adjective, if there is one), e.g. we have already seen that ar ‘with’ takes the accusative so we get minerālūdens ar gāzi, but bez ‘without’ takes the genitive so we get minerālūdens bez gāzes. Pie ‘at’ takes the genitive: pie loga. In the plural, they all take the dative case so we get ar šampinjoniem ‘with mushrooms’.

Unit 5: Restorānā

62

Exercise 4

(Audio 1:48)

How would you ask for the following things in a restaurant? Remember that the things you are asking for go into the accusative case and then watch your prepositions! Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

You want a coffee without whipped cream but with milk. Kafiju bez putukrējuma bet ar pienu.

You want the chicken stroganoff with rice. You want the lemon cream dessert without the yogurt but with whipped cream. You want a salmon steak without vegetables but with French fries. You want the sauerkraut soup with dark rye bread and butter. You want strawberries with ice cream. You want the vanilla cream dessert with strawberries. You want toast with jam. You want sourdough bread with ham. You want muesli with milk.

K Dialogue 2 Labu apetīti

'G ood appetite', enjoy your meal

V V (Audio 1:49) The waitress brings the food to the table and then Peteris pays. OFICIANTE PĒTERIS OFICIANTE ANDA IMANTS PĒTERIS ANDA, IMANTS

PĒTERIS OFICIANTE

Cūkas cepetis? Tas ir man . . . Paldies. Un grilēti dārzeņi? Paldies. Paldies. Labu apetīti Paldies, tev tāpat. Atvainojiet. Man vēl vienu alu, lūdzu Labi, tūlīt.

Unit 5: At the restaurant

63

PĒTERIS

Rēķinu, ludzu.

WAITRESS

The roast pork? That’s for me . . . Thanks. And the grilled vegetables? Thanks. Thanks. Enjoy your meal. Thanks, the same to you.

PĒTERIS WAITRESS ANDA IMANTS PETERIS ANDA, IMANTS

WAITER

Excuse me. Another beer for me, please. Fine, right away.

PETERIS

The bill, please.

PETERIS

Vocabulary a p e tīte

appetite

t ū līt

immediately

(labu a p e tīti!

good appetite!)

rē ķ in s

bill

tā p a t

also, likewise

Note that the reply to labu a p e tīti! uses the dative case.

Language point The locative case As its name suggests, the locative case is used to show location - the title of this unit is Restorānā which means ‘at’ or ‘in the restaurant’. We also saw this being used when we were talking about where we live: es dzīvoju Rīgā ‘I live in Riga’. And we also saw it being used in time expressions to say ‘at’ a certain time. We have already said that the locative ends in a long vowel. Now here is the complete table for this case.

Unit 5: Restorānā

64

M a scu lin e

Nominative Locative sing. Locative pi. Examples - nom. sing. loc. sing. loc. pi.

-s, -Š

-is

-us

-ā

-I

-ū

-o s

-o s

-o s

vilciens vilcienā vilcienos

teātris teātrī teātros

tirgus tirgū tirgos

-a

-e

-s

-ā

-ē

-I

-ās

-ēs

-īs

stacija stacijā stacijās

universitāte universitātē universitātēs

valsts valstī valstīs

F e m in in e

Nominative Locative sing. Locative pi. Examples - nom. sing. loc. sing. loc. pi.

Exercise 5 How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

At the airport Lidostā

In the taxi In the office At the swimming pool At the department store In London At 6 o’clock In Riga In the restaurant At 18.30 (write out in full)

What can you remember? It’s time to do some revision of what you have learnt so far. Here are some exercises to help you.

Unit 5: At the restaurant

ACROSS

2 5 6 8 9 11 12 16 17 20 21 23 24 25 26

A mode of transport Something you can buy at the kiosk Shower How do you greet a male friend? Something you can eat for breakfast To go On the left Newspaper Shop Bread 10 A pet Road Soup How are you?

65

DOWN

1 2 3 4 7 10 13 14 15 18 19 20 22

Thank you He At what time? Platform Something you might drink at breakfast With What else? Negative of ‘is’ Here Cheese Leave/depart How much does it cost? Cik ? Without

Unit 5: Restorānā

66

4

(Audio 1:50) h B Answer these questions in Latvian - use complete sentences: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kur jūs dzīvojat? Vai tu brauksi uz Latviju? (Say yes!) Cik ir divdesmit divi plus četrpadsmit? Vai tu esi students/studente? Vai jūs runājat angliski? Kāds šodien ir datums? Vai tev ir kafija? Vai jums ir kaķis? Vai tev garšo kafija? Vai tev patīk futbols?

Unit Six

Ģimene Family

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

talk about family members make adjectives agree with nouns say ‘much/many/a lot of/little/a few’ say how old somebody is use all verbs in the present tense

Dialogue 1 Vai tev ir ģimenes fotogrāfijas līdzi? Do you have any family photos with you? (Audio 1:52) Peteris is having dinner with a colleague from Daugavpils, a town in the south-east of Latvia, and they start talking about their families. INITA Pē t e r is

In it a Pē t e r is

INITA

Vai tev ir ģimenes fotogrāfijas līdzi? Jā, es parādīšu. Te mēs esam abi ar bērniem. Imantam ir četri gadi un Ainai ir divi. Vai, cik skaisti b ē rn i! Paldies! Un te ir mani vecāki, Annas tēvs un māte, un mana vecāmāte. Cik viņai ir gadu?

Unit 6: Ģimene

68

P ē t e r is In it a P ē t e r is

Viņai ir jau deviņdesmit. Vai tavi vecāki vēl strādā? Jā, mans tēvs ir arhitekts un mana māte ir skolotāja. Annas vecāki gan ir jau pensijā. Viņiem ir liels dārzs un viņi tagad pavada daudz laika dārzā. Mana sievasmāte audzē ļoti garšīgus dārzeņus. Un manai māsai dārzā ir gan dārzeņi gan augļi.

Vocabulary ģ im e n e

family

ve cā ki

parents

fo to g rā fija

photograph

tĢVS

father

līd z i

with (you)

m āte

mother

p a rā d īt

show

v e cā m ā te

grandmother

abi, abas

both

a rh ite k ts

architect

b fr n s

child

s k o lo tā js , s k o lo tā ja

teacher

c ik

how (much)

p e nsija

pension

vai

here:

ja u

already

s k a is ts

beautiful

dā rzs

garden

oh!

p a v a d īt

spend (time)

dā rze n is

vegetable

sieva

wife

m āsa

sister

a u d zē t

grow, cultivate

a u g lis

fruit

2* Language point Gan Gan is a very common word in Latvian. It generally means something like ‘really, certainly, indeed, I do, he was, however’, and so on: Annas vecāki gan ir jau pensijā. However, Anna’s parents are retired. And when it is repeated: gan . . . gan . . . , it means ‘both . . . and . . .’:

Unit 6: Family

69

Un manai masai darza ir gan dārzeņi gan augļi. And my sister has both vegetables and fruit in her garden.

Family relationships - ģimene In Dialogue 1, we came across a number of words for family members. Here they are listed together with a few more: vecāmāte

grandmother

v^ctfvs

grandfather

(Notice that vecāmāte has the long ā of the definite form of veca ‘old’ but vectēvs does not. This means that the first part of the word will follow the rules for definite adjectives which we will look at in the next unit.) māte vīrs māsa meita mazmeita sievasmāte svaine v$d$kla tante brāļameita, māsasmeita māsīca

mother husband sister daughter granddaughter mother-in-law sister-in-law daughter-in-law aunt niece cousin (fern.)

tfvs sieva brālis dfls mazdgls sievastfvs svainis znots tfvocis, onkulis brāļadēls, māsasdēls brālfns

father wife brother son grandson father-in-law brother-in-law son-in-law uncle nephew cousin (masc.)

Language point Adjective endings In Latvian adjectives, such as ‘big’, come before the noun and they must agree with the noun, as we saw in the dialogue: liels dārzs ‘a big garden’ (nominative case) and garšīgus dārzeņus ‘delicious vegetables’ (accusative case). Here are all the endings you need:

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Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

s in g u la r

sin g u la r

p lu ra l

p lu ra l

liels liela lielam lielu lielā

liela lielas lielai lielu lielā

lieli lielu lieliem lielus lielos

lielas lielu lielām lielas lielās

If you want to say, for example, ‘the soup is delicious’, you use the nominative singular masculine or feminine ending as appropriate, e.g. zupa ir garšīga; dārzs ir liels the garden is big’. The possessive adjectives mans and tavs take the same endings, e.g. mans dārzs ‘my garden’, tavi dārzi ‘your gardens’. The numbers one to nine (but not three) also take the same endings, e.g. viens liels dārzs, divi lieli dārzi. This is how three works:

Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

M a scu lin e p lu ra l

F e m in in e p lu ra l

trīs triju trijiem trīs trijos

trīs triju trijām trīs trijās

Exercise 1 How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

He works in a big hotel. Viņš strādā lielā viesnīcā.

She works in two restaurants. He’s going to a big museum. We live in a big town. The roast pork is delicious. The ham salad is delicious. Two beers, please. Three teas, please.

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My mother’s garden is beautiful. His father has a big garden.

Language point M u ch /m an y/a lot o f/little /a few We saw in Dialogue 1: viņi tagad pavada daudz laika dārzā ‘they now spend a lot of time in the garden’. Notice how daudz ‘much/ many’ is followed by the genitive case of what is being quantified: daudz laika. The same happens after the word cik ‘how (many)’ where the daudz is not used but is understood: Cik (daudz) māsu tev ir? How many sisters do you have? Cik gadu tev ir? How old are you? (Lit. How many years do you have?) The same applies to maz ‘little/few’: Man ir maz naudas. Tur ir maz cilvēku.

I have little money. There are few people there.

Exercise 2 Fill in the gaps with the correct ending - watch out for singular and plural nouns: Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Man nav daudz laik_. Man nav daudz laika.

Manai mātei dārzā ir daudz dārzeņ_. Mums nav daudz pien_. Viesnīcā ir daudz istab_. Viņam ir maz ņaud_. Vilcienā bija maz cilvēk_. Mums ir maz pien__. Manā ģimenē ir daudz bērn_. Mums nav daudz kartupeļ_. Rīgā ir daudz taksometr_.

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Language point Saying how old somebody is and nouns following numbers Notice the way Latvian expresses people’s ages: we use the con­ struction we learnt for ‘to have’ (unit 3): Cik gadu tev ir? or Cik tev gadu? How old are you? (lit. How many years do you have?) And, in giving the answer, we have to make the number agree with the noun, in this case ‘year’: viņai ir viens gads, viņai ir divi gadi, viņai ir trīs gadi, etc. up to viņai ir deviņi gadi. ‘Round’ numbers (ending in 0) as well as the -padsmit numbers (11-19) take the genitive plural: Man ir piecdesmit gadu, un manam dēlam ir deviņpadsmit gadu. I am fifty years old, and my son is nineteen years old. Numbers that end in ‘one’ (apart from 11) take the singular. Man ir divdesmit viens gads, bet manai meitai ir tikai viens gads. I am 21 years old, but my daughter is only one year old. This rule applies to any nouns, not just years, e.g. Viņiem ir desmit bērnu.

They have ten children.

Exercise 3 How do you say these sentences in Latvian? Write the number out in full. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4

He is 14 years old. Viņam ir četrpadsmit gadu.

She is three years old. I am 31 years old. My grandfather is 80 years old. My sister is 20 years old.

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He has three taxis. There are ten restaurants near us. Mums tuvumā i r ____________. I have 100 lats. He has 99 lats. I have three sisters.

Dialogue 2 Mana māsa un mans brālis my brother (Audio 1:53)

My sister and

Peteris and Inita continue their conversation. INITA PĒTERIS INITA PĒTERIS INITA PĒTERIS

INITA PĒTERIS

Kā sauc tavu māsu? Viņu sauc Alise. Cik viņai gadu? Viņai ir trīsdesmit. Kāda viņa ir? Viņa ir ļoti skaista ar gariem tumšiem matiem. Viņa ir vienmēr priecīga un ļoti izpalīdzīga. Vai tev arī ir brālis? Jā, viņu sauc Imants un viņam ir divdesmit trīs gadi. Viņš vēl studē un tāpēc viņam nekad nav naudas!

Vocabulary kāda viņa ir?

what’s she like?

a rī

also

s k a is ts

beautiful

v ie n m fr

always

garš

long, tall

p rie c īg s

happy

tu m š s

dark

iz p a līd z īg s

helpful

m a ti (always pl.)

hair

s tu d ē t

study

m a ts

one individual hair

tā p ē c

therefore, that is why

nekad

never

nauda

money

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Some adjectives to describe people Apart from skaists, garš and tumšs, which we learned in this dialogue, there are other words we can use to describe people: slaids bāls nabags slinks VĢCS

slim pale poor lazy old

r^sns bagāts jauns nopietns mazs

stout, fat rich young (also means ‘new serious small

Language point Verbs - present - tag ad ne We have now encountered a number of verbs so it’s time to deal with how to conjugate them, i.e. how to put on the different endings. Latvian verbs are traditionally divided into three main types. Group 1 consists of verbs which have one-syllable stems and which usually end in a consonant and -t, e.g. nākt ‘to come’, pienākt ‘to arrive’. Group 2 verbs end in -āt, -ot, -ēt and the es T form is the same in the present and the past. We have already encountered dzīvot ‘to live’, runāt ‘to speak’ and audzēt ‘to grow/cultivate’ from this group. Group 3 verbs end in -īt, -ināt, -āt and -ēt. We have seen pavadīt ‘to spend’ (i.e. spend time, also ‘to accompany’) from this group. Here are the endings you need for each group:

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

G ro u p 1

G ro u p 2

G ro u p 3

-u -/i -am -at

(āj, ēj, oj)-u (ā, ē, o)(ā, ē, o)(āj, ēj, oj)-am (āj, ēj, oj)-at

-u -i -a/-ām/-am -āt/-at

To form these conjugations, you first need to take the final -t ending off Group 1 verbs, or the final vowel and -t endings off the other verbs and then add the endings given. Group 1 verbs often also have stem changes and you will find full conjugations in the grammar summary

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at the back of the book. You can see which group a verb belongs to in the glossaries at the back of the book and there are also more details in the grammar summary. You can see that Group 3 verbs have two possibilities in the he, we and you plural forms. All the verbs ending in -ēt in this group follow the pattern of no ending in the he form and short vowels in the mēs and jūs forms. Verbs ending in -it have the -a in the he form and the long vowels in mēs and jūs forms. Verbs ending in -āt can take either, depending on the verb. You will find details in the grammar summary. Here are some examples: Group 1

Group 2

nākt

d z īv o t

ru n ā t

to come

to live

to speak

es nāku

es d z īv o ju

es ru n ā ju

tu nāc

tu d zīvo

tu runā

viņš, etc. nāk

viņ š, etc. d zīvo

viņš, etc. runā

m ēs nākam

m ēs d z īv o ja m

m ēs ru n ājam

jū s n ā ka t

jū s d z īv o ja t

jū s ru n ā ja t

Group 3 p a v a d īt

d z ie d a t

to spend time

to sing

es pavadu

es dzied u

tu pavadi

tu dzied i

viņš, etc. pavada

viņš, etc. dzied

m ēs pavadām

m ēs dzied am

jū s pa va d ā t

jū s d z ie d a t

There are only three irregular verbs in Latvian. We have already seen būt ‘to be’ and iet ‘to go’. The third one is dot ‘to give’: es dodu tu dod viņš etc. dod mēs dodam jūs dodat

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Just as a final point on verb endings, they are important to know as Latvian quite often omits the subject, particularly in the spoken lan­ guage, so, for example, you might find a sentence like: Eju uz banku.

Exercise 4

(I’m) going to the bank.

(Audio 1:54)

Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb given. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

M e s _____ uz Rīgu. (braukt) Mēs braucam uz Rīgu.

V iņ i_____ latviski, (runāt) Vai jū s _____ Liepājā? (dzīvot) Mans b rā lis____ angliski, (nerunāt) Mana m āsa_____ augļus un dārzeņus, (audzēt) V iņ i_____ daudz laika dārzā, (pavadīt) Vecām āte_____ mazbērniem konfektes, (dot) C ik o s_____ vilciens? (atiet) Ko t u _____ ? (studēt) V iņ š _____ veidlapu, (aizpildīt)

What can you remember? A

How do you say these sentences in Latvian? Example: He never has much money. Answer: Viņam nekad nav daudz naudas.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

My husband never has much time. I’ve got a lot of potatoes in my garden. There are a lot of museums in Riga. There are few people in the museum. He is 41 years old. My grandfather is 70 years old. They have five children. My husband doesn’t speak Latvian. My sister studies English.

Unit 6: Family

B

Choose the correct form of the verb. Example: Answer:

Mans tēvs runa / runā / runo angliski. runā

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Viņš strādā / strādā / strādo kā arhitekts. Oficiants nākam / nāku / nāk ar ēdienu. Vilciens atej / atiet / atejam astoņos. Tēvs dot / dod / dodu manam brālim naudu. Es dzīvo / dzīvot / dzīvoju Rīgā. Mēs ejam / ejat / /et uz restorānu. Mums esam / /r / es/ jauns skolotājs. Šoferis brauk / braukt / brauc uz Rīgu. Mani vecāki audzē / audz / audzēju augļus.

C

Fill in the gaps with the correct ending: Example: Answer:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Man__māsa ir ļoti skaist__ . Mana māsa ir ļoti skaista.

Vistas stroganovs ir ļoti garšīg_. Man_brālim nav daudz naudas. Viņai ir īs__mati. Man_māsa man dod garšīg__ augļus. Viņiem ir div_bērni. Viņai ir četr_gadi. Dārzā ir liel_suns. Man_brālim ir tumš__ mati. Vai tav_mātei ir kaķis?

77

Unit Seven Ko tu dari brīvajā laikā? W hat do you do in your free time?

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

talk about leisure activities talk about Latvian festivals and national holidays use reflexive verbs distinguish between indefinite and definite adjective endings use adverbs

Dialogue 1

V

Ko tu dari brīvajā laikā? Mour y free time? (Audio 2:1)

W hat do you do in

Peteris and Inita are continuing their conversation while out for a meal. In it a P ē t e r is

In it a P ē t e r is

INITA

Ko tu d a ri b r īv a jā la ik ā ? Nu, man pārāk daudz brīva laika nav, bet es mājās bieži klausos mūziku un lasu. Vakaros es parasti skatos televizoru. Kāda mūzika tev patīk? Es bieži klausos klasisko mūziku, bet man arī patīk džezs un popmūzika. Kādu mūziku tu klausies? Es arī ļoti mīlu klasisko mūziku, bet bieži arī klausos tautas mūziku, jo es dejoju tautas deju grupā.

Unit 7: What do you do in your free time?

Pē t e r is In it a

Pē t e r is

79

Tas ir interesanti! Cik ilgi tu to dari? Jau vairākus gadus. Mums ir ļoti aktīva grupa, un mēs šad un tad braucam arī uz ārzemēm. Vai tu nodarbojies ar sportu? Es mēģinu iet divreiz nedēļā uz fitnesa klubu, kaut gan man tas ne vienmēr sanāk. Atvaļinājumā gan es labprāt eju pastaigāties. Es ļoti mīlu dabu, un man patīk fotografēt un zīmēt dabas skatus.

Vocabulary b rīv s

free

p a s ta ig ā tie s

(go for a) walk

p ā rā k

too

fo to g ra fē t

p ā rā k da ud z

too much

photograph, take pictures

m ā jā s (note

at home

džezs

jazz

m īlē t

love

plural form!) bieži

often

kla s is k s

classical folk dance

k la u s ītie s

listen to

ta u ta s deja

m ūzika

music

d e jo t

dance (v.)

la s īt

read

va irā ki

several

va ka ro s

in the evenings

g ru pa

group

s k a tītie s

watch

p a ra sti

usually

te le v iz o rs

television

in te re s a n ts

interesting

p a tik t

please

a k tīv s

active

(man p a tīk

1 like)

šad un ta d

now and then

foreign countries, abroad

d ivre iz

twice

fitn e s a klu b s

sports club

ā rze m e s

n o d a rb o tie s

be involved (in)

(ar + acc.)

k a u t gan

although

s a n ā k t (+ dat.)

succeed, manage

s p o rts

sport

nedēļa

week

m ē ģ in ā t

try

la b p rā t

willingly, gladly

z īm ē t

draw

daba

nature

a tv a ļin ā ju m s

holidays, free time

sk a ts

view, scene

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Some leisure activities In the dialogue we encountered quite a range of free-time activities: klausīties mūziku, skatīties televizoru, dejot, zīmēt, fotografēt, pastaigāties, lasīt,for example. Here are a few more to consider: peldēties burāt spēlēt basketbolu futbolu, tenisu, mūziku

to swim to sail play basketball, football, tennis, music

Latvian names of sports are often adapted from English: futbols, badmintons, teniss for example. This is true even of Latvia’s most popular national sports: basketbols and hokejs ‘ice hockey’ in winter.

Language point Reflexive verbs Reflexive verbs are those which generally, but in Latvian not always, refer the action back to the subject of the verb, e.g. se laver in French or sich waschen in German. Most reflexive verbs in Latvian are derived from a non-reflexive counterpart. The infinitive ending is extended from -t to -ties: for example, mazgāt means ‘to wash’, but mazgāties means ‘to wash oneself’; likewise, mācīt means ‘to teach’, whereas mācīties means ‘to learn/study’ (= teach oneself). Some verbs, like peldēties in the dialogue above, have no obvious reflexive meaning. Peldēt means ‘to swim’, i.e. the action of swimming: Viņš peld uz krastu. He’s swimming to the shore (or the bank of a lake or river). Peldēties (Group 3 - short -a in the he/she/it/they/we/you pi. forms) means ‘to swim’ as in the activity of swimming or bathing: Es eju peldēties. I’m going swimming or I’m going for a swim. Some reflexive verbs can even take other objects. For example, klausīties means ‘to listen’ and it can be used either with an object

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(i.e. as a transitive verb) or without an object (i.e. an intransitive verb). Es klausos mūziku. Es klausos.

I listen to music. I’m listening. (Incidentally, klausos is the equivalent of the English ‘speaking’ on the telephone when you confirm that you are the person asked for.)

Sometimes the meaning of a reflexive verb is reciprocal, such as satikties ‘meet’ (each other). Here are the endings you need for each of the groups in the present and future tenses. P re s e n t tense

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

G ro u p 1

G ro u p 2

G ro u p 3

-os -ies -as -amies -aties

(āj, ēj, oj)-os (ā, ē, o)-jies (ā, ē, o)-jas (āj, ēj, oj)-amies (āj, ēj, oj)-aties

-os -ies -ās/-as -āmies/-amies -āties/-aties

F u tu re tense

G ro u p s 1,2,3

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

(š)-os (s)-ies (s)-ies (s)-imies (s)-ities

And here are examples with some of the verbs we have looked at above. As we saw with non-reflexive verbs in the last unit, you take off the final -ties and then add the appropriate endings. Also in the last unit we mentioned that Group 1 verbs often have vowel and/or consonant changes in the stem - you can see this happening in the

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verb satikties. As with non-reflexive verbs, Group 3 verbs can have two forms - with a long or short a in the viņš/mēs/jūs forms. G ro u p 1

G ro u p 2

G ro u p 3

satikties

pastaigāties

klausīties

peldeties

to meet (people)

to go for a walk

to listen

to swim, bathe

PRESENT TENSE es satiekos

es pastaigājos

es klausos

es peldos

tu satiecies

tu pastaigājies

tu klausies

tu peldies

viņš,

etc.

viņš,

satiekas

etc.

pastaigājas

viņš,

etc.

klausās

viņš,

etc.

peldas

mēs satiekamies

mēs pastaigājamies

mēs klausāmies

mēs peldamies

jūs satiekaties

jūs pastaigājaties

jūs klausāties

jūs peldaties

FUTURE TENSE es satikšos

es pastaigāšos

es klausīšos

es peldēšos

tu satiksies

tu pastaigāsies

tu klausīsies

tu peldēsies

viņš,

etc.

satiksies

viņš,

etc.

pastaigāsies

viņš,

etc.

klausīsies

viņš,

etc.

peldēsies

mēs satiksimies

mēs pastaigāsimies

mēs klausīsimies

mēs peldēsimies

jūs satiksities

jūs pastaigāsities

jūs klausīsities

jūs peldēsities

Exercise 1 (Audio 2:2) Fill in the gap with the correct form of the verb in the present tense as in the example. Learn the endings first before doing the exercise and then cover them up while you do the exercise. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

M e s _____ skaistu muziķu, (klausīties) Mēs klausāmies skaistu mūziku.

V iņ i_____ parkā, (pastaigāties) E s _____ ar draugiem, (satikties) V iņ š_____ klasisko mūziku, (klausīties) B ērni____ jūrā. (peldēties) Im ants_____ televizoru, (skatīties) K aķis_____. (mazgāties) Vai t u _____ latviešu valodu? (mācīties) Vai jū s _____ angļu valodu? (mācīties) Es ie š u _____ . (pastaigāties)

Unit 7: What do you do in your free time?

Exercise 2

(Audio 2:3)

Now do the exercise again, but this time put the verbs into the future tense as in the example. Example: Answer:

M ē s _____ skaistu mūziku, (klausīties) Mēs klausīsimies skaistu mūziku.

Language point The definite form of the adjective We have already noted that Latvian has no definite article, i.e. no word for ‘the’, and no indefinite article ‘a/an’ either. But it does have ways of expressing definiteness and indefiniteness, just like most languages. The Latvian way of showing definiteness is unusual and is shared with its sister language Lithuanian: it applies only to adjectives (and other qualifying words such as ordinal numerals which we looked at in Unit 3, e.g. pirmais/pirmā ‘the first’). The form of the adjective will change according to whether we want to say ‘a beautiful child’ or ‘the beautiful child’. ‘A beautiful child’ is, in the nominative, skaists bērns. But the ending of the adjective changes if we make it definite: skaistais bērns means ‘the beautiful child’. We saw definite adjective endings when we talked about food on a menu, e.g. aukstās uzkodas ‘cold snacks’, karstie gaļas un zivju ēdieni ‘hot meat and fish dishes’, saldie ēdieni ‘sweet dishes/desserts’. In this case we are naming the type of snacks or dishes. The same thing happens in the dialogue above when we talked about classical music: Es klausos klasisko mūziku - what you listen to goes into the accusative and mūzika is feminine so, if you look at the table, the feminine singular accusative ending is -o. To say ‘Classical music is beautiful’ you will use the nominative: Klasiskā mūzika ir skaista. Skaista is the indefinite adjective ending. The definite adjective endings also follow possessive adjectives, e.g. Mans lielais suns.

My big dog.

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Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

s in g u la r

s in g u la r

p lu ra l

p lu ra l

lielais lielā lielajam lielo lielajā

lielā lielās lielajai lielo lielajā

lielie lielo lielajiem lielos lielajos

lielās lielo lielajām lielās lielajās

Exercise 3 Fill in the correct ending of the definite or indefinite adjectives - think if in English we would use ‘a’ or ‘the’ before the noun, or whether the adjective follows a possessive adjective: Example: Man i r _____ suns, (liels) Answer: Man ir liels suns. 1 _____ ēdiens ir lo ti______ . (salds, garšīgs) 2 Man, lūdzu,____ pienu, (karsts) 3 _____ bērni peldas jūrā. (mazs) 4 V iņas____________mati ir lo ti______ . (tumšs, garš, skaists) 5 Mēs braucam a r _____ tramvaju, (jauns) 6 Ko jūs d a ra t_____ laikā? (brīvs) 7 _____ restorāns Rīgas centrā ir ļo t i______ . (jauns, populārs) 8 Viņš iet u z _____ kiosku, (mazs) 9 Es iešu u z _____ fitnesa klubu, (jauns)

2) Language point Adverbs of frequency vienm fr always gandrīz vienmfr nearly always bieži often kādreiz sometimes

šad un tad occasionally rfti rarely gandrīz nekad almost never nekad never

Unit 7: What do you do in your free time?

The table below shows the word order when using these words - they come between the subject and the verb, just as in English. When you say ‘almost never’ or ‘never’, you must use the verb in the negative. We will look at this again later. Es

vienmēr

klausos muziķu.

gandrīz vienmēr bieži kādreiz šad un tad reti Es

gandrīz nekad

neklausos mūziku.

nekad

Exercise

4 (Audio 2:4)

How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: I sometimes go to the park. Answer: Es kādreiz eju uz parku. 1 He never goes to the cinema. 2 We often go to the restaurant. 3 The children occasionally swim in the sea. 4 My grandmother always watches TV. 5 My father rarely listens to music. 6 They often go to the opera. 7 They never go to the theatre. 8 She never goes by taxi. 9 Do you sometimes listen to jazz?

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Dialogue 2

V

Vai tu šovakar kaut ko dari? Are you doing /» anything this evening? (Audio 2:5) Anda is phoning her friend Maija to arrange to go to the cinema. anda m a ij a anda m a ij a anda

m a ij a anda m a ij a

anda

Vai tu šovakar kaut ko dari? Nē, pašlaik vēl neko. Vai gribi iet uz kino? Jā, labprāt. Kuru filmu tu gribi redzēt? Pašlaik rāda Tumšo Bruņinieku. Es domāju, ka tā ir ļoti laba filma. Labi, tad iesim uz to. Cikos tā sākas? Pusdeviņos. Mēs varam vispirms kaut ko ieēst. Labi. Tad satiksimies pusseptiņos pie Laimas pulksteņa. Mēs varam turpat blakus dabūt picu. Lieliski! Tad līdz vakaram.

The Laima clock tower was built in 1924 and has been the most popular meeting place in Riga since then

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Vocabulary šovakar

this evening

re d zē t

to see

p a šla ik

at the moment

film a

film

to want

sā k tie s

start, begin

kin o

cinema

v is p irm s

first (of all)

rā d īt

show

ie ē st

have (something) to eat

tu m š s

dark

tu rp a t

right there

b ru ņ in ie k s

knight

dabūt

get

p u lk s te n is

clock

lie liski!

great!

b la ku s (adv.

beside

Laim a

brand of chocolate in Latvia, advertised prominently on a clock tower in Freedom Square in central Riga; named after a figure in Latvian mythology

g rib ē t

& prep.) pica

pizza

līd z

until

(prep. + dat.) k a u t ko (acc.)

something (object)

ne ko (acc.)

nothing (object)

Language points Kaut ko, neko Note how kaut kas ‘something’ and nekas ‘nothing’ are used in questions and answers - in both cases we are using the accusative form: Vai tu šovakar kaut ko dari? Are you doing anything this evening? Nē, pašlaik vēl neko. No, nothing yet (at the moment).

Adverbs Adverbs are formed by changing the gender-based ending of the adjective to -i:

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latvisks skaists labs

Latvian beautiful good

latviski skaisti labi

in Latvian (note the lower case I) beautifully well

Some have the ending -u: vflu ‘late’, tālu ‘far’. We have seen three adverbs in this unit: interesanti in Dialogue 1, and labi and lieliski in Dialogue 2. The use of the adverb is different from English here: in English we would say That is interesting’ or ‘That’s good/great’ using an adjective but Latvian uses an adverb.

Festivals and national holidays The most important festivals are associated with the changing of the seasons, i.e. spring equinox Lieldienas (the ‘great’ days when the days become longer than the nights), summer solstice or midsummer Jāņi (‘John’s day’), autumn equinox Miķeļi (‘Michael’s day’) and winter solstice Ziemassvētki (‘winter festival’). Nowadays spring equinox is celebrated as Easter and winter solstice as Christmas but many of the old pagan traditions remain as part of the celebrations to this day. Miķeļi is the equivalent of a harvest festival which is not celebrated very much today. However, one tradition which is being revived is that of having a market, tirgus, on the third day of the celebrations. At Easter, eggs are painted or dyed, olu krāsošana, using natural dyes such as onion skins or plants. Another tradition is swinging, šūpošanās, on swings made for two to four people. This tradition is connected with fertility to ensure that the livestock and crops do well over the summer. At Christmas, one tradition is to dress up in costumes and masks depicting animals. These masked people, ķekatnieki, then go from house to house to frighten away evil spirits and to bring blessings. Dragging the Yule log, bluķa velšana, is another tradition - a burning log was dragged from house to house and this symbolizes the burning of last year’s problems. Today this is done symbolically in town squares. The traditional food was a boiled pig’s head with pearl barley, but today the most popular dish is boiled grey peas (a type of dried pea) with

Unit 7: What do you do in your free time?

pieces of fried bacon, pelēkie zirņi ar speķi; the peas symbolize the sun because of their round shape. Jāņi is the time when Latvians really enjoy their pagan roots. It is held in the night from 23 to 24 June, with the 23rd called Līgo diena and the 24th Jāņu diena, both of which are public holidays in Latvia. Līgot means ‘to sing līgo songs’ which are the folk songs associated with the festival - the refrain is līgo, līgo. Women wear wreaths, vainagi, of flowers and grasses, jāņu zāles, on their heads, while those of the men are made of oak leaves, ozolu lapas, to symbolize strength. An essential part of the celebrations is a fire, jāņuguns, to drive away evil and to promote health and fertility. Very often these fires are lit in a barrel which is placed at the top of a pole. Nākat šurpu, Jāņu bērni, līgo, līgo. Nākat lieli, nākat mazi, līgo. Lieliem došu alu dzerti, līgo, līgo. Maziem siera gabaliņu, līgo. nākat šurpu Jāņu bfrni dzerti siera gabaliņš

irregular imperative form from nākt ‘to come’ this way; usually šurp all the revellers, not just the children irregular form of dzert ‘to drink’ refers to the traditional food of jāņu siers - a cheese made with caraway seeds

Another very important day is 18 November, 18. novembris, which is the anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia in 1918.

What can you remember? A

How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: Answer:

1 2 3 4 5

I listen to classical music. Es klausos klasisko mūziku.

We’ll meet in the evening. He listens to jazz. The cat is washing itself, (the verb is group 2) We’ll swim in the sea. I’m learning Latvian, (the verb is group 3)

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90

6 7 8 9

We’re learning Latvian. They’ll go for a walk. Do they listen to pop music? Is she watching TV?

B

And how do you say the following?

1 2 3 4

That’s interesting! Great! That’s not interesting! That’s not good!

C Say what you do in your free time and how often you do these activities. Example:

Es bieži klausos klasisko mūziku. Es kādreiz eju uz kino.

Unit Eight

Iesim iepirkties! Let's go shopping!

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

buy clothes and souvenirs name clothes, colours and materials name different types of shops use ‘this’ and ‘that’ say you ‘would’ like to do something using the conditional

Dialogue 1 Kā varu jums palīdzēt?

How can I help you?

(Audio 2:7) Anda goes shopping for a new jumper. PĀRDEVĒJA ANDA PĀRDEVĒJA

ANDA

Labdien. Kā varu jums palīdzēt? Labdien. Es meklēju zaļu džemperi. Džemperi ir pa kreisi. Mums ir dažādi zaļi džemperi. Jūs varat apskatīties. Paldies.

PĀRDEVĒJA

Es gribētu šo uzlaikot. Kur ir uzlaikošanas kabīne? Tepat pa labi.

ANDA

Tas man ir par mazu. Vai jums ir lielāks?

ANDA

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pār d e v ējā

Ja, es atnesīšu.

anda

Es to pirkšu. Es vēlētos maksāt ar kredītkarti. Jā, protams. . . . Te ir jūsu kvīts. Uz redzēšanos. Paldies. Uz redzēšanos.

p ār d e v ēja

ANDA

Vocabulary va re t

can, to be able to

da žād s

various

šis, š ī

this

p a līd z ē t (+ dat.)

help

uzla iko ša n a s

fitting room

m e k lē t

seek, look for

ka b īn e

zaļš

green

a tn e s t

fetch, bring

d že m p e ris

sweater, jumper

p irk t

buy

u z la ik o t

try on

k v īts (fem.)

receipt

p ro ta m s

of course

vē lē tie s

wish

a p s k a tītie s

have a look

k re d ītk a rte

credit card

Language point This and that ‘This’ is translated with the word šis and ‘that’ is tas. Here they are in their different cases:

Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

s in g u la r

sin g u la r

p lu ra l

p lu ra l

šis šā šim šo šajā

šī šās šai šo šajā

šie šo šiem šos šajos

šīs šo šīm šīs šajās

Unit 8: Let's go shopping!

Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

93

M a s cu lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

s in g u la r

s in g u la r

p lu ra l

p lu ra l

tas tā tam to tajā

tā tās tai to tajā

tie to tiem tos tajos

tās to tām tās tajās

We have already seen that we use tas to mean ‘it’ for inanimate objects so in Dialogue 1 we had: Es to pirkšu Til buy it’. Here we are using the masculine singular in the accusative case since ‘it’ refers to ‘sweater’. In an earlier sentence Anda said: Es gribētu šo uzlaikot, meaning that she wants to try on this particular sweater. Note that the pronoun comes before the verb. Both of these words are followed by definite adjective endings, e.g. šis baltais džēmperis ‘this white sweater’; tas zaļais džemperis ‘that green sweater’.

Clothes - apģērbs josta/siksna blūze zābaki mētelis lietusmētelis kleita cimdi cepure jaka džinsi kaklasaite apakšveļa

belt (for women/me blouse boots coat raincoat dress gloves hat (wind-)jacket, cardigan jeans tie underwear

bikses zeķbikses šalle kurpes svārki zeķes kostīms uzvalks žakete džemperis krekls vējjaka

trousers tights, pantyhose scarf, shawl shoes skirt (pi. in Latvian!) socks, stockings woman’s suit man’s suit jacket jumper, sweater shirt windcheater, anorak

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Colours and materials - krasas un vielas zaļš zils balts mĢlns brūns dzĢltĢns

green blue white black brown yellow

sarkans p ^lfks lillā oranžs rozā

red grey purple orange pink

All of these colours except lillā and rozā take the normal definite or indefinite adjective endings, e.g. zaļš džemperis ‘a green jumper’; brūnās kurpes ‘the brown shoes’. Lillā and rozā don’t change, e.g. lillā džemperis ‘a/the purple jumper’. They also don’t change in the different cases, e.g. es gribu lillā džemperi ‘I want a purple jumper’. Here are some materials: vilna kokvilna zīds

lini (pi.) āda

wool cotton silk linen leather

sudrabs ZĢltS koks keramika metāls

silver gold wood ceramic metal

If you want to say ‘a green woollen jumper’, you use the genitive case (Unit 4) of the word for the material: zaļš vilnas džemperis. ‘A linen dress’ will be linu kleita. Similarly, if you want to say ‘a summer coat’ or ‘a winter coat’, you use the genitive of vasara ‘summer’ or ziema ‘winter’: vasaras mētelis, ziemas mētelis.

Exercise 1 Put these adjectives and nouns into the nominative case, using both the indefinite and definite forms of the adjectives. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Black leather boots/the black leather boots Melni ādas zābaki/melnie ādas zābaki

Brown trousers/the brown trousers A blue raincoat/the blue raincoat A pink cotton blouse/the pink cotton blouse A white shirt/the white shirt Blue jeans/the blue jeans A red woollen jumper/the red woollen jumper Black shoes/the black shoes

Unit 8: Let's go shopping!

8 9

95

A yellow silk tie/the yellow silk tie A purple skirt/the purple skirt

Exercise 2

(Audio 2:8)

Now use the items from the last exercise to say ‘I am looking f o r . . Don’t forget that this time the adjective and noun will need to go into the accusative. Again, use both indefinite and definite adjective endings. The audio has only the indefinite endings, as though you are going into a shop looking for these things. Example: Black boots/the black boots Answer: Es meklēju melnus ādas zābakus. Es meklēju melnos ādas zābakus.

Various shops - veikali grāmatveikals universālveikals suvenīru veikals pārtikas veikals gaļas veikals pasts lielveikals frizētava rotaļlietu veikals maizes veikals konditoreja aptieka kiosks banka apģf rbu veikals iepirkšanās/tirgošanās centrs

bookshop department store souvenir shop grocer’s butcher’s post office supermarket hairdresser’s toyshop baker’s patisserie chemist’s, drugstore kiosk bank clothes shop shopping centre, mall

Language point The conditional: would',

if '

sentences

The conditional in English is when we use the word ‘would’, e.g. ‘I would like a coffee’. In Latvian this is expressed by simply adding

fļ

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-u to the infinitive (i.e. the dictionary form) of the verb. This rule applies to all verbs ending in -t without exception, and to all persons of the verb: the conjugation is invariable. Es gribētu kafiju, viņš gribētu kafiju, mēs gribētu kafiju, etc. Another example is: Vai es varētu maksāt ar kredītkarti? Here the verb translates as ‘could’ which is the conditional form of ‘can’ in English. For reflexive verbs, i.e. verbs ending in -ties, you change this ending to -tos. Again, the conjugation is invariable. We saw the example in the dialogue: Es vēlētos maksāt ar kredītkarti. I would like to pay by credit card. The infinitive of the verb is vēlēties; so the conditional form has become vēlētos: es vēlētos kafiju, viņš vēlētos kafiju, mēs vēlētos kafiju, etc. One difference with English is that in Latvian the conditional form is used in both parts of a conditional sentence, i.e. an ‘if’ sentence. This means that it applies to both the condition (ja ‘if’) and the result. Here are some examples: Es būtu priecīgs, ja jūs nāktu kopā ar mums. I would be pleased if you came together with us. Ja mums būtu laiks, mēs varētu iet uz kino. If we had time, we could go to the cinema. To express the idea of ‘I wish’, we use the word kaut together with the verb in the conditional, e.g.: Kaut man būtu nauda!

I wish I had some money!

Exercise 3 Fill in the gaps with the conditional form of the verb given. Example: V iņš_____ cūkas cepeti, ja m um s______ . (ņemt, but) Answer: Viņš ņemtu cūkas cepeti, ja mums būtu.

Unit 8: Let's go shopping!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

E s _____ jaunu džemperi, (gribēt) V iņ a ____ iet uz teātri, ja v iņ a i_______ laiks, (varēt, būt) E s _____ džezu, ja m a n ______ . (klausīties, patikt) M ēs_____ uz Latviju, ja m um s______ atvaļinājums, (braukt, būt) Kaut v iņ i_____ mums līdz! (nākt) Vai t u _____ , ja ū dens_____ auksts? (peldēties, nebūt) Es labprāt_____ uz koncertu, (iet) E s _____ parkā, ja t u ______ man līdzi, (pastaigāties, nākt) Kaut v iņ a _____ latviešu valodu! (mācīties)

Language point Comparative adjectives and adverbs The usual way to form the comparative of adjectives (e.g. ‘bigger’ or ‘more interesting’) and adverbs (e.g. ‘more beautifully’) is to add -āk to the stem. This applies to both adjectives and adverbs. The adverb adds nothing to this -āk, e.g.: skaists ‘beautiful’ - adjective —> skaisti ‘beautifully’ - adverb -> skaistāk ‘more beautifully’ The adjective takes the normal indefinite adjective endings, e.g. skaistāks suns skaistāka pilsēta

a more beautiful dog a more beautiful town

In comparisons, ‘than’ is expressed by the word nekā. Here are some examples: Pēteris ir jaunāks nekā Imants. Peteris is younger than Imants. Viņš runā latviski labāk nekā es. He speaks Latvian better than I do. Daudz ‘much’, ‘many’ is irregular: the comparative is vairāk ‘more’. If you remember, daudz is followed by a genitive (Unit 6); this also applies to vairāk, e.g.: Rīgā ir vairāk muzeju nekā Valmierā. There are more museums in Riga than in Valmiera.

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Maz ‘few’, ‘little’, is regular so it becomes mazak and it is also followed by a genitive, e.g.: Valmierā ir mazāk muzeju nekā Rīgā. There are fewer museums in Valmiera than in Riga.

Exercise 4 Use the following information to compare two hotels. Viesnīca

Gads

Istabas

Pakalpojum i

Cena

Līva

1900

30

Apsargājama autostāvvieta WiFi kartes, bezvadu internēta tīkls Brokastis numurā

31 LVL

Jūrmala

2001

180

Apsargājama autostāvvieta WiFi kartes, bezvadu internēta tīkls Brokastis numurā Gidu pakalpojumi Auto noma

61 LVL

Zvaigznes

Vocabulary zvaigzn e (gen.

star

pl. zvaigžņu)

bezvadu

wireless (vads wire)

tīk ls

net(work)

vie s n īc a

hotel

n u m u rs

(hotel) room

p a k a lp o ju m s

service

g id s

guide

a p sa rg ā ja m s

secure, guarded

nom a

hire, rent (noun)

(ap sarg āt

to guard)

a u to s tā v v ie ta

car park, parking place

Example: Answer:

Līva i r _____ viesnīca______ Jūrmala. (lēts - ‘cheap’) Līva ir lētāka viesnīca nekā Jūrmala.

Unit 8: Let's go shopping!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

99

Jūrmala i r _____ viesnīca______ Līva. (dārgs - ‘expensive’) Jūrmalā i r ___________________ Līvā. (daudz, istabas) Līvā i r __________________ Jūrmalā, (maz, istabas) Jūrmalā i r ___________________ Līvā. (daudz, pakalpojumi) Līvā i r __________________ Jūrmalā, (maz, pakalpojumi) Jūrmala i r _____ viesnīca______ Līva. (jauns) Līva i r _____ viesnīca______ Jūrmala, (vecs) Līvai i r __________________ Jūrmalai, (maz, zvaigznes) Jūrmalai i r __________________ Līvai. (daudz, zvaigznes)

Dialogue 2 Es gribētu nopirkt suvenīrus buy some souvenirs (Audio 2:9)

I would like to

Peteris is talking to Anita, a visitor from Canada who has come to Latvia to find her Latvian roots. A n it a Pē t e r is

ANITA Pē t e r is

A n it a Pē t e r is ANITA Pē t e r is

A n it a

Es gribētu nopirkt suvenīrus. Ko tu varētu ieteikt? Rīgā var atrast loti daudz dzintara izstrādājumu. Tu varētu nopirkt kaklarotas un krelles, auskarus, vai aproces. Tā ir ļoti laba ideja. Bez tam, tu redzēsi koka izstrādājumus, kā piemēram karotes vai šķīvjus, un arī dažādus rokdarbus, piemēram galdautus vai dvieļus. Ļoti skaisti arī ir latviešu cimdi. Tiem ir sena vēsture, un ziemā ir ļoti praktiski. Tad man b ū s liela izvēle! Jā. Bet vēl arī varu ieteikt Rīgas melno balzamu. Kas tas ir? Tas ir zāļu ekstrakts. To var pieliet pie kafijas, jeb ar to var arī taisīt dažādus kokteiļus. Tas ir mūsu nacionālais dzēriens, kuru mēs dāvinām ārzemju viesiem. Labi, to es tad noteikti pirkšu.

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Unit 8: Iesim iepirkties!

Vocabulary n o p irk t

buy (finished transaction)

vie sis

guest

s u ve n īrs

souvenir

bez tam

apart from that

ie te ik t d z in ta rs

recommend amber

a tra s t

to find

ko ks

tree, wood

iz s trā d ā ju m s

product, article

p ie m fra m

for example

g a ld a u ts

tablecloth

ga ld s

table

towel

vai

here:

k a k la ro ta

necklace

ziem a

winter

(kakls

neck

ka ro te

spoon

ro ta

ornament)

š ķ īv is

plate

(particularly hand-made) dvie lis

kre lle s

(string of) beads

a u ska ri

earrings

(auss (fem.)

ear)

a p ro c e

bracelet

or

(pl. šķ īv ji) da žād s

various

ro k d a rb i

handicrafts

s k a is ts

beautiful

p ra k tis k s

practical

ideja

idea

sĢna vē stu re

long (lit. ancient) history

ba lza m s

balsam

e k s tra k ts

extract

izvēle

choice

ta is īt

make

zāle

herb

dzē rie n s

drink (n.)

p ie lie t

add (by pouring)

n a cio n ā ls

national

je b

or

ā rze m ju

foreign

k o k te ilis

cocktail

( dod! ‘give!’; tu nāc ‘you come’ -» nāc! ‘come!’. The imperative plural or polite form is formed from the second-person plural of the present tense by dropping the final -a t/-āt and substitut­ ing -iet: jūs dodat ‘you give’ —> dodiet! ‘give!’ (as in the dialogue above); jūs runājat ‘you speak’ —> runājiet! ‘speak!’. Skatīties ‘to look’ is a reflexive verb and the principles for forming the imperative are exactly the same. So we get skaties! which is the same as the second-person singular, and skatieties! ‘look!’ where the -āties ending has become -ieties. Here is another example: klausies!/ klausieties! listen!’. To say ‘don’t look’, etc., we simply put ne- onto the beginning of the verb, exactly as we do for the negative, e.g. nedodi/nedodiet! ‘don’t give!’; neskatiesi/neskatieties! ‘don’t look!’.

Exercise 1 How do you say the following in Latvian - use the familiar form. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Give me that book! Dod man to grāmatu!

Give me the red jumper! Speak Latvian! Listen to this music! Learn Latvian! Come with me! Bring me another beer, please! Drink more water! Don’t go! Don’t give him the newspaper!

Exercise 2 Now do the exercise above again, but this time put all the commands into the plural/polite form.

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Example: Answer:

Give me that book! Dodiet man to grāmatu!

A kilogram of, a bottle of, etc. To say ‘a kilogram o f . . we say kilograms plus the genitive, so ‘a kilogram of sugar’ is kilograms cukura. In the dialogue we see: Dodiet man, lūdzu, 200 gramus šķiņķa. Please give me 200 g of ham. Remember that gramus here is accusative because it is the object of the verb, but šķiņķa is genitive because it follows gramus. The same principle applies if we want to say ‘a bottle of lemonade’: pudele limonādes. Here are some more words which follow the same prin­ ciple together with some things you might buy. tase

kafijas tējas

a cup

of coffee of tea

gabaliņš

siera tortes

a (small) piece

of cheese of gateau

paciņa

sviesta tējas

a packet

of butter of tea

paka

piena apelsīnu sulas

a carton

of milk of orange juice

burciņa

medus ievārījuma

a jar

of honey of jam

pudele pudelīte

alus minerālūdens

a bottle

of beer of mineral water

kārba kārbiņa

jogurta krējuma sardīņu tomātu

a pot

of of of of

a can

yogurt cream sardines tomatoes

Ķļp

Unit 9: Le t's go to the market!

109

glaze glāzīte

vīna šņabja

a glass

of wine of vodka

kastīte

sērkociņu saldumu

a box

of matches of sweets

tāfele

šokolādes tumšās šokolādes

a bar

of chocolate of plain chocolate

kukulis

maizes pilngraudu maizes

a loaf

of bread of wholemeal bread

litrs

piena sulas

a litre

of milk of juice

{

If you want to say ‘half a kilogram, half a litre’, etc., you just put pusonto the beginning of the noun so you get: puskilograms, puslitrs, etc. For ‘one and a half kilograms’ you say pusotra kilograma (literally ‘half of a second kilogram’) with the stress on the second syllable pusOtra. Note that here both words are used in the genitive - pusotra is genitive itself and it is also followed by a genitive. Pusotra is used in the genitive instead of both the nominative and the accusative so to ask for IV 2 kg of something you would say Dodiet man pusotra kilograma . . . For ‘two and a half’, etc. you take the -i ending off the number and add -arpus (literally with a half), e.g. divarpus, and this word does not change in the different cases, e.g. nominative: trīsarpus kilogrami, accusative: četrarpus kilogramus.

Diminutives A diminutive is like saying ‘a small . . e.g. ‘tummy’ or ‘doggy’ in English. Diminutives are a very common feature of Latvian, not only to express smallness, but also endearment and emotional closeness. For example, in poetry we might find words such as saulīte ‘little sun’, which does not imply smallness, but rather a positive emotional attachment. The diminutive endings depend on the ending of the noun. The table below gives the principal ones that are used; there are others but they are less common so they are not included here.

no

Unit 9: Iesim uz tirgu!

M a scu lin e

Nominative Diminutive Examples

F e m in in e

-s, -Š

-is

-us

-a

-e

-iņ š

-ītis

-iņ š

-iņa

-īte

-s -tin a

gabals gabaliņš ceļš celiņš*

brālis brālītis

tirgus tirdziņš*

kārba kārbiņa

kaste kastīte

zivs zivtiņa

* Note that the stem has changed from -I to -I and from -g to -dz.

This diminutive form is very often used for names so Dace becomes Daclte, Anda is Andiņa, Imants is Imantiņš, Pēteris is Pēterītis. You will also find that many Latvian surnames use the diminutive form, e.g. Bērzs -> Bērziņš. Bērzs means ‘birch tree’ so Bērziņš is ‘a little birch tree’. Incidentally, Bērziņš is the most common surname in Latvia and you will find that many Latvian surnames are associated with nature. Surnames only started to be used in the nineteenth century when serfdom was abolished so people chose whatever was dear to their hearts. However, on a personal note written by Dace, I do wonder what possessed my ancestor to choose Prauliņš since prauls means ‘a piece of rotten wood’! Or vecs prauls is ‘a grumpy old man’, so maybe the name was chosen for him!

Exercise 3

(Audio2; 13)

Ask for the following items in a shop. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

V2 kg of apples Lūdzu, dodiet man divarpus kilogramus ābolu.

2

half a litre of orange juice a can of sauerkraut a packet of biscuits IV 2 kg of potatoes a glass of red wine a bottle of white wine a loaf of white bread 1 kg of oranges a small glass of Riga Black Balsam

Unit 9: Le t's go to the market!

Ill

Exercise 4 Translate these words into Latvian and then give the diminutive form, e.g. table - galds - galdiņš. egg bread cup brother cat

bottle

sister

mother

book

newspaper

Exercise 5 Now change these Latvian names into the diminutive, e.g. Dace DacTte Anda Anita

Emma Maija Gundars

Jānis

Ojārs

Peteris

Oskars

Ruta

Exercise 6 For a bit of fun, write your own name and the names of some of your friends and relatives using Latvian spelling and then change them into the diminutive, e.g. Ben - Bens - Beniņš; Geoff - Džefs - Džefiņš, Rachel - Reičele - Reičelīte. Don’t forget to add an -s for a masculine name and an -a or an -e for a feminine name.

n

Dialogue 2 Tas ir dārgi

That's expensive

(Audio2; 14)

Anda now goes to the fruit market. PĀRDEVĒJS Ko varu piedāvāt? ANDA Cik maksā āboli? PĀRDEVĒJS Vietējie Latvijas āboli maksā vienu latu kilogramā. Tas ir dārgi. ANDA PĀRDEVĒJS Jā, bet tie ir pirmie šā gada āboli un ir ļoti garšīgi un sulīgi. ANDA Labi, tad dodiet man, lūdzu, divus kilogramus.

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PĀRDEVĒJS Ko vēl jūs vēlaties? ANDA Cik maksā citroni? PĀRDEVĒJS Divdesmit santīmu gabalā. Dodiet man divus. ANDA

Vocabulary p ie d ā vā t

offer

su līg s

juicy

ā b o ls

apple

(sula

juice)

v ie tē js

local, home-grown

c itro n s

lemon

d ā rg s

expensive

gabalā

each

g a rš īg s

tasty

Exercise 7 Listen to Dialogue 2 and then answer these questions. 1 2 3 4 5

Which apples does the stall holder offer? What is Anda’s objection? What is the reason the apples are expensive? What are the apples like? How much are the lemons?

Saying how much something costs We saw two examples in Dialogue 2: āboli maksā vienu latu kilogramā the apples cost 1 lats per kilogram divdesmit santīmu gabalā 20 santims each (lit. ‘per piece’) We use the genitive for the unit, i.e. kilogramā, gabalā. Don’t forget that rounded figures (tens, hundreds, thousands) take the genitive plural of the noun, which is why we say divdesmit santīmu, desmit ābolu, and so on.

Unit 9: Le t's go to the market!

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At the market: food shopping vocabulary Augļi Fruit apelsīns oga ābols bum bieris zemene citrons banāns ananās vīnogas ķirši

Dārzeņi Vegetables

orange berry apple pear strawberry lemon banana pineapple grapes cherries

gurķis kāposti (pi.) kartupelis tom āts burkāns sīpols sēne lapu salāti (pl.) šam pinjons ķirbis

Gaļa Meat cūkas gaļa liellopa gaļa jf r a gaļa vistas gaļa teļa gaļa speķis dĢsa šķiņķis maltā gaļa cīsiņi

Zivis un jūras veltes Fish and seafood

pork beef lamb chicken veal fatty bacon sausage ham mince, ground meat frankfurters

Pārtikā Grocery products

siļķe lasis forele garneles ikri zutis šprotes vēzis krabis nēģis

piens

milk

lim onāde

egg sugar flour oil vinegar jam honey bread butter

kafija

m ilti eļļa etiķis ievārījum s mĢdus maize sviests

herring salmon trout prawns, shrimps caviar, roe eel sprats crayfish, crawfish crab lamprey

Dzērieni Drinks

ola cukurs

cucumber cabbage potato tomato carrot onion mushroom lettuce button mushroom pumpkin

tēja sula ūdens alus vīns šņabis šam panietis liķieris

lemonade coffee tea juice water beer wine vodka champagne liqueur

Unit 9: Iesim uz tirgu!

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Latvian cuisine Traditional Latvian food is simple and based on the agricultural pro­ ducts and meat that were available locally and flavoured with pepper, pipari, dill, dilles and chives, loki. Today the main meal of the day is still very often lunch, pusdienas, with fried meat such as chops, karbonāde, or meat rissoles, kotletes, and boiled potatoes, vārīti kartupeļi, or a filling soup with vegetables and meat. Popular soups include beetroot soup with sour cream, borščs or biešu zupa ar skābo krējumu, sauerkraut soup, skābu kāpostu zupa, or sorrel soup, skābeņu zupa, with chopped boiled egg. Apart from white bread, baltmaize, Latvians also love dark rye bread, rupjmaize, and a lighter sourdough bread, saldskābmaize. No celebrations like traditional festivals or weddings and birthdays would be complete without small bacon pies, pīrāgi, boiled pork in aspic, galerts, and different salads of which the most popular is rasols - a mixture of boiled potatoes, gherkins, skābi gurķi, marinated herring, marinētas siļķes, cooked meat and eggs in a sour cream sauce. There are many sweet breads with raisins or raisins and saffron, kliņģeris, or topped with poppy seeds, magoņmaizītes, caraway seeds, ķimeņmaizītes, or sliced apples, ābolmaizītes. Brewing beer, alus, is an ancient tradition and beer is still the most popular drink to accompany festive food. Latvians drink herbal teas, zāļu tējas, made from plants picked in the wild, and many families make fermented birch juice, bērzu sula, from the sap of the birch tree. The most famous alcoholic drink apart from beer is Riga Black Balsam, Rīgas melnais balzams, which was first made in 1752. It is a strong, dark elixir made from a secret blend of different herbs and considered to have medicinal properties. two recipes you might like to try making yourself.

Kartupeļu sacepums ar krējumu un ikriem Lielu kartupeli nomizo un sarīvē uz rupjas rīves vai arī sagriež ļoti plānās sloksnītēs. Pieliek mazliet sāls un piparu. Gatavo masu liek uz pannas sakarsētā eļļā, izlīdzina un cep no abām pusēm brūnu.

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Gatavo sacepumu liek uz šķīvja, pārlej ar krējumu un uzber karotīti melno ikru. Kartupeļu sacepumu var ēst arī ar skābāku ievārījumu, sēņu vai kādu citu mērci.

Siļķe kažokā ar kartupeli Siļķi nomērcē, notīra, sagriež slīpos gabaliņos. Sīpolus sagriež gredzenos vai pusgredzenos un applaucē verdošā ūdenī. Visu liek etiķa un eļļas maisījumā, kam pievienotas lauru lapas, cukurs un pipari, un marinē siļķi vismaz divas stundas. Siļķi pasniedz kopā ar folijā ceptu kartupeli. Paprāvu nomizotu kartupeli ieliek folijā, virsū uzliek naža galu sviesta un aiztin. Cep cepeškrāsnī, kamēr gatavs. Izcepto kartupeli vidū iešķeļ uz pusēm, pilda ar skābu krējumu un uzkaisa dilles. Pasniedz kopā ar siļķi kā karsto uzkodu.

Vocabulary ik ri

roe

s a k a rs ē t

heat (v.)

sa ce p u m s

fried dish

eļļa

oil

n o m iz o t

peel

iz līd z in ā t

smooth/spread out fry

(rīve

grate grater)

cept a b i/a b a s

both

ru p jš

rough, coarse

puse

side, half

sa g rie z t

cut

p ā rlie t

pour over

plāns

thin

u z b ē rt

sprinkle

s lo k s n e (dim.

strip

k a ro te (dim.

spoon

s a rīv ē t

slo ksn īte )

k a ro tīte )

p ie lik t

add

m ē rce

sauce

lik t

put

ie š ķ e lt

split

u z lik t

put onto

u z k a is īt

sprinkle

m a zlie t

a little

s tu n d a

hour

sāls

salt

siļķe

(salted) herring

p ip a ri

pepper

ka žo ks

fur coat

ga tavs

ready

n o m ē rc ē t

soak, steep

m asa

mixture

n o tīrīt

clean

panna

(frying) pan

s līp s

slanting, oblique

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g a b a ls (dim.

piece

fo lija p a prā vs

largish, fair-sized

g rfd z fn s

ring

virsū

on top

a p p la u c ē t

scald

nazis (gen.

knife

ie lik t

put into

naža)

d ille s

dill

ga ls

end, tip

ve rd o šs

boiling

a iz tīt

wrap up

e tiķ is

vinegar

(cep eš)krā sns

(baking) oven

m a is īju m s

mixture

k a m fr

until

p ie v ie n o t

add

vid u s

middle

lauru lapa

bay leaf

p ild īt

fill

m a rin ē t

marinate

uzko da

snack

p a s n ie g t

serve

c its

other

gabaliņš)

aluminium foil

More about agreement of nouns and adjectives You may have noticed a couple of interesting examples of noun and adjective agreement in the recipes given above. In the first recipe, look again at the sentence: Gatavo masu liek uz pannas sakarsētā eļļā, izlīdzina un cep no abām pusēm brūnu. Put the prepared mixture into a pan in heated oil, smooth out and fry on both sides (until) brown. In Latvian we say literally ‘fry on both sides brown’, and the word ‘brown’ (brūnu) is accusative as it refers to the mixture (masu, acc.) which is the object of the verb cept ‘fry’. Now look at the last sen­ tence in the second recipe: Pasniedz kopā ar siļķi kā karsto uzkodu. Serve together with the herring as a (lit. the) hot snack. Here, uzkodu ‘snack’ is in the accusative because it is the object of pasniedz ‘serve’.

Unit 9: Le t's go to the market!

Subjectless clauses You might have noticed that the verbs in the recipes are all in the he form, i.e. third person, whereas in English recipes we use the com­ mand form. Lielu kartupeli nomizo

Peel a large potato

In Latvian we can omit the subject of a third-person verb if we wish to be vague about who performs the action: what one does, they do, people do. We can say: Jāņu naktī līgo līdz rītam. On Midsummer night people sing līgo songs until morning. Pie ugunskura ēd, dzer un protams dzied. By the bonfire they eat, drink and of course sing.

What can you remember? A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How do you give the following commands? (Audio2; 16) Go to Riga Castle please! (In a taxi) Go straight ahead! (Walking) Give me the newspaper Diena and the magazine Santa, please! Don’t speak English! Please bring us two beers! Buy some fruit at the supermarket please! Buy him an interesting book! Don’t swim in the sea - the water is cold! Take these apples - they’re delicious! Let’s go!

B In the grid, find twelve things you can eat or drink. You will find the words horizontally and vertically. One has already been done for you.

117

Unit 9: Iesim uz tirgu!

118

T

O

M

Ā

T

S

E

R

T

U

I

Ē

F

G

B

H

J

K

L

P

O

S

J

D

S

O

L

A

A

Z

C

V

V

A

Č

Ā

L

Ē

Ķ

Š

M

N

B

I

G

Z

Ļ

S

I

E

R

S

Ū

Ž

E

I

I

U

T

K

R

E

A

L

u

S

O

V

P

L

R

K

J

L

H

G

T

Ķ

I

R

Š

I

A

S

Ā

D

F

S

Z

s

C

V

B

N

M

T

Š

Ķ

Ē

Ž

Ļ

G

Ķ

I

R

B

I

S

Č

Ā

How would you ask for the following items in a shop? (Audio2; 17) Example: Answer:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

V2 kg of potatoes Dodiet man, lūdzu, trīsarpus kilogramus kartupeļu.

3

4 bottles of lemonade a glass of water a packet of chocolate sweets 1 kg beef IV 2 kg carrots a can of tomatoes 1 I of milk a packet of sugar a large loaf of bread

Unit Ten Kā tu pavadi dienas? How do you spend your days?

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

talk about daily routines say the days of the week and other time expressions say you ‘must’ or ‘have to ’ do something use ‘in order to ’ negate sentences

Dialogue 1 Kā tu pavadi dienas? your days? (Audio 2:18)

How do you spend

Peteris is talking to Anita, the visitor from Canada, about his daily routine. Kā tu p a v a d i d ie n a s ? Nu, darbadienās man jāiet uz darbu, jo man ir jāpelna nauda. Es ceļos pulksten septiņos, ieeju dušā un tad brokastoju ap pusastoņiem. Es izeju no mājas astoņos, lai sāktu darbu pusdeviņos. A n it a Kā t u t ie c u z d a r b u ? Pēteris Es braucu ar tramvaju. Pietura ir netālu no mājām, un tramvajs brauc taisni uz centru. Kad es tieku birojā, es virspirms apskatu e-pastus, vēstules un faksus. Man bieži jāsazvanās ar klientiem un jāatrisina vairākas problēmas. ANITA

Pēteris

Unit 10: Kā tu pavadi dienas?

120

Anita Pēteris

Cikos tu pusdieno? Kā nu kuru reizi. Pusdienu laiks ir parasti starp pusvieniem un pusdiviem. Es kādreiz paņemu līdzi sviestmaizes, vai eju uz firmas ēdnīcu. Ēdieniem ir atlaide, tā var ļoti labi un lēti paēst. Pēcpusdienās mums bieži ir sanāksmes. Darba laiks beidzas piecos, bet man ir bieži jāstrādā ilgāk. Parasti netieku mājās pirms septiņiem. Kad pārnāku mājās, es vakariņoju, un tad skatos televizoru, vai lasu. Ja man nav pārāk ilgi jāstrādā, tad satiekos ar draugiem, un ejam uz krogu vai uz restorānu. Ceturtdienās gan es vienmēr spēlēju futbolu. Es eju gulēt ap vienpadsmitiem.

Vocabulary kā

how

p a v a d īt

spend (time)

edm ca

canteen, restaurant

d a rb s

work, job

ē d ie n s

food, meal

p e ln īt

earn

a tla id e

discount

nauda

money

tā

so

c e ltie s

rise, get up

d ra u g s (masc.;

friend

b ro k a s to t

(have) breakfast

izie t

go out, leave

sākt

start, begin

tik t

get, reach

tra m v a js

tram

p ie tu ra

stop

a tris in ā t

solve

p ro b lē m a

problem

d ra ud zene

fem.) re sto rā n s

restaurant

fu tb o ls

football

ap

about, around

ie ie t

go into

ne tālu

not far

c e n trs

centre office

v is p irm s

first of all

p u sd ie n a s

(have) lunch noon; lunch)

b iro js

a p s k a tīt

look at, check

kā nu ku ru reizi

it depends

e -p a s ts

e-mail

p u s d ie n o t (pusdiena

p irm s (+ gen.)

before

v fs tu le

letter

svie stm a ize

sandwich

fa k s s

fax

firm a

company

bieži

often

Unit 10: How do you spend your days?

sa zva n ītie s

ring, telephone

(reciprocal)

121

v a k a riņ o t

have dinner/supper

va ka riņ a s

dinner/supper/ evening meal

k lie n ts

client, customer

Ifts

cheap

p ā rāk

too

pa ē st

have/eat a meal

ilgs

long (time)

s trā d ā t

work

s a tik tie s

meet (reciprocal)

p ē cp u sd ie n a

afternoon

kro g s

pub

p a ra sti

usually

v ie n m fr

always

c e tu rtd ie n a

Thursday

g u lē t

sleep

p ā rn ā k t

arrive

b e ig tie s

finish

Exercise 1 Listen to Dialogue 1 and then answer these questions. 1 2 3 4 5

What time does he have breakfast? What time does he start work? What does he do for lunch? When do they often have meetings? When can he meet up with his friends?

Days of the week - dienas

(Audio 2:19)

The days of the week are all feminine. Capitals are not used. They are also really easy to remember as the literal translation is ‘first day, second day’, etc. and ‘holy day’ for Sunday. pirmdiena otrdiena trešdiena ceturtdiena piektdiena sestdiena svētdiena

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

‘On Monday’ and so forth is expressed by dropping the final -a: Ceturtdien es spēlēšu futbolu. On Thursday I’m going to play football.

Unit 10: Kā tu pavadi dienas?

122

To say that something is done regularly on a particular day, i.e. saying ‘on Thursdays’ in English, we use the plural form in the locative. In practice this just means that we add -ās to the stem: Ceturtdienās gan es vienmēr spēlēju futbolu. On Thursdays I always play football.

Parts of the d ay (CD2 ; 20) 1 Jr rīts pēcpusdiena vakars

morning (remember labrīt ‘good morning’) afternoon (lit. ‘after m idday’) evening (remember labvakar ‘good evening’; vakariņas ‘dinner, evening meal’)

nakts (fern.)

night (remember arlabunakti ‘good night’)

To say ‘in the afternoon/evening’, we say pēcpusdienā, vakarā. Here we are using the locative case; the same applies to naktī. ‘In the morning’ does not follow this pattern - we say no rīta. To say ‘on Friday afternoon’ we use the genitive of the day + the part of the day in the locative so we get piektdienas pēcpusdienā, BUT piektdien no rīta. If we want to say ‘in the afternoons’, we say pēcpusdienās as in the dialogue. We are again using the locative plural as we did for the days. Similarly we say vakaros and naktīs but no rītiem. And putting this together with a day we get sestdienas vakaros and we can also say sestdienas rītos.

/ p o t h e r useful tim e words slavenāks more famous’ —> visslavenākais ‘the most famous’ -> visslavenākās - feminine plural accusative. Words which have the prefix vis- are pronounced with the stress on the second syllable so you say visSLAvenākais. The definite adjective endings are the most important element as the vis- is often omitted for adjectives (but not for adverbs) as we shall see in the reading passage below: ar vecākajām Latvijas ērģelēm with the oldest organ in Latvia lielākais radioteleskops the biggest radio telescope no Latvijas senākajām pilsētām of Latvia’s most ancient towns The last example partly illustrates how to say ‘one of the m o s t. . .’: viena no senākajām pilsētām. We are using viena no plus the adjective and noun in the dative plural. If the noun is masculine, we will say viens no, e.g. viens no augstākājiem kalniem. Viens/viena will change according to the case they are in, hence the example in the reading text at the end of this unit Ierašanās vienā no Latvijas senāka­ jām pilsētām ‘arrival in one o f . . .’, where vienā is in the locative case.

Exercise 6 Fill in the gaps using the correct form of the adjective. Go back to Unit 7 to revise the definite adjective endings if you’re not so sure about them.

141

Unit 11: Kur tu biji a tva ļinā jum ā ?

142

Example: Answer:

Everests ir pasaules_____ kalns, [augsts] pasaule ‘w orld’) Everests ir pasaules visaugstākais kalns.

1 2

Nīla ir pasaules_____ upe. [garš) Āzija ir pasaules_____ kontinents, [liels)

3 4 5 6 7 8

Gaiziņkalns (312 m) ir Latvija s_____ kalns, [augsts) Lubāns ir Latvija s_____ ezers, [liels) Daugava i r _____ upe Latvijā - 352 km Latvijas teritorijā, [garš) Latvijā ir 77 pilsē ta s,_____ no tām - Rīga, Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rūzekne, Ventspils, [liels] no tām ‘of them ’) Doma baznīca i r _____ baznīca Rīgā. [vecs) Ventspilī mēs redzēsim Ziemejeiropas _____ radioteleskopu.

9

[liels] Ziemeļeiropa ‘Northern Europe’) Viena n o _____ Kurzemes pilsētām ir Ventspils, [skaists)

Exercise 7 Match the Latvian road signs to their descriptions. 1 2 3 4

Autoosta Maksimālā ātruma ierobežojums (ātrums ‘speed’; ierobežojums ‘lim it’) Dzelzceļa stacija Gājēju maršruta sākums (gājējs ‘walker, hiker’)

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Iebraukt aizliegts (aizliegts ‘forbidden’) Lidosta Pasts Viesnīca vai motelis Autobusa un trolejbusa pietura Uz ceļa strādā Divvirzienu satiksme (satiksme ‘traffic’)

12 13 14 15

Velosipēdu ceļš Dzīvojamā zona Braukt taisni vai pa labi Maksas stāvvieta

Unit 11: Where did you go on holiday?

How much can you remember? A Read the following excerpts from a travel agent’s website and then answer the questions.

143

Unit 11: Kur tu biji atvaļinājum ā?

144

IRBENE - VENTSPILS

Izbraukšanas datumi: 30.08. Ekskursijas cena: 17 LVL 7:00 - Izbraukšana no Rīgas. Ugāles baznīca ar vecākajām Latvijas ērģelēm. Ērģeļbūves darbnīca. Irbene - Ventspils radioastronomijas centrs, kur atrodas Ziemeļeiropā lielākais (32 m diametra) radioteleskops. Ekskursija vietējā gida pavadībā. Ierašanās vienā no Latvijas senākajām pilsētām - Ventspilī. Vecpilsēta, mols. Brīvais laiks. Ierašanās Rīgā ~ 22 : 00 . Ekskursijas cenā ietilpst: • Brauciens ar komfortablu autobusu • Grupas vadītāja - gida pakalpojumi Papildus izdevumi: • Irbene - Ls 1,00 / 0,50 ZEMGALES PILIS (1 DIENA)

Izbraukšanas datumi: 04.05., 08.06., 06.07., 23.07., 03.08., 14.08., 31.08., 28.09., 19.10. Izbraukšana arī darba dienās! Ekskursijas cena: 16 LVL 9:00 - Izbraukšana no Rīgas. Jelgavas pils apskate no ārpuses. Kurzemes hercogu kapenes. Zaļenieku muiža - Kurzemes hercoga E.J. Bīrona laikā baroka stilā celtā muiža - šodien Zaļenieku arodvidusskola. Hercoga E. Bīrona vasaras rezidences - Rundāles pils apmeklējums, kura ir slavenā arhitekta Frančesko Bartolomeo Rastrelli darbs. Pastaiga pa Bausku, viduslaiku pils apmeklējums. Mežotnes pils apskate, pa­ staiga pa parku. Ierašanās Rīgā ~ 19:00. Ekskursijas cenā ietilpst: • Brauciens ar komfortablu autobusu • Grupas vadītāja - gida pakalpojumi Papildus izdevumi: • Kurzemes hercogu kapenes - Ls 1,00 / 0,70 • Rundāles pils - Ls 2,50 / 1,50 • Mežotnes pils - Ls 1,00 / 0,70 • Bauskas pilsdrupas - Ls 0,80 / 0,30

Unit 11: Where did you go on holiday?

145

Vocabulary iz b ra u k š a n a

departure

re z id e n c e

residence

a p s k a te

survey, tour

a p m e k lē ju m s

visit

ā rp u s e

outside, exterior

sla ve n s

famous

kapenes

sepulchre, vault

p a s ta ig a

walk

s tils

style

v id u s la ik u

medieval

a ro d s

trade

ie ra š a n ā s

arrival

a ro d v id u s s k o la

trade school

1 2 3

What is included in both trips? Are visits to the castles included in the price of the second excursion? Where is the oldest organ in Latvia?

4 5 6

What is special about Ventspils? Will you be able to look around the inside of Jelgava Castle? How old is Bauska Castle?

7

Is the castle still lived in?

B

Put these sentences into the past tense. (CD2; 29)

1

Es eju uz tirgu.

2 3 4 5

Mēs esam Rīgas tirgū. Imantam ir šokolāde. Viņam ir jaunas kurpes. Mēs lidojam uz Vāciju.

6 7

Viņas apbrauc Latviju. Viņi iet iepirkties.

8 9 10

Viņš peldās jūrā. Viņi klausās skaistu mūziku. Man patīk slēpot.

Unit Twelve Kas jums kaiš? W hat's wrong with you?

In this unit you will learn how to: •

n a m e p a rts o f th e b o d y

•

s a y w h a t is w r o n g w it h y o u

•

s a y h o w lo n g y o u 'v e h a d s o m e t h in g o r h a v e b e e n d o in g s o m e t h in g

•

a s k f o r t h in g s a t t h e c h e m is t 's a n d u n d e r s t a n d in s t r u c t io n s f o r t a k in g m e d ic i n e

•

a d d r e s s p e o p le

Dialogue 1 ^ M

a n

sāp

m u g u ra

I've g o t b a cka ch e

(CD2;31)

^ * Peteris has hurt his back while helping his mother carry her luggage to the bus station. He is at the doctor’s. P ē t e r is ārsts

P ē t e r is ārsts

P ē t e r is

ārsts

P ē t e r is

Labdien, dakter Liepiņ! Labdien, Priedīša kungs! Kā jums klājas? Man sāp mugura. Lūdzu, vai jūs varētu to apskatīt? Jā, protams. Cik ilgi tā jums sāp? Jau trīs dienas, kopš es palīdzēju savai mātei nest bagāžu uz autoostu. Novelciet kreklu, lūdzu. . . . Vai Jā, ļoti sāp. Ir degošas sāpes.

sāp

šeit?

147

Unit 12: What's wrong with you?

ārsts

Pē t e r is ārsts

Pē t e r is ārsts

Pē t e r is ārsts

Arī š e it? Nē, n e t ik d a u d z . Būtu labāk veikt rentgenu. Vai jūs varētu iet pie medmāsas, lai to izdarītu? Jā, dakter. Labi. Es jums arī izrakstīšu ziedi. Lietojiet to trīsreiz dienā. Paldies, dakter. Uz redzēšanos! Uz redzēšanos!

sā p ē t (+ dat.)

hurt, be painful

(sāpe(s)

pain)

m u g u ra

back

n o v ilk t

take off

d e g o šs

burning

(degt

burn)

tik

so

š e it

here

d a k te rs

doctor (title, form of address)

v e ik t

carry out

re n tg e n s

X-ray

k lā tie s

be feeling

m ed m asa

nurse prescribe

ko p š

since

iz ra k s tīt

p a līd z ē t

help

zie de

ointment

bagāža

luggage

lie to t

use, take

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148

Parts of the body

m a ti (pi.) a uss (fem .) seja

(2 ^ Language point Saying how you feel and what is wrong Kas jums kaiš? or the familiar Kas tev kaiš? means ‘What’s wrong with you?’ (more lit.: ‘What ails you?’). Kaiš is an irregular (but more common) form of kait, from kaitēt ‘harm, hurt’. Kā jums klājas? in the dialogue is a more formal way of saying ‘How are you?’ To say that something hurts, you use a construction which has the meaning of ‘my back is hurting to me’: man sāp mugura, with, in this case, man in the dative case. Many of the phrases used to talk about health follow this pattern, as the table below shows.

Unit 12: What's wrong with you?

149

man tev viņam viņai mums jums viņiem viņām Pēterim Ievai

sap

mugura galva kāja roka kakls vēders zobs celis krūtīs

I’ve got backache / a headache, etc. I’ve got a pain in my knee / in my chest, etc.

man, etc.

ir

iesnas gripa klepus temperatūra paģiras caureja galvassāpes bezmiegs augsts/z§ms asinsspiediens nelaba dūša alerģija p re t. . . . . . riekstiem . . . ziedputekšņiem

I’ve g o t . . . a cold . . . flu . . . a cough . . . a temperature . . . a hangover . . . diarrhoea . . . a headache . . . insomnia . . . high/low blood pressure I don’t feel well/l feel sick I’m allergic to .. . . .. nuts . . . pollen

man, etc.

reibst

galva

I feel dizzy

es

ievainoju* sasitu*

muguru kāju

I injured my back I hurt my leg

* These verbs will need to agree with the subject, in this case es.

Exercise 1 (Audio 2:32) You’re at the doctor’s. Listen to the doctor’s questions and answer them according to the prompts. 1

Greet the d o c to r._________ Labdien. Kas jums kaiš?

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150

2

3

4 5 6

Tell her that your arm hurts and ask her if she could have a look at i t . _________ Jā, protams. Cik ilgi tā jums sāp? Tell her it ’s been four days since you were working in the garden. Atrotiet piedurkni, lūdzu. (pull your sleeve up) . . . Vai sāp šeit? Tell her it hurts a lo t ._________ Arī šeit? Tell her that it ’s not so m u c h ._________ Labi. Es jums izrakstīšu ziedi. Lietojiet to trīsreiz dienā. Thank her and say goodbye._________

Addressing people It is quite common in Latvian to address people using their job title as in Dialogue 1: Jā, dakter. We have already come across the word ārsts for ‘doctor’, but colloquially the word dakter is used to address both male and female doctors. Other examples are skolotāj! oficiant! The endings follow the rule we saw in Unit 1 for addressing people by their first name, i.e. short feminine words do not change, longer ones drop the final -a or -e and masculine words omit the final -s. This is also happening in the first greeting: Labdien, dakter Liepiņ! For a lady doctor, the address would be dakter Liepiņa! More formally the job title can be used together with kungs ‘Mr’ or kundze ‘Mrs/Ms’. The job title will now appear in the genitive before the other term of address: Ārsta kungs! Ārstes kundze! Kungs and kundze are also used on their own to mean ‘sir’ and ‘madam’. The word kungs doesn’t drop the final -s when used as an address, as you might expect it to do following the rules for the vocative case. Likewise, if we address a person by using their surname and one of these titles, the surname appears in the genitive: Prauliņa kungs Prauliņas kundze

Mr Prauliņš Mrs/Ms Prauliņa

There is also the translation for the word ‘Miss’ - jaunkundze. How­ ever, in modern Latvian this is no longer used except in a joking way for a very young lady.

Unit 12: What's wrong with you?

If it is a male name ending in -is, there is a consonant change, as in the name in the dialogue: Priedīša kungs. This surname is Priedltis so the -t has changed to -Š. Another example is Ulmanis which will change to Ulmaņa kungs. We will deal with this in full later when we look at all consonant changes in -is nouns.

Exercise 2

(Audio 2:33)

How would you address the following people? Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A male sales assistant. Pārdevēj!

Mr Bērziņš Ms Bērziņa A driver Andris Ilze A lady professor politely, ‘professor’ profesore (fern.) Dr Andersons Ms Andersone Mr Upltis

Language point Saying how long you’ve had something or have been doing something Latvian has no direct equivalent of the English ‘have/has been . . . -ing’, e.g. ‘I have been living’. Instead, to convey the same idea of an action continuing from the past into the present, we use the present tense, sometimes with jau ‘already’ for added emphasis. This is true for any action which starts in the past and continues into the present, even if we use, for example, ‘I have lived’ in English. There is a direct equivalent of this tense in Latvian as we shall see later, but it can’t be used in this case. There is an example in Dialogue 1: - Cik ilgi tā jums sāp? - Jau trīs dienas.

How long has it been painful? (lit.: how long is it painful?) For three days.

151

Unit 12: Kas ju m s kaiš?

152

Here is another example - note that the time phrase is in the accusative case: Es mācos latviešu valodu jau vienu gadu. I’ve been learning Latvian for one year. To say ‘since’ we use the word kopš + the past tense as in the dialogue: kopš es palīdzēju savai mātei nest bagāžu uz autoostu since I helped my mother carry her luggage to the bus station To say ‘since’ together with a point in time, we again use kopš with the time phrase in the genitive for a singular and in the dative for a plural, e.g.: Es mācos latviešu valodu kopš pagājušā gada. I’ve been learning Latvian since last year. Man ir atvaļinājums kopš Ziemassvētkiem. I’ve been on holiday since Christmas, (lit.: winter festivals svētki is plural)

Exercise 3 How do you say these sentences in Latvian? Example: Answer.

I’ve been living in Scotland for 17 years. Es dzīvoju Skotijā jau 17 gadus.

1 2 3 4

He’s been speaking for one hour. W e’ve been on holiday since Saturday. She’s been travelling for three hours. Peter has been learning Latvian for two years.

5 6 7 8 9

They have been running for half an hour. She has been teaching for 20 years. He has been reading since he got up. They have been playing badminton for 45 minutes. My mother has had backache for three days.

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Dialogue 2 Es gribētu kaut ko pret galvassāpēm something for a headache (Audio 2:34)

I'd like V

Peteris goes to the chemist’s to get his ointment. PĒTERIS

APTIEĶNIECE PĒTERIS

APTIEĶNIECE

PĒTERIS

Labdien. Man ir ārsta recepte, un man arī vajag kaut ko pret galvassāpēm. Ko jūs varētu ieteikt? Šīs tabletes ir loti labas - palīdzēs ātri. Labi. Es paņemšu paciņu. Cik reižu dienā es drīkstu tās lietot? Lietojiet tās trīsreiz dienā pa divām tabletēm pirms ēšanas. Labi, paldies.

Vocabulary re ce p te

prescription

p a ciņ a (dim.)

packet

ie te ik t

recommend

paņem t

take

ta b le te

tablet, pill

d rīk s tē t

may, be allowed

ā tri

quickly

pa

here:

v a ja d zē t

to need

ēšana

eating

p irm s (+ gen.)

before

p re t (+ acc.)

lit. against; here: for

each (time)

tl

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Language points Instructions for taking medicines L ie to jie t Lie to

zāles*

ta b le te i

p irm s before

d ivre iz

ka p su la i

ēšanas

capsule

pē c after

trīs re iz

tē jk a ro te i

ēšanas

etc.

teaspoon

vie n re iz diena

pa vienai

pa divām pa trijā m

ta b le tē m ka p su lā m tē jk a ro tē m

* Zāles means ‘medicine’ but it also means ‘herbs’, reflecting the fact that herbs were always used as traditional medicine - the medicine has changed but the word hasn’t!

Gerunds ending in -šana/-šanas A gerund is a noun indicating an action which in English we form by adding -ing to the verb, e.g. ‘Smoking is bad for your health’. In Latvian virtually any verb can be made into a gerund by removing the -t of the infinitive and adding -šana: ‘to smoke’ is smēķēt so the gerund is smēķēšana: Smēķēšana ir kaitīga jūsu veselībai ‘Smoking is harmful for your health’. In Dialogue 2 we have pirms ēšanas ‘before eating’. As you can see, the noun we have formed is feminine so it takes the normal feminine endings, in this case a genitive following pirms. In the case of verbs ending in -st such as ēst or nest ‘carry’, we remove the -st before adding -šana. In the last unit we had the word izbraukšana ‘departure’ - which shows that Latvian uses the gerund more than we do in English. For a reflexive verb we remove the -ties ending and add -šanās: peldēties to bathe’ —> Peldēšanās upē ir aizliegta ‘Swimming in the river is forbidden’. In the last unit we had the word ierašanās ‘arrival’. Gerunds formed from reflexive verbs have an irregular declen­ sion, as can be seen in the table. There is no dative or locative form.

Unit 12: W hat's wrong with you?

Gerund from

155

Singular

Plural

vēlēšanās vēlēšanās vēlēšanos

vēlēšanās vēlēšanos vēlēšanās

v ē lē tie s ‘wish’

Nominative Genitive Accusative

Here is an example: Man ir daudz vēlēšanos.

I have many wishes.

Exercise 4 Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb. Example: Answer:

Man ļoti p a tīk _____ . (lasīt) Man ļoti patīk lasīšana.

1 2 3 4

Viņš m ī l_____ . (slēpot) Latvijā ir ziemā ļoti la b a _____ . (slēpot) Es atceros lie lisko _____ Baltijas jūrā. (peldēties) ______ezerā ir aizliegta, (peldēties)

5 6

Mans tēvs nodarbojas a r _____ . (fotografēt) ______būs pulksten 19.00. (izlidot)

7 8 9

Cikos b ū s _____ . (tikties) Sanāksmē bija pārāk lie la _____ . (runāt) _____ pa Rīgu ir ļoti interesanta, (braukt)

Reading (CD2; 35)

Here are two jokes from www.saimniece.lv (saimnieks ‘master of the house’; saimniece ‘mistress of the house’). Read them and try to under­ stand them with the help of the vocabulary. The first one includes a few common Latvian idioms. -

Kas jums, kundze, kaiš? - vaicā ārsts. Nevaru gulēt. Kāds ir jūsu dienas režīms? No paša rīta līdz vakaram strādāju kā zirgs, ēdu kā vilks, vakaros

-

esmu piekususi kā suns, bet miegs vairs nenāk. Hmm! Jā, šķiet, jums būs jāgriežas pie veterinārārsta.

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156

Ārsts saka pacientei: -

Jums ir paaugstināts asinsspiediens, slims kuņģis un vāja sirds. Cik jums ir gadu? Trīsdesmit pieci. Un turklāt vēl vāja atmiņa.

-

Vocabulary v a ic ā t

ask

suns

dog

g u lē t re žīm s

to sleep

m ie gs

sleep (noun)

routine, regime

š ķ is t (pres, šķie t)

seem

no paša rīta

from early morning

g rie z tie s

turn to, go to

kā

here:

vairs

no longer

like

z irg s

horse

p a cie n ts

patient

v ilk s

wolf

p a a u g s tin ā t

increase, raise

p ie ku sis

tired, weary, worn out

a sin ssp ie d ie n s

blood pressure

slim s

sick

ku ņ ģ is

stomach

vājš

weak

tu rk lā t ( v f I)

a tm iņ a

memory

as well, moreover

s a c īt

say

v e te rin ā rā rs ts

vet

Cultural point Traditional Latvian culture Latvia has a very rich oral tradition of ‘folk songs’, tautas dziesmas or dainas, ‘folk tales’ pasakas, ‘proverbs’ sakāmvārdi and ‘riddles’ mīklas. These were handed down from generation to generation and were not written down until the nineteenth century when Latvians started to become interested in their own heritage. The most notable of the people who collected the songs and tales was Krišjānis Barons whose picture now appears on the 100-lats note. He published 217,996 folk songs in six volumes between 1894 and 1915. Now about 1 million have been collected - one daina for every Latvian - and it is one of the

Unit 12: What's wrong with you?

157

largest collections of folk songs in the world. Riddles are very popular; apart from the traditional ones, new ones are written in the same style to describe modern objects and they can be seen on most puzzle pages in newspapers and magazines.

Exercise 5 Here is a selection of riddles describing parts of the body. Translate them with the help of the vocabulary and see if you can guess which part/s of the body they are describing. Note the Latvian fondness for diminutives in riddles. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5

Liels kalns; caur to kalnu divi tuneļi, caur tiem tuneļiem skrien vējš aurodams. Nose

Ir īss, ir garš, bet tomēr pēdu vien tik garš. Četrām mātēm pa pieci bērni, visi vienā vārdā. Divas māsiņas viena otru mazgā, abas baltas. Pulkstenis iet bez uzvilkšanas. Maza, maza muižiņa, pilna baltu kundziņu.

Vocabulary u z v ilk t

wind up

m uiža

manor house

c a u r (+ acc.)

through

tu n e lis

tunnel

vējš

wind

s k rie t

run

a u ro d a m s

howling

to m fr

nevertheless

vien tik

still only

viena o tru (fem.)

each other

p iln s

full

What can you remember? A 1 2 3

How do you say the following in Latvian? My father’s got backache. She feels sick. I (masc.) have injured my knee.

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4 5 6 7 8 9 10 B

She has injured her back. She has hurt her head. There is great skiing in Latvia in winter. Travelling around Latgale is a wonderful holiday. Arrival in Riga will be at 22.00. Mr Liepins, please come with me. They’ve lived in Riga since they were young. Have a look at the departments of a hospital and then answer the

questions in Latvian. 1. Valmieras Slimnīca Nodaļas Uzņemšanas nodaļa

1. stāvā

Poliklīnika

1. stāvā

Internā klīnika (terapija, kardioloģija)

1. stāvā

Neiroloģija

2. stāvā

Ķirurģija

2. stāvā

Traumatoloģija un ortopēdija

2. stāvā

Uroloģija

3. stāvā

Ginekoloģija

3. stāvā

Acu, ausu un deguna slimības

4. stāvā

Anestezioloģija un intensīvā terapija

4. stāvā

Mikrobioloģiskā laboratorija

4. stāvā

Bērnu nodaļa

5. stāvā

Unit 12: What's wrong with you?

159

uzņemšana

adm issions

ķirurģija

surgery

nodaļa

departm ent

vispirms

first of all

poliklīnika

general practitioners, as well as some specialists

Jums jaiet vispirms uz uzņemšanas nodaļu. Kur jums jaiet pec tam, ja jums ir: Example: Problēmas ar sirdi? Answer: Uz kardioloģijas nodaļu pirmajā stāvā. 1 2 3 4 5

Jūsu draugs ir ievainots avārijā? (avārija ‘accident’) Jums būs maza operācija? Jūsu desmit gadu vecais dēls ir slims? Jums ir gripa. Jums ir problēmas ar sinusiem.

U nit Th irte e n

Jaunais dzīvoklis The new flat

In this unit you will learn how to: • talk about flats and houses • talk about furniture and other things in the house • say what you have done • indicate the position of something using prepositions •

read advertisem ents for flats

Dialogue 1 Es esmu ievākusies jau n ā dzīvoklī V » m oved into a new flat (CD2; 38)

I have

Peteris meets his friend leva whom he hasn’t seen for a while and she tells him about her new flat. ie v a

Vai

t u e s i ja u d z ir d ē jis , k a e s e s m u ie v ā k u s ie s ja u n ā

d z ī v o k lī ? P ē t e r is ie v a

P ē t e r is ie v a

P ē t e r is ie v a

Nē, kad tu to izdarīji? Jau pagājušo mēnesi. Nu, u n k u r t a s ir? Bruņinieku ielā, kas nozīmē, ka esmu daudz tuvāk centram. Un kāds tas ir? Pastāsti! Tas ir divistabu dzīvoklis trešajā stāvā. Par laimi ir iebūvēts jauns lifts, tāpēc nav jānes somas pa kāpnēm.

Unit 13: The new flat

Pē ter is ie v a

Pē ter is ie v a

PĒTERIS ie v a

Pē ter is

161

Ir guļamistaba un viesistaba, kuras abas ir ļoti gaišas. Virtuve ir ļoti skaista, jo ir jauna iekārta, un arī vannas istaba ir pilnīgi renovēta. Vai tas ir mēbelēts dzīvoklis? Jā. Guļamistabā ir iebūvēti skapji un liela gulta. Virtuve ir diezgan liela, tā, viens gals ir iekārtots kā ēdamistaba ar galdu un krēsliem. Viesistabā ir dīvāns, galdiņš, sekcija un divi ērti atpūtas krēsli. Kad varēšu nākt apskatīties? Vai jūs ar Andu sestdienas vakarā kaut ko darāt? Nē. Tad nāciet uz vakariņām. Esmu uzaicinājusi vēl pāris cilvēkus, varēsim pavadīt jauku vakaru. Lieliski! Tad nāksim ar sālsmaizi!

Vocabulary sekcija

display/storage

ievākties

m ove in

izdarīt

do

pagājušais (def.)

last

nu

well

pāris

(a) couple (of)

tuvs

near

sālsm aize

salt + bread

centrs

centre

unit atpūtas krfsls

arm chair

(traditional welcom ing gift for

pastāstīt

tell

a new home - in

stāvs

floor, storey

the hope that the

par laimi

fortunately

new occupants will never lack

iebūvēt

build in

nest

carry

tw o essential

soma

bag

com m odities)

tāpēc

therefore

guļam istaba

bedroom

kāpnes (pl.)

staircase

viesistaba

living room

tā

so

abi

both

fd am ista b a

dining room

nozīm ēt

mean

krēsls

chair

gaišs

light, bright

salt or bread,

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162

virtuve

kitchen

gals

end

iekārta

furniture +

iekārtots

arranged

galds

table

equipm ent vanna

bathtub

(diminutive

vannas istaba

bathroom

galdiņš)

pilnīgi

com pletely

dīvāns

sofa

renovēt

renovate

fr ts

com fortable

m ēbelēt

furnish

jauks

pleasant

skapis

cupboard

uzaicināt

invite

Language point Inclusive plural pronouns Look again at this sentence in the dialogue above: Vai jūs ar Andu sestdienas vakarā kaut ko darāt? Are you and Anda doing anything on Saturday evening? In Latvian the plural pronouns mēs, jūs, viņi and viņas can be used to include single individuals mentioned separately in the same phrase. Thus jūs ar Andu refers to ‘y°u’ (plural) ‘including Anda’, that is ‘you and Anda’. The important clue here is the preposition ar; it has an inclusive, not an exclusive meaning.

Exercise 1 How do you say the following in Latvian? Remember that ar takes the accusative case. Example: Inita and I. Answer: Mēs ar Initu. 1 2 3 4

He and Jānis. She and leva. You and Anita. Aldis and I.

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163

Language point Perfect tenses The present perfect tense is when in English we say, for example, ‘I have been to France’. In Latvian the present tense of the verb būt ‘to be’ is used as the auxiliary verb and the past participle, i.e. been, is formed from the he form of the past tense. So to get been in Latvian, we take bija ‘he was’. We take off the -a ending and add the endings to agree with the subject as follows:

Singular Plural

Masculine

Feminine

-is -uši

-usi -ušas

For the sentence ‘I have been to Latvia’, we can now form es esmu bijis Latvijā for a man and es esmu bijusi Latvijā for a woman. For reflexive verbs the endings are:

Singular Plural

Masculine

Feminine

-ies -ušies

-usies -ušās

If we want to say ‘He has learnt Latvian’, we take mācījās as the past tense of mācīties. We take off the -ās ending and add the relevant participle ending: viņš ir mācījies latviešu valodu. To form a negative we make the auxiliary negative, e.g. viņš nav mācījies latviešu valodu. We had a couple of examples of the perfect tense in Dialogue 1: Vai tu esi jau dzirdējis, ka es esmu ievākusies jaunā dzīvoklī? Have you heard that I’ve moved into a new flat? Esmu uzaicinājusi vēl pāris cilvēkus. I have invited a couple of people.

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In general, the use of this tense is very similar to English. One differ­ ence is that Latvian doesn’t use it when an action started in the past and is still continuing, as we saw in Unit 12, e.g. es mācos latviešu valodu jau vienu gadu. Here Latvian uses the present tense. Latvian uses the present perfect tense for expressions such as: Es esmu dzimis 1980. gadā. Es esmu precējusies. Viņš ir šķīries. Mēs esam noguruši.

I (masc.) was born in 1980. (lit. ‘I am born’) I (fern.) am married, (from precēties ‘to get married’) He is divorced, (from šķirties ‘to get divorced’) We are tired, (from nogurt ‘to get tired’)

If we use the past of būt as the auxiliary verb, we have the equivalent of the English past perfect (pluperfect) construction / had eaten, for example. Man gribējās ēst, jo es nebiju brokastojusi. I was hungry because I (fern.) hadn’t had breakfast. Using the future of būt, we get the English construction will have eaten, for example. Latvian uses this construction a bit more than English does as the example shows. Kad es būšu izlasījis avīzi, es iešu iepirkties. After I have read (lit. ‘will have read’) the newspaper, I’m going shopping. One thing to watch when forming the past participle is that the final consonant of the stem changes if it ends in k/c or g/dz. C and dz are used before the -is and -ies endings. K and g are used before the remaining endings. For example: Viņš ir nopircis jaunu mašīnu. Viņa ir nopirkusi jaunu mašīnu. Koncerts ir beidzies. Filma ir beigusies.

He has bought a new car. She has bought a new car. The concert has finished. The film has finished. (from beigties ‘to finish’)

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Exercise 2 Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb in the perfect. Example: Film a____________. (sākties) Answer: Filma ir sākusies. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Andrejs un Ieva____________jaunu dzīvokli, (pirkt) Iesim, kad t u ____________. (nomazgāties - masc.) Viņa vasarā gribēja braukt uz Latviju, jo viņa nekad________ (būt) Viņi pēc futbola spēles____________. (nogurt) Pauls____________ 1980. gadā. (dzimt) V iņas____________. (ierasties) To e s ____________. (teikt - fern, negative) M ē s_____ ja u ______ kad viņa atnāca, (paēst - masc.) Vai t u ____________naudu līdz? (paņemt - fem.)

D ialogue 2 Es nevaru atrast atslēgas

I c a n 't find m y keys

(Audio 2:39) Peteris has lost his keys and Anda helps him to find them. PĒTERIS ANDA PĒTERIS ANDA PĒTERIS ANDA PĒTERIS ANDA PĒTERIS ANDA PĒTERIS

Es nekur nevaru atrast atslēgas. Kur tu tās beidzamo reizi noliki? Es domāju, priekštelpā uz galdiņa, bet tagad nav. Vai tu esi paskatījies zem galdiņa? Vai nav nokritušas? Nē, nav. Kur tu vispirms gāji, kad ienāci dzīvoklī? Viesistabā. Es lasiju pastu. Vai tad tu neesi tās nolicis uz dīvāna? Es neredzu. Paskaties aiz spilvena. Paldies! Atradu! Tās bija starp spilveniem.

V V

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Vocabulary ats lfg a

key

ienākt

enter

atrast

find

pasts

post, mail

beidzam ais

last

spilvens

cushion

nolikt

put down

priekštelpa

hallway, entrance

tagad

now

tad

here: well then

zem (+ gen.)

under

nokrist

fall down

starp (+ acc.)

between

2 ^ Language point Prepositions indicating location We had a few new prepositions in the dialogue: uz ‘on’, zem ‘under’, aiz ‘behind’, starp ‘between’. The first three take the genitive in the singular and, like all prepositions, the dative in the plural. Starp takes the accusative in the singular and dative in the plural. Other pre­ positions which indicate location are pie ‘by, at, near’ + genitive, and virs ‘above’ + genitive. ‘In front o f is translated by priekšā - this comes after the noun or pronoun (and is thus a postposition) and it takes the dative, e.g. galdam priekšā. Pretī ‘opposite’ follows the same principle: veikalam pretī ‘opposite the shop’. Another postposition is blakus ‘next to ’ and this also takes the dative, e.g. man blakus ‘next to me’. The preposition uz can have two meanings depending on which case it is followed by. As just mentioned, it means ‘on’ when it is followed by a genitive. We have already come across uz meaning ‘to ’ when it is followed by an accusative, e.g. uz Rīgu. It will be obvious from the context if it is followed in the plural by a dative, e.g. es braucu uz Cēsīm ‘I’m going to Cēsis’; grāmatas ir uz galdiem ‘the books are on the tables’.

Exercise 3 Fill in the gaps with the nouns or pronouns given in brackets in the correct form.

Unit 13: The new flat

Example 1: Answer:

Es eju p ie _____ . (Ingrida) Es eju pie Ingridas.

Example 2: Tu s tā v i_____ priekšā, (es) Answer: Tu stāvi man priekšā, (stāvēt to stand) 1 Grāmatas ir u z _____ . {galds) 2 Viņa sēž s ta rp _____ u n ______ . {Ieva, Imants; sēdēt to sit) 3 Viņi aizbrauca u z _____ . {pilsēta) 4 Suns ir z e m _____ . {galds) 5 Mēs dzīvojam _____ blakus, (the family Bērziņš) 6 A iz _____ ir skaists dārzs, {māja) 7 Viņš stāv p ie _____ . {logs) 8 Viņa gulēja z e m _____ . {koks - tree)

Furniture and other things in a house Exercise 4 Look at the floor plan. Using all the prepositions and ways of expressing spatial relations that you know, write complete sentences in Latvian to answer the question Kur atrodas . . . ? ‘Where is . . . ?’ (lit. ‘Where does . . . find itself?’) Example: spogulis Answer: Spogulis atrodas vannas istabā; spogulis atrodas virs izlietnes; spogulis atrodas pie vannas istabas sienas; spogulis atrodas vannai blakus; spogulis atrodas vannas istabas labajā pusē. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

skapji (visi ‘ali’) plīts gultas (abas ‘both’) lampa dīvāns grāmatas puķes krēsli dators glāzes, karotes, naži un dakšiņas (‘glasses, spoons, knives’ (sing, nazis) and ‘forks’) bļodas un šķīvji (‘bowls and plates’)

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Additional vocabulary (the furniture has been numbered to help you) gujamistaba galds virtuve krēsls gulta skapis vanna

bedroom table (1) kitchen chair (2) bed (3) cupboard, wardrobe (4) bathtub (5)

plīts (fern.) izlietne paklājs lampa grāmatu plaukti datorgalds

oven (6) sink (7) carpet, rug (8) lamp (9) bookshelves ( 10 )

computer desk (11)

Unit 13: The new flat

viesistaba vannas istaba atpūtas krēsls dīvāns spogulis glezna

living room, lounge bathroom armchair (12) sofa (13) mirror (14) painting (15)

169

vāze grīda siena durvis (pi. only) griesti (pi. only) logs istabas augi

vase (16) floor wall (17) door (18) ceiling window (19) plant (20)

Language point Consonant changes in nouns There are a couple of examples of consonant changes in the plurals of words in the above exercise, e.g. skapis -> skapji, spogulis -> spoguļi. This is something that happens in masculine nouns ending in -is in the genitive singular and all the cases in the plural. It also happens in feminine nouns ending in -e and -is but only in the genitive plural. It is called palatalization because, in pronouncing these sounds, the tongue touches the palate. The most common changes are shown in the following table. The genitive plural is given as the example of the change. This is followed by examples written out in the full declension. C onsonant change

N o m in a tive

G en itive p lu ra l

T ranslatio n

b bj c —> Č d ž dz -> dž

krabis saimniece sirds palodze brālis zeme suns skapis lasis aploksne latvietis zivs nazis zvaigzne

krabju saimnieču siržu palodžu brāļu zemju suņu skapju lašu aplokšņu latviešu zivju nažu zvaigžņu

crab mistress of the house heart (fern.) window sill brother land, country dog cupboard salmon envelope a Latvian (masc.) fish (fern.) knife star

I -> J m —> mj n -> ņ P -» Pj s —> Š sn ->• šņ t Š v —» vj z -> Ž zn -> žņ

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M a scu lin e -is

Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Locative

F e m in in e -e

F e m in in e -s

S in g u la r

P lu ra l

S in g u la r

P lu ra l

S in g u la r

P lu ra l

skapis

skapji

aploksne

aploksnes

zivs

zivis

skapja

skapju

aploksnes

aplokšņu

zivs

zivju

skapim

skapjiem

aploksnei

aploksnēm

zivij

zivīm

skapi

skapjus

aploksni

aploksnes

zivi

zivis

skapī

skapjos

aploksnē

aploksnēs

zivī

zivīs

Exercise 5 Fill in the gaps with the noun given in the correct case. Example: Answer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

E s _____ aizvedu uz staciju, (brālis - pi.) Es brāļus aizvedu uz staciju.

Man g a rš o _____ zupa. (biete ‘beetroot’) Es braukšu uz Latviju_____ beigās, (aprīlis) Es ņem šu_____ zupu. (dārzenis) Veikalā bija d a u d z_____ . (pulkstenis) _____ žurnālos bieži ir labas receptes. (.sieviete; recepte ‘recipe’) Latvijā ir daudz skaistu_____ . (pils) _____ salāti ir ļoti garšīgi, (sēne ‘mushroom’) _____ ir jauni velosipēdi, (brālis - pl.) _____ valoda ir ļoti skaista, (itālis)

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Reading Read this text advertising a flat and answer the questions. r e n o v ē t a m ā j a ar skaistu kāpņu telpu un jaunu liftu, klusā pagalma namā. Ļoti labā stāvoklī. Metāla ārdurvis, jauni radiatori. Dzīvoklis mēbelēts. Trīs izolētas istabas, viena iekārtota kā guļamistaba ar iebūvētiem skapjiem, otra kā bērnu istaba, trešā kā viesistaba, ir neliela priekštelpa ar garderobi. Atsevišķa virtuve ar iebūvētu virtuves iekārtu, trauku mazgājamā mašīna, elektriskā plīts,

ledusskapis, mikroviļņu krāsns.Vannas istaba ar jaunu santehniku - vanna ar dušu, bidē, WC, veļas mazgājamā mašīna. Internets, kabeļtelevīzija, tālrunis. Centrālā gāzes apkure. Balkons. Iespējama a/m novietošana pagalmā. Blakus ir arī trolejbusa, autobusa un mikroautobusa pieturvietas. Divu kvartālu attālumā atrodas skola un bērnu dārzs.

Vocabulary kluss

quiet

atsevišķs

separate dishwasher

pagalms

courtyard

trauku

stāvoklis

condition

m azgājam ā

metāls

metal

mašīna

ārdurvis

outer/street door

elektriskā plīts

radiator

mikroviļņu krāsns

microwave oven

bidē

bidet

veļas

washing machine

radiators izolēts

separate

garderobe

cloakroom

santehnika

plumbing

(fem.)

m azgājam ā

WC = tualete

electric cooker

tālrunis

telephone

m ašīna

iespējams

possible

apkure

heating

balkons

balcony

parking

gāze

gas

atrasties

be located

kvartāls

block

b frn u dārzs

kindergarten, day-care

skola

school

a/m = autom ašīna a /m novietošana

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1 2 3 4 5

Where is the washing machine? You have no furniture, is that a problem? Is the flat suitable for a family with young children? Why? How is the flat heated? Where can you park your car?

What can you remember? How do you say the following in Latvian? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Valdis and I went to the cinema yesterday. I have been to France, (fem.) I was tired because I’d been playing football, (masc.) She hasn’t learnt Spanish. I will go to Latvia when I have learnt Latvian, (masc.; iemācīties learn, acquire) He’s standing by the cooker. She’s standing at the door. The plates are in the cupboard. Could I please have the mushroom soup? My brother’s daughter is beautiful.

Unit Fourteen Kāds šodien būs laiks? W hat will the weather be like today?

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

talk about the weather talk about the seasons talk about sights in Riga read about Latvian history use the passive

Dialogue 1 Kāds šodien būs laiks? be like today? (Audio 2:41)

W hat will the weather

We have met Anita before; she is from Canada and is visiting Latvia with her husband. They are staying with Peteris and Anda, and today they are planning to go out for the day. Anita is asking about the weather. Diktors ‘newsreader’. Anita Pē t e r is

d ik t o r s

Vai tu zini, kāds šodien būs laiks? Nezinu, neesmu dzirdējis, bet tūlīt būs ziņas un tad laika prognoze. Mēs varam paklausīties. Laika ziņas. Latvijā - būs mākoņains laiks, brīžiem skaidrosies. Teritorijas lielākajā daļā neliels, īslaicīgs lietus, atsevišķos rajonos iespējams pērkona negaiss. Rietumu, ziemeļrietumu vējš no 4 līdz 8 metriem sekundē.

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Anita

CB

Gaisa temperatūra šodien plus 14 . . . plus 19 grādu, 17. maija naktī plus 2 . . . plus 7 grādi. Rīgā - būs mākoņains laiks, brīžiem skaidrosies, neliels īslaicīgs lietus. Rietumu, ziemeļrietumu vējš no 4 līdz 8 m/s. Gaisa temperatūra šodien +16 . . . +18 grādu, 17. maija naktī +4 . . . +6 grādi. Medicīniskais laika tips labvēligs. Nav tik slikti. Bet katram gadījumam būs jāpaņem līdzi lietussargi.

Vocabulary z in ā t

to know

d z ird ē t

to hear

tū līt

in a moment

ziņ as

the news

la ika p ro g n o ze

weather forecast

pa kla u sītie s

listen (in)

lie tu s

rain

p frk o n s

thunder

ne ga iss

storm

rie tu m i

west

zie m eļi

north

vējš

wind

m ā ko ņ a in s

cloudy

ga iss

air

b rīž ie m (dat.

at times, occasionally

te m p e ra tū ra

temperature

g rā d s

degree

m e d ic īn is k s

medical, healthrelated

pi. of b rīd is moment) s k a id ro tie s

to clear up

te rito rija

territory

tip s

type

lie lā ka is

most, greater

la b vē līg s

favourable

daļa

part

a tse višķs

certain, particular

īsla icīg s

brief

ie sp ē ja m s

possible

se ku n d e

second

m e trs

metre

s lik ts

bad

ka tra m

just in case

lie tu s s a rg s

umbrella

g a d īju m a m

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Cultural point Medicīniskais laika tips labvēligs. The weather forecasts in Latvia always give the type of weather that is expected from a healthrelated point of view, i.e. for people who might be affected by the weather. There are four categories: 1. īpaši labvēlīgs ‘particularly favourable’; 2. labvēligs ‘favourable’; 3. nelabvēligs ‘unfavourable’; 4. īpaši nelabvēligs ‘particularly unfavourable’.

Exercise 1 Listen to Dialogue 1 and then answer these questions in Latvian. 1

Kāds būs temperatūras maksimums (= visaugstākā temperatūra)

2 3 4 5

Latvijā 16. maijā? Kāds vējš šodien ir? Vai mākoņi būs visu dienu? Vai būs lietus? Kādā veidā (‘in what w ay’) Rīgas laiks atšķiras (atšķirties ‘differ’) no Latvijas laika vispār (‘generally’)?

Talking about the w eather

-

laiks

(CD2 ; 42 )

Here is some vocabulary associated with the weather. Saule spīd. Līst. Ir mākoņains. Ir vējains. Vējš pūš. Ir auksts. Ir silts.

The sun’s shining. It’s raining. It’s cloudy. It’s windy. The wind blows. It’s cold.

Ir saulains.

It’s sunny.

Ir lietains. Ir apmācies. Snieg. Ir miglains. Ir karsts.

It’s It’s It’s It’s It’s

It’s warm.

G adalaiki 'seasons7 pavasaris

vasara

rudens

ziema

spring

summer

autumn

winter

rainy. overcast snowing. foggy. hot.

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Kompasa virzieni 'com pass points'

Exercise 2 A

Say what the weather is like in each season. Example:

Z ie m a _________ .

Answer:

Ziemā ir auksts un bieži snieg.

1

Pavasarī_________ .

2 3

V asarā_________ . R udenī_________ .

B

Say which season you like best and why.

Exercise 3 Give a weather forecast for Latvia for 12 October. Rīgā . . . Ziemeļos . . . Dienvidos . . .

Unit 14: What will the weather be like today?

< •» Ventspils O

+12

+12

+12

m.

Riga

^

+12

O **,

Liepāja Q

177

+13

+11 + 1 3 ^

O Rēzekne

■ ft

+ 140 Daugavpils

Dialogue 2 Ko var Rīgā redzēt?

W hat can you see in Riga? f ' )

All

(CD2; 43) Peteris and Anita continue their conversation. ANITA

Mēs šodien gribam apskatīt Rīgu. Ko tur var darīt un redzēt?

P ē t e r is

Rīgā ir daudz ko redzēt. Vecrīga ir vēsturisks centrs, kur ir ļoti senas ēkas. Cik vecas ir šīs ēkas? Dažas ir pat no 13. gadsimta. Domam pamatakmens tika likts 1211. gadā, un Sv. Pētera baznīca pirmo reizi dokumentos ir minēta 1209. gadā. Rīgas pils ir lielākā un

A n it a P ē t e r is

vislabāk saglabātā viduslaiku pils Ziemeļeiropā. Tā tika celta no 1330. gada, kaut gan tā ir vairākas reizes pārbūvēta un atjaunota. Tagad tā ir valsts prezidenta rezidence.

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ANITA P ē t e r is

A n it a P ē t e r is

A n it a P ē t e r is

ANITA P ē t e r is

Vai p ili v a r a p s k a tī t ? Jā, var iet iekšā, jo tur ir iekārtoti muzeji. Ļoti interesants ir Latvijas nacionālais vēstures muzejs. Tad jūs varat pastaigāties pa vecājām, šaurājām ieliņām un pasēdēt kādā Doma laukuma kafejnīcā. Un kur tad lai ejam? Rīgas jūgendstila arhitektūra ir ļoti iespaidīga. Ejiet noteikti uz Alberta ielu, kur ir vairāki brīnišķīgi nami. Iela ir nosaukta par godu Rīgas bīskapam Albertam, kurš 1201. gadā dibināja Rīgu. Rīgā arī ir daudz muzeju, kur var apskatīt gan mākslu, gan vēsturiskus objektus, gan arī daudz citu objektu. Izklausās, ka mums būs daudz k o redzēt. Jā, vienā dienā to nevar visu paspēt. Bez tam, sestdien varam aizbraukt uz Etnogrāfisko brīvdabas muzeju, kur var redzēt, kā cilvēki vecos laikos dzīvoja. Tas būs interesanti. Labi, tad taisāmies un ejam! Lai jums jauka diena!

Kramu iela: a street in the Old Town of Riga with a view of the Dom Church - this street has been in existence since the fourteenth century

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179

Vocabulary v fs tu r is k s

historic

lai ju m s

(vēsture

history)

ja u k a diena

sens

ancient

lik t

lay, put

building

d o k u m e n ts

document

pat

even

m in ē t

mention

s a g la b ā t

preserve

no

g a d s im ts

century

tik t

here:

D om s

Dom Church

vid u s la ik u

medieval

p ā rb ū vē t

rebuild

c e lt

build

p a m a ta km e n s

k a u t gan

although

(fem.)

foundation stone

a tja u n o t

restore

va lsts

state, country

ta d

then

p re zid e n ts

president

ša u rs

narrow

re zid e n ce

residence

p a sē d ē t

sit (for a while)

iekšā

inside

la u ku m s

square

m uze js

museum

k a fe jn īc a

cafe

lai

h e re :

nosaukt

name

n a cio n ā ls

national

jū g e n d s tils

Art Nouveau

a rh ite k tū ra

architecture

ie s p a id īg s

impressive

n o te ik ti

definitely

p a r go du

in honour

b īs k a p s

bishop

d ib in ā t

found, establish

kurš, kura

who

g a n . . . gan

either. . . or

m āksla

art

o b je k ts

object

iz k la u s ītie s

sound

p a sp ē t

manage

e tn o g rā fis k s

ethnographic

b rīvd a b a

open air

kā

how

ta is ītie s

get ready

fk a

should

(+gen.)

have a pleasant day

from be (passive)

cb

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Language point 'Should' To get across the idea of should in questions, Latvian uses the word lai as we saw in the dialogue: Un kur tad lai ejam?

And where should we go then?

Here are a couple more examples: Ko lai es dam? Kur lai viņš iet?

What should I do? Where should he go?

Exercise 4 Listen to Dialogue 2 and answer these questions. 1 2 3 4 5

What kind of buildings are there in the old town? What is significant about Riga Castle? Where can you walk? Where can you have a coffee? Why is the Alberta iela so called?

Language point The passive The passive is what we commonly use when we wish to focus attention not on the doer of the action, but on the person or thing acted upon, e.g. ‘the castle was built’. In English we use the verb to be together with the past participle. This is also one way of forming the passive in Latvian. A second way is to use the verb tikt, which we have already met. On its own, it means ‘become’ or ‘get (to)’. Here is the conjuga­ tion of the verb:

es tu

viņš, mēs jūs

etc.

Present tense

Past tense

Future tense

tieku tiec tiek tiekam tiekat

tiku tiki tika tikām tikāt

tikšu tiksi tiks tiksim tiksit

Unit 14: What will the weather be like today?

In a passive sentence, the logical object of the action becomes the subject and appears in the nominative case. To form the past passive participle, simply add indefinite adjective endings to the infinitive of the verb, remembering to make it agree in number and case with the noun to which it refers, like any other adjective. In general, using the auxiliary būt gives a perfect meaning, e.g. māja tiek būvēta ‘the house is being built’; māja ir uzbūvēta ‘the house has been built’. Here are some examples from the dialogue: Sv. Pētera baznīca pirmo reizi dokumentos ir minēta 1209. gadā. St Peter’s Church is first mentioned in documents in the year 1209. Tā ir vairākas reizes pārbūvēta un atjaunota. It has been rebuilt and restored several times. Tur ir iekārtoti muzeji. Museums have been established there. Iela ir nosaukta . . . The street is named . . . Domam pamatakmens tika likts 1211. gadā. The foundation stone of the Dom Church was laid in the year 1211. Tā tika celta no 1330. gada. It was built from the year 1330. One big difference between English and Latvian is that in English we often use the passive together with by to indicate the agent, e.g. The castle was built by German knights’. In Latvian this is not possible - this would simply be said in the active, i.e. ‘German knights built the castle’. In Latvian we can only use the passive in impersonal con­ structions as in the examples above. Very often in the present tense ir is omitted so you could also say: Sv. Pētera baznīca pirmo reizi dokumentos minēta 1209. gadā. Iela nosaukta . . . Just as in English, we can use the past passive participle as an adjective, e.g. vārīti kartupeļi ‘boiled potatoes’, ceptas sēnes ‘fried mushrooms’.

181

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Exercise 5 Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Example:

Answer:

Latvijas teritorija____________jau kopš 9. gadu tūkstoša p.m.ē. (būt, apdzīvot ‘inhabit’; p.m.ē. - pirms mūsu ēras ‘before our era’, i.e. ‘Before Common Era’) Latvijas teritorija ir apdzīvota jau kopš 9. gadu tūkstoša p.m.ē.

1

Sv. Jēkaba baznīca _13. gs. sakuma un ir vismazaka no Vecrīgas baznīcām, (būt, celt; gs. - gadsimts ‘century’) 2 Latvijas Republikas Saeimas ē k a ____________ 1867. gadā. (būt, celt, Saeima ‘Latvian parliament’) 3 Rīga___________ UNESCO pasaules kultūras mantojuma sarakstā 1997. gadā. (tikt, iekļaut ‘include’; pasaules kultūras mantojuma saraksts ‘World Cultural Heritage List’) 4 Rīga, Rīga, skaista Rīga, Kas to skaistu darināja? darināt to make Vidzemnieku sūri darbi, sūrs harsh _____ kumeliņi, (pakavot) pakavot to shoe (a horse) kumeļš horse (in folklore)

5 6 7

8 9

This is a folksong which reflects the fact that it was the people of Vidzeme who, together with their horses, built Riga for their German masters. R īg ā ____________jauna bibliotēka, (tikt, būvēt, future) Katru gadu R īg ā _____________ daudz jaunu restorānu, (tikt, atvērt ‘open’) Dziesmu svētki ar vairāk nekā 18 000 dziedātāju____________ik pēc pieciem gadiem, (tikt, rīkot ‘organize’; dziesmu svētki ‘song festival’, dziedātājs ‘singer’, ik pēc ‘every’) Es ņemšu cūkas cepeti a r _____ dārzeņiem, (grilēt) Peldēšana u p ē ____________. (būt, aizliegt ‘forbid’)

Unit 14: What will the weather be like today?

Cultural point Song and dance festival Latvia’s slogan is Zeme kas dzied ‘The Land That Sings’ and nowhere is this more evident than at the National Song and Dance Festival vispārējie latviešu dziesmu un deju svētki. The first song festival was held in 1873 with the dance element added in 1948 and they are now held every five years. The numbers of participants are staggering. At the 2008 festival there were 38,601 participants, dalībnieki: 394 choirs, kori, and 54 vocal ensembles, vokālie ansambļi, with a total of 18,464 singers, dziedātāji; 544 dance groups, deju grupas, with a total of 13,700 dancers, dejotāji. In addition, there were orchestras and musicians. The high point is the closing concert when all the singers join together to sing as a massed choir.

Exercise 6 (Audio 2:44) Read the following short history of Latvia with the help of the vocabu­ lary and then answer the questions. When you are reading Latvian and you have problems deciphering a sentence, always start by finding the subject of the sentence - the noun which is in the nominative. Don’t forget that it may not be at the beginning of the sentence as it is in English. Teritorija, ko mēs šodien pazīstam kā Latviju, ir apdzīvota kopš 9000. gada pirms mūsu ēras. Pirmās baltu ciltis, mūsdienu latviešu senči, tur ieradās 2000 gadu pirmajā pusē p.m.ē. Teritorija kļuva slavena kā tirdzniecības krustojums. Slavenais maršruts no vikingiem līdz grieķiem, kas ir minēts senajās hronikās, virzījās no Skandināvijas caur Latvijas teritoriju pa Daugavu uz seno Krieviju un Bizantijas impēriju. Tāpēc ka Latvijas teritorija atrodās stratēģiski un ģeogrāfiski izdevīgā vietā, tā vienmēr tika pakļauta lielākām nācijām. 12. gs. beigās ieradās vācu tirgotāji un kopā ar viņiem kristīgās ticības mācītāji, kuri mēģināja vērst pagāniskās baltiešu un lībiešu ciltis pie kristīgās ticības. 1200. gadā vācu varā tika izveidota nāciju apvienība, ko sauca par Livoniju. Livonija ietvēra sevī tagadējo Latviju un Igauniju. Pēc Livonijas kara 1550. gados, mūsdienu Latvijas teritorija tika pakļauta Polijas un Lietuvas varai. Savukārt Rīga, 1621. gadā, pēc

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Poļu-zviedru kara, nokļuva zviedru pakļautībā un bija vislielākā un visattīstītākā Zviedrijas pilsēta. Šajā laika periodā Vidzeme bija pazī­ stama kā ‘zviedru maizes kaste’. 1700. gadu sākumā sākās Lielais ziemeļu karš. Viens no tā mērķiem bija pakļaut slaveno un bagāto pilsētu Rīgu. 1710. gadā Krievijas caram Pēterim I izdevās pakļaut Vidzemi. Caur Vidzemi uz Rīgu Krievija ieguva brīvu ceļu uz Eiropu. 18. gs. beigās visa Latvijas teritorija bija pakļauta Krievijas varai. 20. gs. sākumā ideja par Latvijas neatkarību kļuva īpaši aktuāla. Uzreiz pēc pirmā pasaules kara beigām, 1918. gada 18. novembrī tika proklamēta Latvijas Republika. Bet Latvija bija tikai dažus gadus brīva. 1940. gadā padomju karaspēks okupēja Latvijas teritoriju. Pēc dažiem mēnešiem Latvija tika iekļauta PSRS sastāvā. Otrā pasaules kara laikā 1941. gada jūlijā, Latvijas teritoriju ieņēma nacistiskās Vācijas karaspēks. 1944. gadā Latvija atkal nonāca padomju okupācijas spēku rokās. 1980. gadu vidū sākās komunistiskā režīma liberalizācija. Latvijā tika organizētas dažādas politiskās organizācijas, kuras uzstājās par valsts neatkarības atjaunošanu. 1991. gada 21. augustā Augstākā padome pieņēma konstitucionālo likumu atjaunot Latvijas neatkarību. 2004. gadā Latvija tika uzņemta Eiropas Savienības un NATO sastāvā.

Vocabulary gs. = gadsimts

century

izveidot

form

teritorija

territory

krustojums

crossroads

pazīt

know, recognize

maršruts

route

apdzīvot

inhabit

vikings

Viking

kopš (+ gen.)

since

sevī

in itself

balti

Balts

hronika

chronicle

cilts (fem.)

tribe

virzīties

lead

mūsdienu

modern

caur (+ acc.)

through

sencis

ancestor arrive

Bizantijas impērija

Byzantine empire

ierasties slavens

famous

tāpēc ka

because

tirdzniecība

trade

stratēģiski

strategically

Unit 14: What will the weather be like today?

185

ģ eogrāfiski

geographically

m ācītājs

preacher, priest

izdevīgs

favourable

vērst

lead

pakļaut

subject, subjugate

baltieši

Balts

nācija

nation

lībieši

bagāts

rich

cars

tsar

Livs (the Livs are Finno-Ugric people resident in Latvia)

izdoties

succeed, manage

vara

power, authority

Livonija

Livonia

apvienība

union

ietvert

include, contain

tag ad ējs

present-day

karš

war

(+ dat.) iegūt

gain

brīvs

free

ideja

idea

n eatk arīb a

independence

aktuāls

topical

pasaule

world

p ro klam ēt

proclaim

īss

short, brief

k a ra s p fk s

army, force(s)

PSRS =

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Padom ju Sociālistisko Republiku S avienība

savukārt

in turn

nokļūt

get, end up

p akļa u tīb a

subjection

a ttīs tīts

developed

vieta

place

p azīsta m s

known, famous

kaste

box

sākum s

beginning

sākties

begin

sastāvs

structure

m ērķis

aim

nacistisks

Nazi

u zstāties

speak up

nonākt

fall into

A ugstākā

Supreme Council

vidū

in the middle

p adom e

režīm s

regime

p ieņem t

adopt

politisks

political

konstitucionāls

constitutional

uzņem t

admit

īpaši

particularly

kopā ar

together with

likum s

law

end

iekļūt

join

beigas

(pl.)

tirg otājs

trader, merchant

uzreiz

immediately

kristīgs

Christian

tikai

only

ticīb a

faith

republika

republic

kļūt

become

padom ju

Soviet

Unit 14: Kāds šodien būs laiks?

186

okupēt

occupy

liberalizācija

liberalization

ieņem t

seize, take over

organizācija

organization

komunistisks

communist

Eiropas

European Union

s p fk s

power

Savienība

organizēt

organize

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

What was the area we now know as Latvia famous for in its early history? Why has it been frequently conquered by bigger nations? Who were the first Germans to arrive in Latvia? What two aims did they have? What area did Livonia cover? What was special about Riga under Swedish rule? What was one of the aims of the Great Northern War? When was Latvian independence proclaimed? When did Latvia lose this independence? What helped Latvia to regain independence in 1991?

What can you remember? How do you say the following in Latvian? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Riga Castle was built in the fourteenth century. I would like meat rissoles with boiled potatoes. Latvia’s independence was proclaimed on 18 November 1918. A new restaurant was opened in December. Swimming in the lake is forbidden. An exhibition of modern art was organized in the castle. In summer the weather is warm and sunny in Latvia. In winter it often snows. Spring is the most beautiful season. I like autumn because there are beautiful colours in the forests, (mežs ‘forest’) What should we do? What should I write?

U nit Fifte e n

Sakari un masu informācijas līdzekli* Communications and mass media

In this unit you will learn how to: • • • • •

contact people by telephone and e-mail find your way around a website find your way around newspapers and news websites report what somebody has said report commands

Dialogue 1 Vai es varētu, lūdzu, runāt a r . . . ? please speak to . . . ? (CD2; 46)

C ould I

Peteris is phoning another company to speak to a colleague. PĒTERIS

TELEFONISTE

PĒTERIS TELEFONISTE

PĒTERIS TELEFONISTE PĒTERIS TELEFONISTE

Labdien, mani sauc Pēteris Priedītis. Vai es varētu, lūdzu, runāt ar Ainu Bērziņu? Vienu mirkli. . . . Atvainojiet, viņas pašlaik nav birojā. Vai varu viņai atstāt ziņu? Vai jūs zināt, kad viņa būs atpakaļ? Viņa būšot ap četriem atpakaļ. Tad pasakiet, lūdzu, lai viņa man piezvana. Kāds ir jūsu tālruņa numurs? Mans mobilā numurs ir 26113385. Labi, pateikšu.

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mirklis

moment

pasacīt*

teli

atstāt

leave

pateikt*

teli

pašlaik

at the moment

piezvanīt

ring, telephone

ziņa

message

m obīlais

mobile (telephone)

atpakaļ

back (again)

(telefons)

birojs

office

‘say’ is used in the past and future, whereas sacīt ‘say’ is used in the present and in commands. Pateikt and p asacīt are used in the meaning of telling somebody to do something in the command form and in a promise, as the above dialogue shows.

* teikt

Language point The relative mood The relative mood is the equivalent of reported speech in English, e.g. He said it was raining. The present tense is formed by taking the he form of the verb, i.e. the third person, removing the -a ending if there is one, and adding -ot, e.g. pirkt ‘to buy’ —> viņš pērk —> pērkot. For a reflexive verb take the -as ending off the he form and add -oties, e.g. sākties ‘to begin’ -> sākas —> sākoties. Two of the irre­ gular verbs are different: būt ‘to be’ —> esot, iet ‘to go’ -> ejot. You’ll be happy to learn that this form is the same for all persons, i.e. it is not conjugated. Here is an example: Viņi teica, ka ejot uz veikalu. They said that they were going to the shop. Viņa teica, ka viņi tiekoties katru dienu. She said that they meet every day. Note that Latvian uses the present tense, whereas English often has a past tense. Latvian uses the same tense as would have been used in direct speech, i.e. ‘mēs ejam uz veikalu’ ‘we are going to the shop’, but just changes it into the relative mood.

Unit 15: Communications and mass media

For a reported question you just repeat the question as it would have been said in direct speech and put the verb into the relative mood, e.g.: Vai viņa mācās latviešu valodu? -> Viņš jautāja, vai viņa mācoties latviešu valodu. Is she learning Latvian? —> He asked if she was learning Latvian. For the future, take the es form of the verb in the future, take off the -u ending and add -ot, e.g. būt -> es būšu -> būšot. For a reflexive verb, take the es form, remove the -u and add -oties, e.g.: Viņš teica, ka būšot ap četriem atpakaļ. He said he would be back about 4.00. Viņa teica, ka filma sākšoties 18.00. She said the film would start at 18.00. For the past of the relative mood we use the perfect tense and change the auxiliary verb to esot. Don’t forget that the participle will need to agree with the subject. Here again the same tense is used as in direct speech so in the example below, Mara said ‘I have bought new clothes’ or ‘I bought new clothes’. Māra teica, ka esot nopirkusi jaunas drēbes. Mara said that she had bought new clothes. In all the above examples it is also possible to use the normal verb form without putting it into the relative mood. In addition, the relative mood is used for relating what is only hearsay in the speaker’s view; it is non-committal, suspending belief. In Eng­ lish we would use expressions like It is said th a t. . . ; Apparently, etc. Viņa skrienot ātrāk nekā Aina. They say she runs faster than Aina. Pils esot ļoti veca. The castle is supposed to be very old. Runā, ka Vilis esot bijis ārzemēs. They say that Vilis has been abroad. Pēc saraksta, drīz pienākšot vilciens. According to the timetable, a train is supposed to come soon.

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Exercise 1 How do you say the following in Latvian? Example: She said it was raining. Answer: Viņa teica, ka līstot. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The museum is supposed to be very interesting. He said he was tired. You said you would be back at 10.00. (use tu) Apparently, Rudis is working in Ireland. I asked if they are going on holiday to Spain this year. They said that they had visited their grandmother on Sunday, (apciemot) Inita said she had moved into a new flat. The new flat is supposed to be very beautiful. It has apparently snowed in the night.

Language point Reported commands Reported commands are formed in a different way from the way they are formed in English. In English we say: ‘He told me to come at 9.00’. In Latvian we don’t use the infinitive as in English, instead we use a subject and a verb in the relative mood, and introduce this with the word lai, e.g.: Viņš man teica, lai es ejot deviņos.

He told me to go at 9.00.

Leaving the verb in the normal form is also possible: e.g.: Viņš man teica, lai es eju deviņos. Very often Latvian misses out the first noun or pronoun if it refers to the same person as in the second part of the sentence, e.g.: Viņš teica, lai es ejot deviņos. This construction is also used if you ask somebody to tell somebody else to do something, as in the dialogue, but this time the verb is not put into the relative mood:

Unit 15: Communications and mass media

191

Pasakiet, lai viņa man piezvana. Tell (her) to phone me. Pasakiet, lai Brigita man atsūta īsziņu. Tell Brigita to send me a text message.

Exercise 2 How do you say the following in Latvian? Use the relative mood wherever possible. Example:

Mother told them to be home at 10.00.

Answer:

Māte teica, lai viņi esot desmitos mājās.

1 2 3 4 5

Inita told me to send her a text message, (aizsūtīt īsziņu) Tell (fam.) Imants to buy some tomatoes at the supermarket. Tell (pol.) him to visit me. (apciemot) The doctor told him not to smoke. I told her to go to the doctor’s.

6 7 8 9

She told Mara to meet her at the restaurant. Tell (fam.) her to listen to the weather forecast. Tell (pol.) her to bring some sandwiches, (sviestmaizes) I’ll tell her to phone you.

□

Dialogue 2 Es gribēju runāt p a r . . . a b o u t . . . (CD2; 47)

I w a nted to talk

Aina Berzina phones Peteris back and they talk about the conference Peteris is going to next week. a in a

P ē t e r is

a in a

Labdien, Priedīša kungs! Te runā Aina Bērziņa. Saņēmu jūsu ziņu. Labdien, Bērziņas kundze! Paldies, ka piezvanījāt. Es gribēju runāt par sanāksmi nākošnedēļ. Vai jūs zināt, kāda tehniskā iekārta ir telpās? Nu, es zinu, ka ir projektori un bezvada internēta savienojumi, bet jums pašam esot jāpaņem līdzi portatīvais dators.

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P ē t e r is a in a

P ē t e r is a in a

P ē t e r is

a in a

P ē t e r is

a in a

P ē t e r is a in a

Tā nav nekāda problēma. Bet vai tur būs printeris? Jā, būs. Fotokopētājs a rī ir. Un vai jūs zināt, kurā telpā es lasīšu referātu? Pašlaik nē. Bet noskaidrošu un jums paziņošu. Labi, paldies. Jūs varat man atsūtīt īsziņu uz šo mobilā numuru, vai arī e-pastu. Kāda ir jūsu e-pasta adrese? Man ir dokuments, kas man jums ir jānosūta. Mana adrese ir [email protected]. ( p prieditis at inbox punkts I v) Labi, es nosūtīšu failu ar pielikumu. Un tad līdz nākošnedēļai. Jā, ceru, ka būs laba sanāksme. Visu labu. Visu labu.

Vocabulary sa ņ e m t

receive

p ro b lē m a

problem

sa n ā ksm e

meeting, conference

p rin te ris

printer

fo to k o p ē tā js

photocopier

nā ko šn e d ē ļ

next week

re fe rā ts

te h n is k s

technical

presentation, report

ie kā rta

equipment

tĢlpa

room

n o s k a id ro t

ascertain, find out

n o s ū tīt

send

p a ziņ o t

inform, announce

p ro je k to rs

projector

īsziņ a

(text) message

bezvada

wireless

m o b ila is

mobile (telephone)

sa vie n o ju m s

connection

(telefons)

pats*

(one)self

n o tik t

take place, happen

paņem t

take, carry

e -p a s ts

e-mail (message)

p o rta tīv a is d a to rs

laptop

adrese

address

d a to rs

computer

p ie lik u m s

attachment

fa ils

(computer) file

a ts ū tīt

c e rē t

hope

send (to the addressee)

Unit 15: Communications and mass media

* pats, pati is used like the English ‘(one)self - thus in the dialogue ju m s pašam e s o t jā p a ņ e m līd z i p o rta tīv a is d a to rs uses the masculine singular dative

together with the debitive mood: ‘apparently you yourself have to take a laptop with you’, although in English one wouldn’t necessarily use the ‘yourself in this case. The full declension can be found in the grammar summary.

Exercise 3 Listen to Dialogue 2 and then answer the following questions. 1 2 3 4 5

What will be available in the rooms? What does Peteris have to take with him? What room will Peteris’ presentation be in? Why does Aina need Peteris’ e-mail address? How is Aina going to send the document?

Exercise 4 Here is some vocabulary you might come across on websites. Match up the Latvian words with their English meaning. You should be able to work out many of them from the vocabulary you have already learnt. The first one has already been done for you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

lietotāja vārds parole meklēt iepirkumu grozs palīdzība ieiet or ienākt pirkt lasīt vairāk mājas lapa apstiprināt pirkumu

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (9) (h) (i) (j)

user name buy website enter read more password confirm purchase find/go shopping basket help

193

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Unit 15: Sakari un masu inform ācijas līdzekļi

Cultural point Newspapers and media

N

e a t k a r īg ā

The main Latvian daily papers are Diena The Day and Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze The Independent Morning Newspaper. These are both also available online so this is an excellent opportunity to improve your Latvian. There are of course plenty of local and specialized newspapers as well. Let us have a look at the contents of a Latvian national newspaper. By now you will have learnt enough of the language to be able, with the help of a dictionary, to read some of the articles, so here is some useful vocabulary to help you find your way around a newspaper or a website. The description is of a newspaper, but the sections refer equally to a website. On the front page you might find a brief weather forecast laika prognoze. The main news item will generally be something of national importance, with a summary of what you will find on other pages. The leading article will appear on page 2, along with letters to the editor, vēstules. Pages 2 and 3 are generally given over to political debate under such general headings as politika ‘politics’; notikumi ‘events’; jaunākais or jaunumi ‘news of the day’; fakti; komentāri or prob­ lēmas; pētījumi ‘investigations, research’; skandāli. Further into the paper we would find interviews, intervijas, with pro­ minent figures, and the kultūra ‘culture’ and mākslas ‘arts’ section, along with small items of local news vietējās ziņas. Economic and business news might come next: ekonomika, saimniecība ‘the eco­ nomy’; bizness, darījumi ‘business’ (lit. ‘dealings’); nauda ‘money’. Then we come across the international news ārzemēs or ārzemju ziņas, usually confined to one page. There may also be articles on science zinātne. This will usually be followed by the sports page sports. The back page generally carries smaller items such as minor news, īsumā ‘in brief or sīka informācija ‘minor reports’, currency exchange

Unit 15: Communications and mass media

rates valūta, a more detailed weather report laika ziņas, and of course the crossword puzzle krustvārdu mīkla. If you can attempt that, your knowledge of Latvia and Latvian is coming on very nicely! On different days of the week, the Latvian national papers also carry different kinds of supplements: lifestyle dzīvesstils; ideas for the home mājoklis; for women sievietēm; leisure atpūta; or entertainment izklaide, covering radio and television radio un televīzija; and events, usually under the heading ceļvedis ‘guide’. The newspapers also cater for the great interest in spiritual and supernatural things: don’t be surprised to find detailed horoscopes horoskopi, or even a whole page with the heading Dvēselei ‘for the soul’. Newspapers also carry various kinds of classified advertisement sludinājumi. In some papers there are entire pages of advertising reklāmas and announcements paziņojumi. The Latvian national newspapers also act as government gazettes, giving the texts, in a supplement, of the latest laws and decrees (likumi un lēmumi) passed by the parliament Saeima. In the online versions you will often find a survey aptauja or izsaki viedokli ‘give your opinion’ on the home page. There are many websites mājas lapas on the Internet internets which you may like to explore to broaden your knowledge of Latvia or the aspect of it that particularly interests you. Here are the addresses of some: Diena: www.diena.lv Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze: w w w .nra.lv/zinas/red/nra/ Latvijas Radio: www.latvijasradio.lv - click Tiešraide for live broadcasts Latvijas TV: www.ltv.lv - there are archived programmes you can watch but, at the time of writing, you need to pay - click LTV Arhīvs Internet TV news: www.tv24.lv Two news and general interest sites: www.delfi.lv and www.apollo.lv/ portal/hom e For general information about Latvia go to the Latvian Institute: www.li.lv Government bodies: www.gov.lv Tourist information: w w w .la tv ia to u ris m .lv ;www.airbaltic.com (national airline); www.ldz.lv (Latvian rail company)

195

Unit 15: Sakari un masu inform ācijas līdzekļi

196

Reading Here is the TV guide for Sunday, 19 October. Read it and then answer the questions. Vocabulary can be found in the glossary at the back of the book.

LATVIJAI

TELEVĪZIJA

LAIKS

PĀRRAIDE

ŽANRS

07.30

G arīgā d im e n sija

Kultūra

S a rg ā jie t bē rnu s! Raidījums par bērnu

Dokumentālie

08.00

tiesībām 08.15

T ito m s 1. sērija

Bērniem

08.40

B itīte 42. sērija

Bērniem

09.00

Kas te ? Es te! Jauns raidījums bērniem

Dokumentālie

N e prā ta cen a LTV seriāls. 368. un 369.

Seriāli

09.30

sērija 10.30

M ans za ļa is d ā rzs Praktiski padomi ne

Raidījumi

tikai dārzkopjiem 11.00

D ie v k a lp o ju m s Svētbrīdis ar LTV

Kultūra

starpniecību 12.00

V ides fa k ti Aktuālas tēmas ar Sandiju

Dokumentālie

Semjonovu. Skaties dabā! 12.30

L a tvija s š lā g e ra p ta u ja 2008

Izklaide

13.25

M aija un Paija Mākslas filma, Latvija

Filmas visai ģimenei

15.00

D abas g rā m a ta Raidījums par dabu

Dokumentālie

15.30

J u n io rs TV Informatīvi izklaidējošs

Bērniem

raidījums pusaudžiem 16.00

S le pe nais a rh īv s Izglītojošu raidījumu

cikls par Latvijas vēsturi

Dokumentālie

Unit 15: Communications and mass media

197

LAIKS

PARRAIDE

ŽANRS

17.30

V ie na udži Latvijai 90

Raidījumi

18.00

Šodien La tvijā 18.00 Ziņas 18.20 Nedēļa

Dokumentālie

izklaidē 18.30

Ielas ga ru m ā Zaķusalas krastmala. 2. daļa

Kultūra

19.00

P ro vin ce Cilvēku likteņi ārpus Rīgas

Dokumentālie

19.30

P asaciņa Ziloņi un zaķi.

Bērniem

19.40

B rāļi un m āsas Daudzsēriju drāma. ASV. 2006. 23. sērija

Dokumentālie

20.30

P anorām a 20:30 Panorāma. 20:40 De

Dokumentālie

Facto. 21:15 Sporta ziņas. 21:22 Laika ziņas. 21.25

F o to g rā fija a r sie v ie ti un m eža kuili

Mākslas filmas

Mākslas filma, Latvija 23.10

N a kts ziņ as

Dokumentālie

23.15

P ro je k ts C ilvē ks Skaņu telpa

Kultūra

23.45

A ga ta K ris ti. E rkils Puaro

Seriāli

Krimināldrāma. Lielbritānija. 5. sērija

1

2

3

4

You want a lie-in but the kids are trying to get you up and about. You decide, against your better judgement, to put them in front of the TV. What will they watch? What will you watch if you are interested in: (a) the environment and nature (b) history (c) gardening (d) easy listening pop (e) current events Say at what time each of the programmes you will watch in no. 2 is on, e.g. divdesmit trijos un četrdesmit piecās minūtēs Again against your better judgement, you allow your teenage son and daughter to watch TV, just to get them to be quiet because they’ve been arguing all afternoon. What could they watch?

Unit 15: Sakari un masu info rm ā c ija s līdzekļi

198

5

You’ve finally got the kids off to bed and want to sit down with a nice glass of wine and a film to relax - is there anything on TV?

What can you remember? As we come to the end of the book, here is some revision. How do you say the following sentences in Latvian? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

London is bigger than Riga. The Latvian language is one of the oldest in Europe. Maija travelled to Spain on holiday. Vilis went to Ireland to work at a mushroom farm, (ferma ‘farm ’) I’ve had backache since I worked in the garden on Saturday. Departure is at 18.00 and arrival at 21.00. Mr Ozolins, could you help me please? (palīdzēt ‘help’)

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Maija has been to Germany. Peteris and I have eaten in very good restaurants in Latvia. The dog is sleeping under the table. There are many new buildings being built in Riga. Smoking is forbidden. Aina said that Peteris would have to take a laptop. Peteris asked if there would be a printer.

15

I can now speak good Latvian.

G ram m ar summary

Nouns A noun names a thing or living being, e.g. train, baby, idea. Nouns in Latvian have two genders: masculine and feminine. They are also declined (modified) according to case by the addition of different end­ ings to the stem. Here are the cases used in Latvian together with some of their functions. Nominative (nom.)

Genitive (gen.)

Basic dictionary form, the subject of the sentence, the performer of the action of the verb, e.g. ‘She gave me a present’ Viņa man iedeva dāvānu. Answers the question what? or who? as a subject, e.g. ‘Who gave me a present?’ Possession, belonging, equivalent to o f or the possessive 's in English: māsas grāmata ‘the sister’s book’. Answers the question whose?, e.g. ‘Whose book is that?’ Materials, substance, composition: zelta aproce ‘gold bracelet’. Use, purpose: vīna glāze ‘wine glass’. Description or classification: latviešu valoda ‘the Latvian language’. With units of measurement: kilograms sviesta ‘a kilogram of butter’. With containers: pudele limonādes ‘a bottle of lemonade’. With the negative of the verb to be: Man nav naudas ‘1 have no money’. With certain prepositions in the singular (see the section on prepositions below).

200

G ra m m a r sum m ary

With daudz ‘m uch/m any’, maz ‘little/few’, vairāk ‘more’, mazāk ‘less/fewer’: daudz naudas ‘much money’. Following the -desmit numbers, e.g. 10, 20, the -padsmit numbers, e.g. 11, 12, and

Dative (dat.)

round numbers ending in 0, e.g. 100, 1000: desmit latu. To say one and a half: pusotra. The indirect object of a verb, e.g. ‘She gave leva a present’ Viņa iedeva Ievai dāvānu. Answers the question to or for whom? or who? as an indirect object, e.g. ‘Who did you give that to ? ’ or ‘To whom ?’ Used with all prepositions in the plural. Used with certain prepositions in the singular (see the section on prepositions below). Used to indicate the possessor in phrases meaning to have: Man ir trīs kaķi ‘I have three cats’. In constructions with the prefix jā- meaning must/have to: Man jāiet ‘I have to go’. With verbs such as patikt ‘like’, garšot ‘like (food)’, sāpēt ‘hurt’, vajadzēt ‘need’: Man sāp galva ‘I have a headache’.

Accusative (acc.)

With adverbs such as karsti ‘hot’ and auksti ‘co ld ’: Man ir auksti ‘I am cold’. The direct object of the action of the verb, e.g. ‘She gave me a present’: Viņa man iedeva dāvānu. Answers the question what? as a direct object, e.g. ‘What did you give her?’

Locative (loc.)

Vocative (voc.)

With certain prepositions in the singular (see the section on prepositions below). In, at, on a place or time, e.g. ‘I live in Riga’ Es dzīvoju Rīgā. Answers the questions where?, e.g. ‘Where were you?’ or at what time? Direct address, e.g. Imant!

Grammar summary

201

Noun declension - singular Masculine Nom. Gen. D at.

Acc. Loc. Voc.

žurnāls ceļš žurnāla žurnālam žurnālu žurnālā Imant!

teātris

tirgus

teātra teātrim teātri teātrī Uģi! Pēter!

tirgus tirgum tirgu tirgū Miku!

Feminine Nom. Gen. Dat.

Acc. Loc. Voc.

stacija stacijas stacijai staciju stacijā Anda!

universitāte universitātes universitātei universitāti universitātē Dace! Elizabet!

valsts valsts valstij valsti valstī -

Noun declension - plural Masculine Nom. Gen. D at.

Acc. Loc.

žurnāli žurnālu žurnāliem žurnālus žurnālos

teātri teātru teātriem teātrus teātros

tirgi tirgu tirgiem tirgus tirgos

Feminine Nom. Gen. D at.

Acc. Loc.

stacijas staciju stacijām stacijas stacijās

universitātes universitātu universitātēm universitātes universitātēs

valstis valstu valstīm valstis valstīs

202

G ram m ar summary

Consonant changes Consonant changes happen in masculine nouns ending in -is in the genitive singular and all the cases in the plural. It also happens in feminine nouns ending in -e and -is but only in the genitive plural. C o n s o n a n t ch a n g e

N o m in a tive

G en itive p lu ra l

T ranslation

b -» bj c —> Č d -> ž dz -> dž

krabis saimniece sirds (fem.) palodze brālis zeme suns skapis lasis aploksne latvietis zivs (fem.) nazis zvaigzne

krabju saimnieču siržu palodžu brāļu zemju suņu skapju lašu aplokšņu latviešu (masc.) zivju nažu zvaigžņu

cra b

1-> J m —> mj n^ ņ P -» Pj s —> Š sn šņ t -» Š v —> vj z -> Ž zn -» žņ

m istre ss o f the h o use h e a rt w in d o w s ill b ro th e r land, c o u n try dog c u p b o a rd sa lm o n e n ve lo p e a Latvian fish kn ife s ta r

Diminutives A diminutive is like saying ‘a s m a ll. . .’ , e.g. ‘tummy’ or ‘doggy’ in English. Here are the main endings used in Latvian. M a scu lin e

Nom. Diminutive

gabals ceļš gabaliņš celiņš

brālis

tirgus

brālītis

tirdziņš

kaste kastīte

zivs zivtiņa

F e m in in e

Nom. Diminutive

karba kārbiņa

Grammar summary

203

Adjectives An adjective describes the quality of a thing, for example, red, old. In Latvian, adjectives agree with the nouns they qualify by adding endings. They may be either indefinite (a black cat) or definite (the black cat).

Indefinite endings S in g u la r

P lu ra l

M a s c u lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

Nom .

liels

liela

lieli

lielas

Gen.

liela

lielas

lielu

lielu

Dat.

lielam

lielai

lieliem

lielām

A cc.

lielu

lielu

lielus

lielas

Loc.

lielā

lielā

lielos

lielās

The possessive adjectives m a n s ‘my’ and t a v s ‘your’ (sing, fam.) take these endings. The other possessive adjectives, i.e. v iņ a ‘his’, v iņ a s ‘her’, m u s u ‘our’, ju s u ‘your’ (pi. and pol.) , v iņ u ‘their’ do not decline. S a v s ‘one’s own’ also takes these endings. The numbers v ie n s ‘one:', d iv i ‘tw o’ and č e t r i ‘four’ to d e v iņ i ‘nine’ also take these endings.

Definite endings S in g u la r

P lu ra l

M a s c u lin e

F e m in in e

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

Nom .

lielais

lielā

lielie

lielās

Gen.

lielā

lielās

lielo

lielo

Dat.

lielajam

lielajai

lielajiem

lielajām

A cc.

lielo

lielo

lielos

lielās

Loc.

lielajā

lielajā

lielajos

lielajās

All the ordinal numbers, i.e. p ir m a is ‘first’, etc. take these endings.

204

G ram m ar summary

Comparison Comparative adjectives - more: liels -> lielāks ‘bigger’, with indefinite adjective endings. Superlative adjectives - most: lielāks vislielākais ‘the biggest’, with definite adjective endings.

Adverbs An adverb qualifies an adjective or a verb, for example, really, quickly. Adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -i to the stem: skaists —> skaisti ‘beautifully’. Comparative adverbs - more: skaisti skaistāk ‘more beautifully’. Superlative adverbs - most: skaistāk visskaistāk ‘most beautifully’.

Pronouns A pronoun stands in place of a noun, for example, he, you, it. In Latvian they decline according to case.

Personal pronouns 1st p e rs o n

Singular

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Loc.

Plural

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Loc.

2 n d p e rso n

3 rd p e rs o n

3 rd p e rs o n

m asc.

fem .

es manis man mani manī

tu tevis tev tevi tevī

viņš viņa viņam viņu viņā

viņa viņas viņai viņu viņā

mēs mūsu mums mūs mūsos

jūs jūsu jums jūs jūsos

viņi viņu viņiem viņus viņos

viņas viņu viņām viņas viņās

Grammar summary

205

Interrogative/relative pronouns Interrogative pronouns are the questions words who or what - in Latvian there is no distinction between people or objects so the same word kas is used. The words for where and when are included for the locative. Norm.

Gen.

D at

Acc.

Loc.

kas

ka

kam

ko

kur ‘where’ kad ‘when’

Demonstrative pronouns Demonstrative pronouns are šis ‘this’ and tas ‘that’. Tas is also used as the pronoun ‘it’ for inanimate objects. Masculine

Nom . Gen. Dat. A cc. Loc.

Feminine

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

šis šā šim šo šajā

šie šo šiem šos šajos

šī šīs šai šo šajā

šīs šo šīm šīs šajās

Masculine

Nom . Gen. Dat. A cc. Loc.

Feminine

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

tas tā tam to tajā

tie to tiem tos tajos

tā tās tai to tajā

tās to tām tās tajās

206

G ram m ar summary

Emphatic reflexive pronouns The emphatic reflexive pronoun is pats, pati (one)self. Masculine Singular Nom . Gen. Dat. A cc. Loc.

pats paša pašam pašu pašā

Feminine Plural paši pašu pašiem pašus pašos

Singular pati pašas pašai pašu pašā

Plural pašas pašu pašām pašas pašās

Prepositions A preposition is a word which comes before a noun to express a relationship in time or space, such as before, on, with. Sometimes a word or particle is placed after the word it modifies, such as -ward in homeward - this is known as a postposition. In Latvian preposi­ tions govern different cases in the singular, but all prepositions and postpositions take the dative in the plural.

+ Gen.

Preposition

Approximate meaning

aiz bez kopš no pēc pie pirms uz virs zem

behind, owing to without since from, out of, off after, according to at (the place of), by, near ago, before on above below, under

Grammar summary

207

P re p o s itio n

A p p ro x im a te m e a n in g

+ A cc.

ap ar caur gar pa par pār pret starp uz

about, around with, by means of through along through, along, on about, with reference to across, over against, towards between, among to, until

+ D at.

blakus (postposition) līdz līdzi (postposition) pretī (postposition) priekšā (postposition)

next to up to, until with opposite, towards in front of

Verbs A verb describes an action, process or state, such as go, exist, travel. Verbs are conjugated (i.e. modified) according to voice, person, tense, m ood and what we might call valency (whether they are positive or negative). Valency: es eju uz tirgu ‘I’m going to the market’; es neeju uz tirgu Tm not going to the market’. Voice can be either active (performing an action - ‘I built a house’: es uzbūvēju māju) or passive (being acted upon - ‘a house was built’: māja tika uzbūvēta). The passive is formed using the verbs tikt or būt + the past passive participle which is the infinitive + indefinite adjective endings. Person: there are three persons - first (es T, mēs ‘we’), second (tu, jūs ‘you’) and third (viņš/viņa/tas ‘h e /s h e /if, viņi/viņas/tie ‘they’).

208

G ram m ar summary

Tense in Latvian can be one of the following: Present

Future

Past (or imperfect)

Present perfect

Future perfect

Past perfect (or pluperfect)

Describing an action current at the time of the utterance: es eju uz tirgu ‘I’m going/l go to the market’. Describing what is anticipated or yet to occur: es iešu uz tirgu ‘1will go/l am going to go to the market’. Describing something that took place prior to the time of the utterance: es gāju uz tirgu ‘1 went to the market’. Describing something that has taken place: es esmu bijis/bijusi uz tirgu ‘1 have been to the market’. Describing something that will have taken place: es iešu uz tirgu, kad būšu izlasījis/ izlasijusi avīzi ‘1 will go the market when 1 have read (lit. ‘will have read’) the newspaper’. Describing something that had taken place: es gāju uz tirgu, kad biju izlasījis/ izlasijusi avīzi ‘1 went to the market when 1 had read the newspaper’.

M ood: the mood of a verb can be: Indicative

Conditional

Describing an action that is real - all the examples given under Tense are indicative. Describing action that is putative or projected - where we use would/ should/could in English, and in clauses starting with if: es gribētu iet uz tirgu ‘1would like to go to the market’.

Grammar summary

Imperative Relative or reported

Debitive

209

Commanding or ordering an action: ej/ejiet uz tirgu! ‘go to the market!’ Reported speech or describing an action or state which is said to be the case but which the speaker does not necessarily believe: viņš ejot uz tirgu ‘he’s apparently going to the market’. The mood of obligation - must/have to in English: man jāiet uz tirgu ‘I have to go to the market’.

Present tense Non-reflexive verbs

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

-u -/i -am -at

(āj, ēj, oj)-u (ā, ē, o)(ā, ē, o)(āj, ēj, oj)-am (āj, ēj, oj)-at

-u -i -a/-ām/-am -āt/-at

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

-os -ies -as -amies -aties

(āj, ēj, oj)-os (ā, ē, o)-jies (ā, ē, o)-jas (āj, ēj, oj)-amies (āj, ēj, oj)-aties

-os -ies -ās/-as -āmies/-amies -āties/-aties

Reflexive verbs

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

210

G ram m ar summary

Future tense

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

Non-reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs

-Šu -si -s -sim -sit

-šos -sies -sies -simies -sities

Past tense Non-reflexive verbs

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

Group 1

Groups 2, 3

-u -i -a -ām -āt

(āj, (āj, (āj, (āj, (āj,

Group 1

Groups 2, 3

-os -ies -ās -āmies -āties

(āj, (āj, (āj, (āj, (āj,

ēj, ēj, ēj, ēj, ēj,

oj, oj, oj, oj, oj,

ij)-u ij)-i ij)-a ij)-ām ij)-āt

Reflexive verbs

es tu viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas mēs jūs

ēj, ēj, ēj, ēj, ēj,

oj, oj, oj, oj, oj,

ij)-os ij)-ies ij)-ās ij)-āmies ij)-āties

The perfect tenses The perfect tenses are form ed with the p re sent/past/future of the verb būt ‘to be’ and the past participle which is form ed from the past stem with the following endings added, e.g. es esmu bijis uz tirgu ‘I have been to the m arket’.

Grammar summary

211

N o n -re fle x iv e verbs

S in g u la r Plural

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

-is -uši

-usi -ušas

M a scu lin e

F e m in in e

-ies -ušies

-usies -ušās

R e flexive verbs

S in g u la r Plural

Verb prefixes P re fix

A p p ro x im a te

E xam p le s

T ranslation

m e a n in g

aizapa t-

away around back, away

iz-

in out, completely

a iz ie t a p b ra u k t a tie t ie ie t izie t iz la s īt

nopap ā rpiesa-

off, from, down small action over, across approach sthg together, completely

n o lik t p a te ik t p ā rlie t p ie lie t sa zva n ītie s sa g rie z t

uz-

on, up

T ranslation

verb

a tn e s t ie-

B a sic

u z lik t

leave, go off travel around depart bring go in, enter go out read completely put down tell pour over add by pouring phone reciprocal cut up put on

ie t

go

b ra u k t travel ie t ne st

go carry

ie t

go go la s īt read lik t put te ik t say lie t pour lie t pour z v a n īt phone ie t

g rie z t lik t

cut put

Verb list This verb list gives the conjugations of verbs which do not follow regular patterns. We give the present tense in full, then the past tense, and the future only if this does not follow the normal pattern.

212

G ram m ar summary

§ indicates that the ‘e’ is pronounced as a broad short ‘e’; § means that the ‘e’ is pronounced as a broad long ‘e’.

Irregular verbs atiet būt

depart be

dot

give

ieiet iet izdoties iziet

enter go succeed, manage go out, leave

see iet Ģsmu esi ir Ģsam Ģsat; biju nĢĢsmu neesi nav n^Ģsam n§$sat; nebiju dodu dod dod dodam dodat; devu see iet eju ej iet ejam ejat; gāju man izdodas; man izdevās see iet

Group 1 non-reflexive verbs aizliegt

forbid

apbraukt braukt

travel around drive

celt cept degt

build fry, bake, roast burn

dzert

drink

ēst iekļūt iešķelt

eat include, join split

ieteikt ietilpt

recommend include

ietvert

include, contain

just klāties

feel be feeling

aizliedzu aizliedz aizliedz aizliedzam aizliedzat; aizliedzu see braukt braucu brauc brauc braucam braucat; braucu ceļu ceļ ceļ ceļam ceļat; cēlu c^pu cep cģp cĢpam c^pat; cepu d§gu dedz d§g d§gam d^gat; degu dzeru dzer dzer dzeram dzerat; dzēru fd u ēd fd fdam fdat; ēdu; ēdīšu see kļūt iešķeļu iešķēl iešķeļ iešķeļam iešķeļat; iešķēlu see teikt ietilpstu ietilpsti ietilpst ietilpstam ietilpstat; ietilpu ietveru ietver ietver ietveram ietverat; ietvēru jūtu jūti jūt jūtam jūtat; jutu; jutīšu man klājas; man klājās

Grammar summary

kjūt

become

krist

fall

liet līt nākt nest

pour rain come carry

ņemt

take

nest

carry

nogurt

get tired

nokļūt nokrist nolikt

get, end up fall put down

notikt

paņemt pārliet pārnākt pasniegt

happen, take place take off have a meal subject, subjugate take pour over arrive hand, serve

paspēt

manage

patikt

like

pazīt

recognize, know (s.b.) disappear

novilkt paēst pakļaut

pazust

213

kļūstu kļūsti kļūst kļūstam kļūstat; kļuvu krītu krīti krīt krītam krītat; kritu; kritīšu leju lej lej lejam lejat; lēju līst; lija; līs nāku nāc nāk nākam nākat; nācu n^su nes n§s n^sam n^sat; nesu; nesīšu ņ§mu ņem ņ§m ņ^mam ņ^mat; ņēmu n§su nes n§s ngsam ngsat; nesu; nesīšu nogurstu nogursti nogurst nogurstam nogurstat; noguru see kļūt see krist nolieku noliec noliek noliekam noliekat; noliku see tikt see uzvilkt see ēst see kļūt see ņemt see liet see nākt pasniedzu pasniedz pasniedz pasniedzam pasniedzat; pasniedzu paspēju paspēj paspēj paspējam paspējat; paspēju man patīk; man patika; man patiks pazīstu pazīsti pazīst pazīstam pazīstat; pazinu pazūdu pazūdi pazūd pazūdam pazūdat; pazudu; pazudīšu

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G ram m ar summary

piekust

get tired

pieliet pielikt pirkt

add (by pouring) add buy

pūst

blow

reibt

get dizzy

sagriezt

cut

sākt saukt

begin (sthg) call

sist šķist skriet

hit appear run

snigt spēt

snow be able; can

teikt tikt uzbērt

say reach sprinkle

uzlikt

put onto

veikt

carry out

vērst

lead

uzvilkt

wind up

piekūstu piekosti piekūst piekūstam piekūstat; piekusu; piekusīšu see liet see nolikt pfrku pērc p frk pfrkam pfrkat; pirku pūšu pūt pūš pūšam pūšat; pūtu; pūtīšu reibstu reibsti reibst reibstam reibstat; reibu sagriežu sagriez sagriež sagriežam sagriežat; sagriezu; sagriezīšu sāku sāc sāk sākam sākat; sāku saucu sauc sauc saucam saucat; saucu situ sit sit sitam sitat; situ man šķiet; man šķita; man šķitīs skrienu skrien skrien skrienam skrienat; skrēju skrēju skrej skrej skrējām skrējāt; skrēju snieg; sniga; snigs spēju spēj spēj spējam spējat; spēju teicu teic teic teicam teicat; teicu tieku tiec tiek tiekam tiekat; tiku uzberu uzber uzber uzberam uzberat; uzbēru uzlieku uzliec uzliek uzliekam uzliekat; uzliku veicu veic veic veicam veicat; veicu vēršu vērs vērš vēršam vēršat; vērsu uzvalku uzvelc uzvelk uzvalkam uzvelkat; uzvilku

Grammar summary

215

Group 1 reflexive verbs atpūsties

relax

atrasties

find oneself

atšķirties beigties

differ finish

celties

get up

griezties

turn

iepazīties

get to know

iepirkties

go shopping

ierasties sākties

arrive begin

šķirties

get divorced, part

tikties

meet

uzstāties

speak up

atpūšos atpūties atpūšas atpūšamies atpūšaties; atpūtos; atpūtīšos atrodos atrodies atrodas atrodamies atrodaties; atrados; atradīšos see šķirties beidzos beidzies beidzas beidzamies beidzaties; beidzos ceļos celies ceļas ceļamies ceļaties; cēlos griežos griezies griežas griežamies griežaties; griezos iepazīstos iepazīsties iepazīstas iepazīstamies iepazīstaties; iepazinos iepfrkos iepērcies iepērkas iepfrkamies iepfrkaties; iepirkos see atrasties sākos sācies sākas sākamies sākaties; sākos šķiros šķiries šķiras šķiramies šķiraties; šķīros tiekos tiecies tiekas tiekamies tiekaties; tikos uzstājos uzstājies uzstājas uzstājāmies uzstājāties; uzstājos

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G ra m m a r sum m ary

Group 3 verbs ending in -at dāvināt

present

dāvinu dāvini dāvina dāvinām dāvināt; dāvināju

dibināt

found

dziedāt

sing

mēģināt

try

paaugstināt

raise

dibinu dibini dibina dibinām dibināt; dibināju dziedu dziedi dzied dziedam dziedat; dziedāju mēģinu mēģini mēģina mēģinām mēģināt; mēģināju paaugstinu paaugstini paaugstina paaugstinām paaugstināt; paaugstināju

risināt

solve

zināt

know

risinu risini risina risinām risināt; risināju zinu zini zina zinām zināt; zināju

Other verbs (verb group given in brackets) dabūt (2)

get, receive

gulēt (3) izgulēties (3)

sleep have a lie-in

pasacīt (3) sacīt (3) sēdēt (3)

tell say sit

vajadzēt

need

dabūju dabū dabū dabūjam dabūjat; dabūju guļu guli guļ guļam guļat; gulēju izguļos izgulies izguļas izguļamies izguļaties; izgulējos see sacīt saku saki saka sakām sakāt; saciju sēžu sēdi sēž sēžam sēžat; sēdēju s fd u sēdi sģd sģdam sfdat; sēdēju man vajag; man vajadzēja; man vajadzēs

Key to exercises

Unit 1 Exercise 1 1 Labi, paldies/Nekas, normāli. 2 Arlabunakti! 3 Sveiks/Sveika! 4 Visu labu! 5 Čau, Anda! 6 Paldies, labi, un tev/jums? 7 Atā! 8 Uz redzēšanos! 9 Labvakar!

Exercise 2 Viņš ir/nav; Anda ir/nav; tu esi/neesi; mēs esam/neesam; viņa ir/nav; Daniels un Lija ir/nav; jūs esat/neesat.

Exercise 3 1 viņu; 2 viņas; 3 Viņa; 4 viņus; 5 Mani; 6 Viņas; 7 vārds; 8 sauc; 9 sauc.

Exercise 4 1 strādā; 2 dzīvo; 3 dzīvo/strādā; 4 runā; 5 dzīvo/strādā; 6 runā; 7 strādā; 8 strādāju; 9 dzīvojat.

Exercise 5 anglis; kanādiete; austrālietis; īriete; žurnālists; ārste; students; skolotāja; oficiants.

Exercise 6 1 četri plus viens ir pieci; 2 astoņi plus divi ir desmit; 3 trīs plus pieci ir astoņi; 4 seši plus četri ir desmit; 5 septiņi plus divi ir deviņi; 6 pieci plus pieci ir desmit; 7 divi plus četri ir seši; 8 deviņi plus viens ir desmit; 9 viens plus pieci ir seši; 10 trīs plus divi ir pieci.

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What can you remember? A 1 Viņš dzīvo Rīgā. 2 Vai viņš ir arhitekts? 3 Viņa ir oficiante. 4 Es strādāju Liepājā. 5 Viņas ir Londonā. 6 Vai viņu sauc Marija? 7 Vai jūs esat amerikānis/amerikāniete? 8 Vai jūs dzīvojat Vašingtonā? 9 Viņu sauc Andris. 10 Viņa ir skolotāja, vai ne? B 1 Kā tevi sauc? 2 Kur viņš dzīvo? 3 Kā viņus sauc? 4 Par ko viņa strādā? 5 Kur jūs dzīvojat? 6 Kā viņu sauc? 7 Vai jūs runājat latviski? 8 Vai jūs dzīvojat Rīgā? 9 Par ko tu strādā? 10 Vai viņš ir ārsts? C 1 viens; 5 pieci; 8 astoņi; 4 četri; 10 desmit; 9 deviņi; 6 seši; 2 divi.

Unit 2 Exercise 1 1 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un parks ir pa kreisi. 2 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un tad pa labi. 3 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un restorāns ir pa kreisi. 4 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un tur ir kino. 5 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un baznīca ir pa kreisi. 6 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un bibliotēka ir pa labi. 7 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un tad pa labi. 8 Stacija ir te pa labi. 9 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu, un tad pa labi.

Exercise 2 aptiekas; skolas; operas; stacijas; stadioni; bibliotēkas; kafejnīcas; tirgi; parki; veikali; kioski; baznīcas; slimnīcas; restorāni; biroji; kino; katedrāles; ceļi.

Exercise 3 Divi restorāni; piecas bibliotēkas; trīs stadioni; deviņi kino; viena slimnīca; astoņas skolas.

Exercise 5 1 ejam, restorānu; 2 brauc, vilcienu; 3 ejat, tirgu; 4 brauc, tramvaju; 5 iet, kino; 6 brauc, stadionu; 7 eju, banku; 8 ejam, Rīgas pili; 9 iet, stadionu.

Key to exercises

219

Exercise 6 Divpadsmit; četrdesmit; septiņpadsmit; astoņdesmit divi; vienpadsmit; sešdesmit trīs; piecdesmit pieci; astoņpadsmit; septiņi; deviņdesmit četri.

What can you remember? A 1 Atvainojiet, kur ir tramvaja pietura? 2 Kur ir taksometra stāvvieta? 3 Taksometra stāvvieta ir pa kreisi. 4 Ejiet taisni un tad pa labi. 5 Lūdzu, šokolādi. 6 Lūdzu, saldējumu. 7 Lūdzu, konfektes. 8 Lūdzu, avīzi. 9 Paldies. 10 Lūdzu. B 1 Lūdzu, uz stadionu. 2 Lūdzu, uz staciju. 3 Lūdzu, uz lidostu. C 1 četrdesmit divi plus trīsdesmit astoņi ir astoņdesmit; 2 trīsdesmit viens plus sešdesmit divi ir deviņdesmit trīs; 3 piecdesmit plus četr­ desmit divi ir deviņdesmit divi; 4 septiņdesmit plus astoņpadsmit ir astoņdesmit astoņi; 5 divpadsmit plus astoņdesmit ir deviņdesmit divi; 6 vienpadsmit plus četrpadsm it ir divdesmit pieci; 7 sešdesmit seši plus trīsdesmit trīs ir deviņdesmit deviņi; 8 četrdesmit plus četrpadsmit ir piecdesmit četri; 9 piecpadsmit plus trīs ir astoņpadsmit; 10 div­ desmit četri plus seši ir trīsdesmit.

E H J K L M N B V C Z A S

R R Ļ

T E D

U S G

1 T S

Š O

B A Z N ī C

I ī Ķ S U ū

R P F

A Ā O

F s G

Ļ L

L 1

A

Š

E

T

1

E

D 0 Č I Ņ D

F

Ā P S Ā

A

P

D

Ņ ī o Ē Ž 1 I M

O O Ķ O P E R A G G

P R A J Č ī A T P

A Ā

U N

Ņ S L G Ž

1 V E

Š Ā H E K

Ē K N

Ū ī U Ķ ī

J C

I K

R A

Č G

A

R S Ā L V E 1 K A L S

S s E 1 Ū Ļ T R L Ķ

D ī

F G

Ū Ā K

R U

P A R K

G H C Ā Ļ

D

S R S H Ž

T

0

J 0 K 1 N O

H

J

K

Š O Ū

G Š T Ž J Ā 1 E K ī T S

L

Ņ F U

H F K

J K L

A F E J N

Z C V A B

I C

N

A

M E

Č G Ē

R T U

G

1 0

P

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Key to exercises

Unit 3 Exercise 1 Piecsimt sešdesmit septiņi - 567; septiņsimt astoņdesmit astoņi - 788; četrsimt septiņdesmit seši - 476; sešsimt piecdesmit septiņi - 657; piecdesmit četri - 54; divsimt divdesmit septiņi - 227; deviņsimt deviņdesmit trīs - 993; četrsimt piecdesmit divi - 452; trīssimt četrdesmit septiņi - 347; astoņsimt deviņdesmit pieci - 895.

Exercise 2 Desmitais novembris; divdesmit piektais decembris; pirmais maijs; trīsdesmitais septembris; trešais marts; divdesmit pirmais jūnijs; pir­ mais janvāris; piecpadsmitais aprīlis; divdesmit ceturtais februāris; piecpadsmitais jūlijs.

Exercise 5 1 Jānim ir žurnāls. 2 Ievai ir vienvietīgs numurs. 3 Vai viņām ir atslēga? 4 Mums ir restorāns. 5 Vai viņiem ir saldējums? 6 Vai tev ir pieci lati? 7 Vai jums ir divvietīgs numurs? 8 Man ir atslēga. 9 Viņam ir trīs žurnāli.

Exercise 6 Atnesiet, lūdzu: 1 tostermaizi, sviestu, ievārījumu un tēju ar pienu. 2 rupjmaizi, sviestu, sieru, jogurtu un kafiju. 3 baltmaizi, sviestu, šķiņķi, ābolu sulu un tēju.

Reading 1 The cheapest would be a ‘divvietīgs numurs - atsevišķas gultas’ and a ‘divvietīgs numurs - lielā gulta’ for 62 lats; or for 66 lats you could have a family room with an extra lounge. 2 5 lats. 3 Divvietīgs numurs - atsevišķas gultas - 28 lats. 4 12.00. 5 The ‘lux numurs lielā gulta’ costs 40 lats.

What can you remember? B 1 Atnesiet man, lūdzu, tostermaizi, ievārījumu un kafiju. 2 Mums ir divvietīgs numurs ar dušu. 3 Viņiem ir ģimenes numurs ar dušu un tualeti. 4 Andrim ir divi suņi. 5 Dacei ir trīs kaķi. 6 Vai jums ir vienvietīgs

Key to exercises

numurs? 7 Vai jums ir dzīvnieki? 8 Šodien ir ceturtais jūlijs. 9 Šodien ir divdesmit pirmais janvāris. 10 Šodien ir divdesmit piektais oktobris.

Unit 4 Exercise 1 Pulkstenis ir: 1 desmit; 2 pusdeviņi; 3 bez piecpadsmit desmit; 4 septiņpadsmit minūtes pāri sešiem; 5 bez divdesmit astoņām minūtēm astoņi.

Exercise 2 Pulksten: 1 desmitos; 2 pusdeviņos; 3 deviņos un četrdesmit piecās minūtēs; 4 sešos un septiņpadsmit minūtēs; 5 septiņos un trīsdesmit divās minūtēs.

Exercise 3 A 1 pienāk; 2 nāk; 3 nāk; 4 pienāk; B 1 atiet; 2 ejam; 3 atiet; 4 iet.

Exercise 4 1 Pulksten divdesmit vienos. 2 Pulksten divdesmit trijos un divdesmit piecās minūtēs. 3 Pulksten piecos un divdesmit trijās minūtēs. 4 Divus latus un trīspadsmit santīmus. 5 Vienu latu un divdesmit piecus santīmus. 6 Ls. 10,50.

Exercise 5 Vilcienu stacija; autobusu pietura; tramvaja biļete; biļešu cenas; studenta avīze; ģimenes numurs; Rīgas restorāni; Latvjias pilis; apelsīna sula; taksometra šoferis.

What can you remember? 1 Cik ir pulkstenis? 2 (Pulkstenis) ir divi. 3 (Pulkstenis) ir pusseptiņi. 4 Ir desmit minūtes pāri deviņiem. 5 Ir bez divdesmit minūtēm desmit. 6 Cikos atiet vilciens uz Jūrmalu? 7 Vilciens atiet pulksten astoņpadsmitos un trīsdesmit piecās minūtēs. 8 Laimīgu ceļu! 9 Paldies. 10 Taksometra šoferis brauc uz Rīgas pili. 11 Vilciens brauc uz Liepāju.

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12 Tramvajs brauc uz centru. 13 Es eju uz lielveikalu. 14 Autobuss pienāk pulksten sešpadsmitos un divdesmit divās minūtēs. 15 Vilciens atiet no sestā perona.

Unit 5 Exercise 1 1 ies; 2 dosim; 3 dzīvos; 4 ņemšu; 5 dzersit; 6 aties; 7 pienāks; 8 brauksit; 9 iesi.

Exercise 2 1 Man nav tējas. 2 Mums nav kaķa. 3 Viņām nav atslēgu. 4 Vai tev nav biļetes? 5 Šodien nav vilcienu. 6 Kafijas nav. 7 Vai nav ābolu sulas? 8 Sarkanvīna nav. 9 Vai jums nav alus?

Exercise 3 1 Viņiem garšo frī kartupeļi. 2 Man garšo kafija. 3 Vai jums garšo kafija? 4 Vai tev garšo sarkanvīns? 5 Mums garšo tēja ar citronu. 6 Viņām garšo zemenes ar krējumu. 7 Man patīk Latvija. 8 Viņiem patīk kaķi. 9 Mums patīk Rīga.

Exercise 4 1 Vistas stroganovu ar rīsiem. 2 Citrona krēmu bez jogurta bet ar putukrējumu. 3 Ceptu laša steiku bez dārzeņiem bet ar frī kartupe­ ļiem. 4 Skābu kāpostu zupu ar rupjmaizi un sviestu. 5 Zemenes ar saldējumu. 6 Vaniļas krēmu ar zemenēm. 7 Tostermaizi ar ievārījumu. 8 Saldskābmaizi ar šķiņķi. 9 Musli ar pienu.

Exercise 5 1 Taksometrā; 2 Birojā; 3 Peldbaseinā; 4 Universālveikalā; 5 Londonā; 6 Pulksten sešos; 7 Rīgā; 8 Restorānā; 9 Pulksten astoņpadsmitos un trīsdesmit minūtēs.

Key to exercises

W hat can you remember? A

B 1 Es dzīvoju. . . . 2 Jā, es braukšu uz Latviju. 3 Divdesmit divi plus četrpadsmit ir trīsdesmit seši. 4 Jā, es esmu/Nē, es neesmu students/ studente. 5 Jā, es runāju angliski. 6 Šodien ir (divpadsmitais decembris). 7 Jā, man ir kafija/Nē, man nav kafijas. 8 Jā, man ir kaķis/Nē, man nav kaķa. 9 Jā, man garšo/Nē, man negaršo kafija. 10 Jā, man patīk/Nē, man nepatīk futbols.

Unit 6 Exercise 1 1 Viņa strādā divos restorānos. 2 Viņš iet uz lielu muzeju. 3 Mēs dzīvojam lielā pilsētā. 4 Cūkas cepetis ir garšīgs. 5 Šķiņķa salāti ir garšīgi. 6 Divus alus, lūdzu. 7 Trīs tējas, lūdzu. 8 Manas mātes dārzs ir skaists. 9 Viņa tēvam ir liels dārzs.

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Exercise 2 1 dārzeņu; 2 piena; 3 istabu; 4 naudas; 5 cilvēku; 6 piena; 7 bērnu; 8 kartupeļu; 9 taksometru.

Exercise 3 1 Viņai ir trīs gadi. 2 Man ir trīsdesmit viens gads. 3 Manam vectēvam ir astoņdesmit gadu. 4 Manai māsai ir divdesmit gadu. 5 Viņam ir trīs taksometri. 6 Mums tuvumā ir desmit restorānu. 7 Man ir simt/simts latu. 8 Viņam ir deviņdesmit deviņi lati. 9 Man ir trīs māsas.

Exercise 4 1 runā; 2 dzīvojat; 3 nerunā; 4 audzē; 5 pavada; 6 dod; 7 atiet; 8 studē; 9 aizpilda.

W hat can you rem em ber? A 1 Manam vīram nekad nav daudz laika. 2 Man dārzā ir daudz kartupeļu. 3 Rīgā ir daudz muzeju. 4 Muzejā ir maz cilvēku. 5 Viņam ir četrdesm it viens gads. 6 Manam vectēvam ir septiņdesmit gadu. 7 Viņiem ir pieci bērni. 8 Mans vīrs nerunā latviski. 9 Mana māsa studē angļu valodu. B 1 strādā; 2 nāk; 3 atiet; 4 dod; 5 dzīvoju; 6 ejam; 7 ir; 8 brauc; 9 audzē. C 1 garšīgs; 2 Manam; 3 īsi; 4 Mana, garšīgus; 5 divi; 6 četri; 7 liels; 8 Manam, tumši; 9 tavai.

Unit 7 Exercise 1 1 pastaigājas; 2 satiekos; 3 klausās; 4 peldas; 5 skatās; 6 mazgājas; 7 mācies; 8 mācāties; 9 pastaigāties.

Exercise 2 1 pastaigāsies; 2 satikšos; 3 klausīsies; 4 peldēsies; 5 skatīsies; 6 mazgāsies; 7 mācīsies; 8 mācīsities; 9 pastaigāties.

Key to exercises

Exercise 3 1 saldais, garšīgs; 2 karstu; 3 Mazie; 4 tumšie garie, skaisti; 5 jauno; 6 brīvajā; 7 Jaunais, populārs; 8 mazu/mazo; 9 jaunu/jauno.

Exercise 4 1 Viņš nekad neiet uz kino. 2 Mēs bieži ejam uz restorānu. 3 Bērni šad un tad peldas jūrā. 4 Mana vecāmāte vienmēr skatās televizoru. 5 Mans tēvs reti klausās mūziku. 6 Viņi bieži iet uz operu. 7 Viņi nekad neiet uz teātri. 8 Viņa nekad nebrauc ar taksometru. 9 Vai tu kādreiz klausies džezu?

W hat can you remember? A 1 Mēs satiksimies vakarā. 2 Viņš klausās džezu. 3 Kaķis mazgājas. 4 Mēs peldēsimies jūrā. 5 Es mācos latviešu valodu. 6 Mēs mācāmies latviešu valodu. 7 Viņi pastaigāsies/Viņi ies pastaigāties. 8 Vai viņi klausās popmūziku? 9 Vai viņa skatās televizoru? B 1 Tas ir interesanti! 2 Lieliski! 3 Tas nav interesanti! 4 Tas nav labi!

Unit 8 Exercise 1 1 brūnas bikses/brūnās bikses; 2 zils lietusmētelis/zilais lietusmētelis; 3 rozā kokvilnas blūze/rozā kokvilnas blūze; 4 balts krekls/baltais krekls; 5 zili džinsi/zilie džinsi; 6 sarkans vilnas džemperis/sarkanais vilnas džemperis; 7 melnas kurpes/melnās kurpes; 8 dzeltena zīda kaklasaite/ dzeltenā zīda kaklasaite; 9 lillā svārki/lillā svārki.

Exercise 2 Es meklēju: 1 brūnas bikses/brūnās bikses; 2 zilu lietusmēteli/zilo lietusmēteli; 3 rozā kokvilnas blūzi/rozā kokvilnas blūzi; 4 baltu kreklu/balto kreklu; 5 zilus džinsus/zilos džinsus; 6 sarkanu vilnas džemperi/sarkano vilnas džemperi; 7 melnas kurpes/melnās kurpes; 8 dzeltenu zīda kaklasaiti/ dzelteno zīda kaklasaiti; 9 lillā svārkus/lillā svārkus.

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Exercise 3 1 gribētu; 2 varētu; būtu; 3 klausītos, patiktu; 4 brauktu/būtu; 5 nāktu; 6 peldētos, nebūtu; 7 ietu; 8 pastaigātos; nāktu; 9 mācītos.

Exercise 4 1 dārgāka, nekā; 2 vairāk istabu nekā; 3 mazāk istabu nekā; 4 vairāk pakalpojumu nekā; 5 mazāk pakalpojumu nekā; 6 jaunāka, nekā; 7 vecāka, nekā; 8 mazāk zvaigžņu nekā; 9 vairāk zvaigžņu nekā.

Exercise 5 1 Ēdnīca atrodas ceturtajā stāvā. 2 Tās atrodas trešajā stāvā. 3 Tie atrodas trešajā stāvā. 4 Tie atrodas pirmajā stāvā. 5 Pulksten pusdeviņos. 6 Pulksten divdesmit divos. 7 Tie atrodas trešajā stāvā. 8 Tās atrodas otrajā stāvā. 9 Universāls.

W hat can you rem em ber? A 1 Viņa meklē brūnas kurpes. 2 Es gribētu pirkt latviešu cimdus. 3 Es vēlētos maksāt ar kredītkarti. 4 Kaut man būtu vairāk naudas. 5 Aina ir garāka nekā Imants. 6 Rīga ir mazāka nekā Londona. 7 Es to ņemšu. 8 Cikos tas atiet? 9 Šis džemperis ir skaists. B 2 kiosks > d; 3 pārtikas veikals > i; 4 maizes veikals > b; 5 gaļas veikals > f; 6 grāmatveikals > a; 7 apģērbu veikals > j; 8 universālveikals > c; 9 apavu veikals > g; 10 lielveikals > h.

Unit 9 Exercise 1 1 Dod man sarkano džemperi! 2 Runā latviski! 3 Klausies šo mūziku! 4 Mācies latviešu valodu! 5 Nāc man līdzi! 6 Atnes man vēl vienu alu, lūdzu! 7 Dzer vairāk ūdens! 8 Neej! 9 Nedod viņam avīzi!

Key to exercises

Exercise 2 1 D od ie t. . . 2 Runājiet. . . 3 Klausieties . . . 4 Mācieties . . . 5 Nāciet . . . 6 A tnesiet. . . 7 D zeriet. . . 8 Neejiet! 9 N edodiet. . .

Exercise 3 Lūdzu, dodiet man: 1 puslitru apelsīna sulas; 2 kārbu skābu kāpostu; 3 paciņu cepumu; 4 pusotra kilogramu kartupeļu; 5 glāzi sarkanvīna; 6 pudeli baltvīna; 7 kukuli baltmaizes; 8 kilogramu apelsīnu; 9 glāzīti Rīgas melnā balzāma.

Exercise 4 ola - oliņa; maize - maizīte; tase - tasīte; pudele - pudelīte; māsa māsiņa; māte - mātīte; grāmata - grāmatiņa; avīze - avīzīte; brālis - brālītis; kaķis - kaķītis.

Exercise 5 Anda - Andiņa; Emma - Emmiņa; Maija - Maijiņa; Jānis - Jānītis; Ojārs - Ojāriņš; Pēteris - Pēterītis; Oskars - Oskariņš; Rūta - Rūtiņa; Anita - Anitiņa, Gundārs - Gundāriņš.

Exercise 7 1 Local apples. 2 They’re expensive. 3 They’re the new season’s crop. 4 Tasty and juicy. 5 Twenty santims each.

W hat can you remember? A 1 Brauciet uz Rīgas pili, lūdzu! 2 Ejiet taisni uz priekšu! 3 Dodiet man avīzi Diena un žurnālu Santa, lūdzu! 4 Nerunājiet angliski! 5 Lūdzu, atnesiet mums divus alus! 6 Nopērc augjus lielveikalā, lūdzu! 7 Nopērc viņam interesantu grāmatu! 8 Nepeldies jūrā - ūdens ir auksts! 9 Ņemiet šos ābolus - tie ir garšīgi! 10 Iesim!

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C Dodiet man, lūdzu: 1 četras pudeles limonādes; 2 glāzi ūdens; 3 paciņu šokolādes saldumu; 4 kilogramu liellopa gaļas; 5 pusotra kilograma burkānu; 6 kārbiņu tomātu; 7 litru piena; 8 paciņu cukura; 9 lielu kukuli maizes.

Unit 10 Exercise 1 1 About 7.30. 2 8.30. 3 Sometimes he takes sandwiches, sometimes he goes to the company’s canteen. 4 In the afternoons. 5 In the evenings.

Exercise 2 1 Tev viņam jāraksta. 2 Jums jāmācās latviešu valoda. 3 Viņiem bija jāiet. 4 Viņām nebūs jādzīvo Rīgas centrā. 5 Viņam būs jāpērk jaunas kurpes. 6 Mums nebija jāstrādā pārāk ilgi. 7 Tev nav jābrauc ar taksometru. 8 Viņai būs jābrauc uz sanāksmi Valmierā. 9 Man nebija jāpērk jaunas grāmatas.

Key to exercises

Exercise 3 1 Viņa ņem līdzi sviestmaizes, lai nebūtu jāiet uz restorānu. 2 Viņš sazvanās ar klientu, lai atrisinātu problēmu. 3 Mēs izejam no mājas pusdeviņos, lai sāktu darbu deviņos. 4 Es eju uz lielveikalu, lai pirktu pienu un maizi. 5 Mēs ejam uz koncertu, lai klausītos skaisto mūziku. 6 Viņa iet uz darbu, lai pelnītu naudu. 7 Mēs ejam uz krogu, lai dzertu alu. 8 Viņš brauc uz Jūrmalu, lai peldētos jūrā. 9 Es runājos ar latviešiem, lai runātu valodu labāk.

Exercise 4 1 He sleeps in, reads the paper and cleans the flat or does the washing. 2 On Friday nights. 3 On Saturday afternoons. 4 He goes cycling. 5 Relaxing.

Exercise 7 1 Vai jums nav nekā? 2 Man nekad nepatīk celties agri. 3 Viņš sestdienās parasti nekur neiet. 4 Mums nav nekā.

What can you remember? A Otrdien pulksten pussešos Lija ies uz kino ar Imantu. Trešdien pulksten pusastoņos viņa ies uz fitnesa klubu. Ceturtdien pulksten četros viņa ies uz banku. Piektdien pulksten septiņos viņa ies pie Andersoniem. Sestdien viņa brauks uz Turaidas pili. Bet svētdien viņai būs brīva diena, lai atpūstos/Svētdien viņa nedarīs neko. B 1 Es gribētu tasi kafijas, lūdzu. 2 Lūdzu, dodiet man divas pudeles limonādes. 3 Viņai ir četri gadi. 4 Viņam ir divdesmit viens gads. 5 Viņiem ir daudz grāmatu. 6 Četrus alus, lūdzu. 7 Zajā jaka ir skaista. 8 Es klausos džeza mūziku. 9 Rīga ir lielāka nekā Valmiera. 10 Ja man būtu laiks, es ietu uz teātri.

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Unit 11 Exercise 1 1 They caught a bus there. 2 It was marvellous. 3 They ate outdoors and enjoyed the local wine. 4 No. 5 It was too hot.

Exercise 3 1 runāja; 2 bijāt; 3 pirka; 4 audzēja; 5 pavadīja; 6 deva; 7 atgāja; 8 studēji; 9 aizpildīja.

Exercise 4 1 pastaigājās; 2 satikos; 3 klausījās; 4 peldējās; 5 skatījās; 6 mazgājās; 7 mācījies; 8 mācījāties; 9 pastaigāties.

Key to exercises

Exercise 5 1 To visit the most famous places in Latvia. 2 High mountains. 3 Castles, manor houses and churches. 4 Its blue lakes. 5 One can feel just how people used to live in past times.

Exercise 6 1 visgarākā; 2 vislielākais; 3 visaugstākais; 4 vislielākais; 5 visgarākā; 6 vislielākās; 7 visvecākā; 8 vislielāko; 9 visskaistākām.

Exercise 7 1 n; 2 d; 3 o; 4 k; 5 c; 6 m; 7 I; 8 j; 9 i; 10 a; 11 b; 12 f; 13 g; 14 e; 15 h.

What can you remember? A 1 A trip in a comfortable bus with group leader/guide. 2 No. 3 In Ugale church. 4 It’s one of Latvia’s oldest towns and has a radiotelescope. 5 No. 6 It dates back to the Middle Ages. 7 No, it’s a ruin. B 1 Es gāju uz tirgu. 2 Mēs bijām Rīgas tirgū. 3 Imantam bija šokolāde. 4 Viņam bija jaunas kurpes. 5 Mēs lidojām uz Vāciju. 6 Viņas apbrauca Latviju. 7 Viņi gāja iepirkties. 8 Viņš peldējās jūrā. 9 Viņi klausī­ jās skaistu mūziku. 10 Man patika slēpot.

Unit 12 Exercise 1 1 Labdien, dakter. 2 Man sāp roka. Vai Jūs varētu to apskatīt? 3 Jau četras dienas, kopš es strādāju dārzā. 4 Jā, ļoti sāp. 5 Ne tik daudz. 6 Paldies. Uz redzēšanos!

Exercise 2 1 Bērziņa kungs; 2 Bērziņas kundze; 3 Šoferi; 4 Andri; 5 Ilze; 6 Pro­ fesores kundze; 7 Dakter Anderson; 8 Andersones kundze; 9 Upīša kungs.

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Exercise 3 1 Viņš runā jau vienu stundu. 2 Mēs esam atvaļinājumā jau kopš sestdienas. 3 Viņa brauc jau trīs stundas. 4 Pēteris mācās latviešu valodu jau divus gadus. 5 Viņi skrien jau pusstundu. 6 Viņa māca jau divdesmit gadu. 7 Viņš lasa jau kopš viņš cēlās. 8 Viņi spēlē badmintonu jau četrdesmit piecas minūtes. 9 Manai mātei sāp mugura jau trīs dienas.

Exercise 4 1 slēpošanu; 2 slēpošana; 3 peldēšanos; 4 Peldēšanās; 5 fotografēšanu; 6 Izlidošana; 7 tikšanās; 8 runāšana; 9 Braukšana.

Exercise 5 1 Foot; 2 Hands and feet (since Latvian uses pirksti for both fingers and toes); 3 Hands; 4 Heart; 5 Mouth with teeth.

W hat can you remember? A 1 Manam tēvam sāp mugura. 2 Viņai ir nelaba dūša (= Viņa jūtas slikti/nelabi). 3 Es esmu ievainojis celi. 4 Viņa ir ievainojusi muguru. 5 Viņa ir sasitusi galvu. 6 Latvijā ir ziemā lieliska slēpošana. 7 Braukšana pa Latgali ir brīnišķīgs atvaļinājums. 8 Iebraukšana Rīgā būs pīkst. 22.00. 9 Liepiņa kungs, lūdzu, nāciet man līdzi. 10 Viņi dzīvo Rīgā kopš viņi bija jauni (= kopš jaunības). B 1 Uz traumatoloģijas un ortopēdijas nodaļu otrajā stāvā. 2 Uz ķirurģijas nodaļu otrajā stāvā. 3 Uz bērnu nodaļu piektajā stāvā. 4 Uz poliklīniku pirmajā stāvā. 5 Uz acu, ausu un deguna slimību nodaļu ceturtajā stāvā.

Unit 13 Exercise 1 1 Viņi ar Jāni. 2 Viņas ar Ievu. 3 Jūs ar Anitu. 4 Mēs ar Aldi.

Exercise 2 1 ir pirkuši; 2 esi nomazgājies; 3 nav bijusi; 4 ir noguruši; 5 ir dzimis; 6 ir ieradusies; 7 neesmu teikusi; 8 bijām, paēduši; 9 esi paņēmusi.

Key to exercises

Exercise 3 1 galda; 2 Ievu un Imantu; 3 pilsētu; 4 galda; 5 Bērziņiem; 6 mājas; 7 loga; 8 koka.

Exercise 4 (for example) 1 Grāmatas atrodas viesistabā uz mazā galdiņa. 2 Krēsli atrodas gan virtuvē, gan arī vienā guļamistabā. 3 Karotes, naži un dakšiņas atrodas virtuvē uz galda. 4 Paklājs atrodas pie gultas. 5 Istabas augi atrodas dīvānam blakus. 6 Glezna atrodas aiz durvīm. 7 Datora galds atrodas guļamistabas kreisajā pusē. 8 Starp dīvāna un atpūtas krēsliem atrodas galdiņš ar grāmatām un tasēm. 9 Plīts atrodas izlietnei blakus.

Exercise 5 1 biešu; 2 aprīļa; 3 dārzeņu; 4 pulksteņu; 5 Sieviešu; 6 pilu; 7 Sēņu; 8 Brāļiem; 9 Itāļu.

Reading 1 In the bathroom. 2 No. 3 Yes, because one room is furnished as a children’s bedroom. 4 With central heating. 5 In the yard.

W hat can you rem em ber? A 1 Mēs ar Valdi vakar gājām uz kino. 2 Es esmu bijusi Francijā. 3 Es biju noguris, jo biju spēlējis futbolu. 4 Viņa nav mācījusies spāņu valodu. 5 Es braukšu uz Latviju, kad būšu iemācījies latviešu valodu. 6 Viņš stāv pie plīts. 7 Viņa stāv pie durvīm. 8 Šķivji ir skapī. 9 Man lūdzu, sēņu zupu. 10 Mana brāļa meita ir skaista.

Unit 14 Exercise 1 1 19 grādu. 2 Rietumu - ziemeļrietumu vējš no 4 līdz 8 metriem sekundē. 3 Nē, brīžiem skaidrosies. 4 Jā, būs neliels īslaicīgs lietus. 5 Rīgā šodien temperatūras maksimums būs 18 grādu; Latvijā 19 grādu.

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Exercise 2 (for example) 1 Pavasarī ir saulains un siltāks nekā ziemā. 2 Vasarā ir karsts, ar garām dienām. 3 Rudenī ir vējains un bieži līst lietus.

Exercise 3 (for example) Rīgā būs mākoņains laiks, temperatūra līdz 12 grādiem. Ziemeļos būs mākoņains laiks, brīžiem skaidrosies, atsevišķos rajonos iespējams lietus. Dienvidos būs mākoņains laiks, brīžiem skaidrosies, temperatūra līdz 14 grādiem.

Exercise 4 1 Old buildings, some dating back to the Middle Ages. 2 It is the biggest and best preserved medieval castle in Northern Europe. 3 In the narrow old streets. 4 In a cafe in Dorn Square. 5 It’s named after the Bishop of Riga who founded the city in 1201.

Exercise 5 1 ir celta; 2 ir celta; 3 tika iekļauta; 4 Pakavoti; 5 tiks, būvēta; 6 tiek atvērti; 7 tiek rīkoti; 8 grilētiem; 9 ir aizliegta.

Exercise 6 1 As a crossing of trade routes. 2 Because of its strategic and geo­ graphic position. 3 Traders and missionaries. 4 Conversion to Christianity and territorial conquest. 5 Present-day Estonia and Latvia. 6 It was the biggest and best developed town on Swedish territory. 7 The conquest of Riga. 8 18 November 1918. 9 1940. 10 The formation of political organizations during the Soviet liberalization period.

W hat can you rem em ber? 1 Rīgas pils tika celta četrpadsmitajā gadsimtā. 2 Es gribētu frikadeles are vārītiem kartupeļiem. 3 Latvijas neatkarība tika proklamēta 1918. gada 18. novembrī (tūkstoš deviņsimt astoņpadsmit astotā gada astoņpadsmitajā novembrī). 4 Jauns restorāns tika atvērts decembrī. 5 Peldēšanās ezerā ir aizliegta. 6 Mūsdienu mākslas izstāde tika iekārtota pilī. 7 Vasarā laiks Latvijā ir silts un saulains. 8 Ziemā bieži snieg. 9 Pavasaris ir visskaistākais gadalaiks. 10 Man patīk rudens, jo mežos ir skaistas krāsas. 11 Ko lai mēs darām? 12 Ko lai es rakstu?

Key to exercises

Unit 15 Exercise 1 1 Muzejs esot ļoti interesants. 2 Viņš teica, ka esot/ir noguris. 3 Tu teici, ka būšot/būsi desmitos atpakaļ. 4 Rūdis strādājot Īrijā. 5 Es esmu dzirdējis, ka viņi šogad braucot atvaļinājumā uz Spāniju. 6 Viņi teica, ka (viņi) esot svētdien apciemojuši vecomāti/ka (viņi) svētdien apciemoja vecomāti. 7 Inita teica, ka (viņa) esot/ir ievākusies jaunā dzīvoklī. 8 Jaunais dzīvoklis esot ļoti skaists. 9 Naktī esot snidzis.

Exercise 2 1 Inita (man) teica, lai es viņai aizsūtot/aizsūtu īsziņu. 2 Pasaki Imantam, lai viņš lielveikalā nopērk tomātus. (Pasaki, lai Imants lielveikalā nopērk tomātus.) 3 Pasakiet (viņam), lai viņš mani apciemo. 4 Ārsts (viņam) teica, lai viņš nesmēķējot/nesmēķē. 5 Es (viņai) teicu, lai viņa ejot/iet pie ārsta. 6 Viņa teica Mārai, lai viņu satiekot/satiek restorānā. (Viņa teica, lai Māra viņu satiekot/satiek restorānā.) 7 Pasaki (viņai), lai viņa klausās laika ziņas. 8 Pasakiet (viņai), lai viņa atnes sviestmaizes. 9 Es pateikšu (viņai), lai viņa tev piezvana.

Exercise 3 1 Projectors and wireless Internet connections. 2 His laptop computer. 3 He doesn’t know, nor does Aina. 4 So she can tell him which room he will use. 5 By e-mail.

Exercise 4 Parole - password; meklēt - find/go; iepirkumu grozs - shopping basket; palīdzība - help; ieiet/ienākt - enter; pirkt - buy; lasīt vairāk - read more; mājas lapa - website; apstiprināt pirkumu - confirm purchase.

Reading 1 Titoms and then maybe Bitīte and then maybe Kas te? Es te! 2 (a) Vides fakti or Dabas grāmata; (b) Slepenais arhīvs-, (c) Mans zaļais dārzs; (d) Latvijas šlāgeraptauja-, (e) Panorāma. 3 (a) Divpadsmitos vai trijos; (b) sešpadsmitos; (c) pusvienpadsmitos; (d) pusvienos; (e) divdesmitos un trīsdesmit minūtēs. 4 Juniors TV at 15.30. 5 There’s

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the film Fotogrāfijā ar sievieti un meža kuili at 21.25, or the British Agatha Christie series ‘Erkils Puaro’ (Hercule Poirot) at 23.45.

What can you remember? 1 Londona ir lielāka nekā Rīga. 2 Latviešu valoda ir viena no Eiropas visvecākajām valodām. 3 Maija brauca uz Spāniju atvaļinājumā. 4 Vilis brauca uz Īriju, lai strādātu sēņu fermā. 5 Man sāp mugura, kopš es sestdien strādāju dārzā. 6 Izbraukšana ir pīkst. 18.00 (astoņpadsmitos) un ierašanās pīkst. 21.00 (divdesmit vienos). 7 Ozoliņa kungs, lūdzu, vai jūs varētu man palīdzēt? 8 Maija ir bijusi Vācijā. 9 Mēs ar Pēteri esam ēduši ļoti labos restorānos Latvijā. 10 Suns guļ zem galda. 11 Rīgā tiek celtas daudz jaunu ēku. 12 Smēķēšana ir aizliegta. 13 Aina teica, ka Pēterim būšot jāņem portatīvais dators līdzi. 14 Pēteris vaicāja, vai būšot printeris. 15 Es tagad varu labi runāt latviski.

Latvian-English glossary

Alphabetical order follows the convention of Latvian dictionaries: the consonants with diacritical marks follow their unaccented counterparts (c, Č), while the vowels (a, ā) are not distinguished in order. Adjectives, numbers and nouns that are variable for gender are given in their masculine form. Noun gender is given if it deviates from the normal pattern. Verbs are given in their infinitive form. The numbers indicate the conjugation group of each verb.

A, A abi, ab a s ā b o ls a c s (fem.) ād a a d re s e a g rs a iz ie t (irreg.) a iz lid o t (2) a iz p ild īt (3) a iz tīt (1) a iz v a k a r akm ens a k tīv s a k tu ā ls a lu s a m e rik ā n is

a p e ls īn s

both apple eye leather address early go off fly (off, away) fill in wrap up the day before yesterday stone active topical beer American

(masc.) a n g lis ap (+ acc.) a p a k š v e ļa a p b ra u k t (1) a p d z īv o t (2)

a p e tīte a p ģ ē rb s a p k u re a p m ā c ie s a p m e k lē ju m s a p m ē ra m a p p la u c ē t (2) a p ra k s ts a p rīlis a p ro c e a p s a rg ā t (2) a p s k a te a p s k a tīt (3) a p s k a tītie s (3) a p ta u ja a p tie k a

Englishman about underwear travel around inhabit

a p v ie n īb a a r (+ acc.) ārā ā rd u rv is

orange appetite clothes heating overcast visit about, approximately scald description April bracelet guard tour look at, check; look around have a look survey chemist’s, drugstore union with outside outer/street door

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a rh ite k ts a rh ite k tū ra a rh īv s a rī a ro d s ā rp u s (+ gen.) ā rp u s e ā rs ts ā rz e m e s a s in s s p ie d ie n s a s to ņ i a tie t (irreg.) a tja u n o t (2) a tla id e a tm iņ a a tn e s t (1) a tp a k a ļ a tp ū s tie s (1) a tp ū ta a tp ū ta s k rē s ls a tra s t (1) a tra s tie s (1) a tris in ā t

(3)

ā trs a ts e v iš ķ s a ts lē g a a t t īs t ī t

(3)

a tv a in o t (2) a tv a ļin ā ju m s a u d z ē t (2) a u g lis a u g s ts A u g s tā k ā

architect architecture archive also, too trade outside outside, exterior doctor foreign countries, abroad blood pressure eight leave, depart restore, renovate discount, allowance memory to bring back (again) relax rest, relaxation armchair find be located solve quick, rapid separate key develop excuse holidays grow, cultivate fruit high Supreme Council

a u g u s ts a u k s ts a u ro d a m s a u s k a ri a u s s (fem.)

(a u to )m a š īn a a u to m a š īn a s

up August cold howling earrings ear

east car parking

n o v ie to š a n a a u to o s ta a u to s tā v v ie ta

bus station parking place

B b a d m in to n s b a g ā ts b a g ā ža b a lk o n s b ā ls b a ltie š i b a lts b a lz a m s banka b a z ilik a b a zn īca b e id z a m a is b e ig a s (pl.) b e ig tie s (1) b ē rn s bet be z (+ gen.) be z ta m b e zva d a (gen.) b ie ži b ik s e s b iļe te b iro js b īs k a p s b ite (dim. b itīte ) B iz a n tija s

badminton rich luggage balcony pale Balts white balsam bank basilica church last end finish child but without apart from that wireless often trousers ticket office bishop bee Byzantine Empire

im p ē rija b la k u s (adv. &

padom e a u g šā

a u s tru m i

beside

prep. + dat.) b lū ze b rā lis b ra u k t (1) b rīd is b rīn iš ķ īg s

blouse brother go, travel moment wonderful

Latvian-English glossary

b rīv d ie n a b rīv s b ro k a s to t (2) b ru ņ in ie k s b rū n s bundža b u rc iņ a b u rk ā n s b u rv īg s b ū t (irreg.)

free day, holiday free (have) breakfast knight brown tin, can jar carrot enchanting be

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c u k a s g a la c u k u rs

Č four

č e tri D daba d a b ū t (2) d a k te rs d a ļa

C

d a rb s

c a rs c a u r (+ acc.) c e lis c e ļš c e lt (1) c e ltie s (1) cena c e n rā d is c e n trs c e p e tis c e p t (1) c e p u re c e rē t

(3)

c e tu rta is c e tu rtd ie n a c ie m o tie s (2) c ik c ik ir

tsar through knee journey, road, way build rise, get up price price list centre roast bake, roast, fry hat hope fourth Thursday go visiting how (much, many) what time is it?

p u lk s te n is ?

d ā rg s d ā rz e n is d ā rz k o p is d ā rz s d a to rs d a tu m s daudz

(3)

d ā v in ā t dažādi d a ži

d e c e m b ris d e g t (1) deguns d e ja d e jo t (2) d e s m it d e v iņ i d ib in ā t

(3)

d ie m ž ē l d ie n a

c itu r

series, cycle at what time tribe person, human being gloves lemon other elsewhere

cūka

pig

d iv v ie tīg s

c ik ls c ik o s c ilts (fem.) c ilv ē k s c im d i c itro n s c its

pork sugar

d ie n v id i d ie v k a lp o ju m s d ie v s d ig itā ls d im e n s ija d īvā n s d iv i d iv re iz

nature get doctor part work expensive vegetable gardener garden computer date much, many, multi­ give, present various some December burn nose dance (n.) dance (v.) ten nine found, establish unfortunately day south religious service God digital dimension sofa, divan two twice double (room)

240

Latvian-English glossary

d īz e ļv ilc ie n s d o k u m e n ts d o m ā t (2) Dom s d o t (irreg.) d rā m a d ra u g s d r īk s tē t (3) d ru d ž a in s d ru p a s d u ša d v ie lis

diesel train document think Dom Church give drama friend may, be allowed hectic ruins shower towel

e ļļa e -p a s ts ē rģ e le s (pl.) ē rts es ē s t (1) ē s t g rib ē tie s (3) ē ša n a e tiķ is e tn o g rā fis k s e ze rs

oil e-mail organ comfortable I eat be hungry eating vinegar ethnographic lake

F DZ d z e lte n s d z e lz c e ļš d z e lz s d z ē rie n s d z e rt (1) d z in ta rs d z ird ē t (3) d z īv e d z īv n ie k s d z īv o k lis d z īv o t (2)

fa ils

yellow railway iron drink (n.) drink (v.) amber hear life animal flat live (v.)

fa k s s fa k ts fe b ru ā ris film a firm a fo lija fo to g r a fē t (2) fo to g rā fija fo to k o p ē tā js F ra n c ija frik a d e le

DŽ d ž e m p e ris d že zs d ž in s i (pl.)

f r ī k a rtu p e ļi

sweater, jumper jazz jeans

ē d ie n k a rte ē d ie n s ē d n īc a E iro p a s

dining room menu dish, meal canteen, cafeteria European Union

S avien īb a ē ka e k s p o z īc ija e le k tris k s e lik s īrs

fu tb o ls G

E, Ē ē d a m is ta b a

friz ē ta v a

(computer) file fax fact February film company aluminium foil photograph, take pictures photograph photocopier France meat ball chips, French fries hairdresser’s football

g a b a ls gads g a d s im ts g a is s g a iš s g a ld a u ts

building exhibition electric elixir

g a ld s g a ls g a lva g a ļa

piece year century air light, bright tablecloth table end, tip head meat

Latvian-English glossary

gan g a n . . . gan g a rd e ro b e g a rīg s ga rš g a rš īg s g a rš o t (2) g a ru m s ga tavs gāze g id s glāze gods p a r go du g rā d s g rā m a ta gre d ze n s g rib ē t (3) g rie z tie s (1) g rilē t (2) gru p a g u lē t (3) g u lta g u ļa m ista b a g u rķ is

really, indeed, however both . . . and cloakroom spiritual long, tall tasty, delicious taste, be tasty to length ready gas guide glass (utensil) honour in honour degree book ring want turn to, go to grill group sleep bed bedroom cucumber

241

ie ka rta ie k ā rto ts ie k ļa u t (2) ie k ļū t (1) iekšā iela ie lik t (1) ie n ā k t (1) ie ņ e m t (1) ie pa zītie s (1) ie p irk tie s (1) ie ra stie s (1) ie raša nās ie rīk o t (2) ie s p a id o t (2) ie sp ē ja m s ie š ķ e lt (1) ie t (irreg.) ie te ik t (1) ie tv e rt (1) ie vā ktie s (1) ilgs im p ē rija in fo rm a tīv s in te re s a n ts in že n ie ris

Ģ ģ e o g rā fis k i ģ im e n e

geographically family

īp a ši ir īs la ic īg s

H h e rc o g s h ro n ika

īss

duke chronicle

īsziņa istab a (it) se višķi

l,ī id eja ie b ra u kša n a ie b ū vē t (2) ie d o t (irreg.) ie ē st (1) ie g ū t (1)

izb a u d īt (3)

idea arrival build in give, provide have (sthg) to eat gain

izb ra u kša n a iz d a rīt (3) izd e vīg s iz d o tie s (irreg.)

furniture, equipment arranged include join inside street put into enter seize, take over get to know go shopping arrive arrival build in, incorporate impress possible split to go recommend include, contain move in long (time) empire informative interesting engineer particularly is, are brief short, brief (text) message room (e)specially enjoy departure do favourable succeed, manage

(+ dat.) iz g līto t (2)

educate

242

Latvian-English glossary

izg u lē tie s (3) iz ie t (irreg.) iz ju s t (1) izkla id e iz k la id ē t (2) iz k la u s ītie s (3) iz la s īt (3) iz līd z in ā t (3) izm a zg ā t (2) iz p a līd z īg s iz ra k s tīt (3) iz s trā d ā ju m s iz v e id o t (2) izvēle

have a lie-in go out, leave feel, sense entertainment entertain, amuse sound read through smooth/spread out wash, do washing helpful prescribe (hand-made) product, article form choice

ka d s /k a d a kā d re iz k a fe jn īc a ka fija kāja kājas p irk s ts ka k la ro ta ka k la s a ite ka kls ka ķis kalns ka m ē r kap en es kā p n e s (pl.) k ā p o s ti (pl.) ka ra sp ē ks

J ja jā ja k a ja n v ā ris ja u ja u k s ja u n s je b jo jo g u rts jo s ta jū lijs ju m s jū n ijs ju n io rs jū ra ju ris ts jū s (pl., formai)

if yes (wind) jacket, cardigan January already nice, pleasant young; new or because yoghurt (women’s) belt July to/for you June junior sea lawyer you

ka ro te ka rs ts karš k ā rtīg i k a rtu p e lis kas ka ste ka tra m g a d īju m a m k a u t gan k a u t kas k a u t ku r ka žo ks ke ra m ika kin o k io s k s kla s is k s k lā tie s (1) k la u s ītie s (3) kle ita k lie n ts

K ka kā kad

that (conjunction) how; like when

what (kind of); some, any sometimes cafe coffee leg toe necklace (neck)tie neck cat mountain, hill until sepulchre, vault staircase cabbage army, (military) force(s) spoon hot war properly potato who, what; which box just in case

klu b s klu ss ko vēl

although something somewhere fur coat ceramics cinema kiosk classical be feeling listen to dress client, customer club quiet what else

Latvian-English glossary

k o ks k o k te ilis k o kviln a k o m u n is tis k s k o n d ito re ja k o n fe k te k o n s titu c io n ā ls kopā ko p š (+ gen.) k o tle te krā sn s k ra s tm a la k ra s ts kre iss pa kre isi krē ju m s k re k ls kre lle s krē m s krē sls k ris tīg s k ro g s k ru s to ju m s k rū tis (pl.) k u ilis ku m e ļš ku ņ ģ is kur uz ku rie n i? ku rp e kurš, kura k v a rtā ls k v īts (fem.)

wood, tree cocktail cotton communist patisserie sweet (n.) constitutional altogether, together since rissole oven embankment shore left on the left cream shirt (string of) beads cream dessert chair Christian pub crossroads chest, breasts boar horse (poetic) stomach where where to? shoe which, who block receipt

243

labi pa labi la b p rā t labs la b va ka r la b v ē līg s lai la iks la im īg s lasis la s īt la ts La tvija la uki (pl.) la u ku (gen.) la u ku m s lauru lapas ledus le d u sska p is lēns lē ts lib e ra liz ā c ija līb ie tis līd z

(prep. + dat.) līdzi

ķim e n e s (pl.)

L ie lb ritā n ija lie lis k i lie llo p a gaļa liels lielve ika ls

ķīse lis

lie to t (2)

caraway seeds stewed fruit

lie tu s lie tu s s a rg s lifts lik t (1)

L la bd ien la b rīt

good day good morning

along with

(postposition + dat.)

lie ta in s

Ķ

well on the right willingly, gladly good; right good evening favourable in order to; to weather; time happy salmon read major unit of currency Latvia countryside rural (town) square bay leaves ice refrigerator slow cheap liberalization Liv until

lik te n is lik u m s

Great Britain great beef big, large supermarket rainy use, take rain umbrella lift lay, put fate, destiny law

244

Latvian-English glossary

lillā lini (pi.) līt (1) lo g s lū dzu lū g t (1) lu kss lūpa

violet (adj.), purple linen rain window please request luxury lip

m ed us m ē ģ in ā t (3) m e k lē t (2) m ēle m elns m ē rce m ē rķ is m ēs m e tā ls m ē te lis

Ļ ļo ti

m e trs

very (much)

m ežs m ie gs

M m ā c īt (3) m ā c ītā js m ā c ītie s (3) m a ijs m a is īju m s m aize m āja m ājās m ā ko ņ a in s m a k s ā t (2) m āksla m ā k s lin ie k s m an m ani m ans, m ana m a rin ē t (2) m a rš ru ts m a rts m asa m āsa m ašīna m āte m a ti (pl.) m a z lie t m azs m ē b e lē t (2) m e d ic īn is k s m ed m āsa

m ig la in s

teach preacher, priest learn May mixture bread house at home cloudy cost, pay art artist to/for me me my marinate route March mixture sister machine; car mother hair a little small furnish health-related nurse

m ik ro v iļņ u

honey try seek, look for tongue black sauce aim we metal coat metre forest sleep (n.) foggy microwave oven

krā sn s (fem.) m īlē t (3) m in e rā lū d e n s m in ē t (2) m o b ila is (telefons) m u g u ra m uiža m ū sd ie n u m ute m uze js m ū zika

love mineral water mention mobile (telephone) back manor house modern mouth museum music

N na ba gs (n. & adj.) n ā cija n a cio n ā ls n a c is tis k s n ā ko šg a d nā ko šn e d ē ļ n a k ts (fem.) nauda nav nazis ne nē n e a tk a rīb a

poor nation national Nazi next year next week night money is not, are not knife not no independence

Latvian-English glossary

week weekend ne kad never ne kas nothing nekur nowhere ne lie ls slight n e p rā ts madness ne st carry ne tālu near, not far no (prep. + gen.) from noda ļa department n o d a rb o tie s (2) be involved (in)

245

nedēļa

o k u p ē t (2)

occupy

ne dē ļas no ga le

ola

egg orange (adj.) organization organize second (2nd) other Tuesday

ora nžs o rg a n iz ā c ija o rg a n iz ē t (2) o tra is o trs o trd ie n a P pa (+ acc.)

(ar) n o d o t (2) n o k ļū t (1) n o k ris t (1) n o lik t (1) nom a n o m ē rc ē t (2) n o m iz o t (2) n o p ie tn s n o p irk t (1) n o s a u k t (1) n o s k a id ro t (2) n o s ū tīt (3) n o te ik ti n o tik t (1) n o tīr īt (3) n o ve m b ris n o v ilk t (1) n o z īm ē t (2) nu nu lle n u m u rs

hand over get, end up fall down put hire, rent (n.) soak, steep peel serious buy name ascertain, find out send definitely take place, happen clean November take off mean well nought, zero (hotel) room; number

p a a u g s tin ā t (3) p a cie n ts pa ciņ a p a do m e p a d o m ju pa do m s p a ē st (1) p a g ā ju ša is

(def. adj.) pa g a lm s p a k a lp o ju m s p a k la u s ītie s (3) p a k ļa u t (1) p a kļa u tīb a p a ld ie s p a līd z ē t (3)

o b je k ts

panna p a ņ e m t (1) p a p ild v ie ta pa p rā vs p a r (+ acc.) p a rā d īt (3)

o fic ia n ts oga o k to b ris

site waiter berry October

courtyard service listen in subject, subjugate subjection thanks help

(+ dat.) pa m a ts

p a r la im i 0

through, along, around; each (time) increase, raise patient packet council Soviet (piece of) advice have/eat a meal last

p ā rāk p a ra sti p ā rb ū vē t (2) p ā ris

foundation (frying) pan take additional space largish, fair-sized as, for, about fortunately show too usually rebuild (a) couple (of)

246

Latvian-English glossary

pant p ā rlie t (1) p ā rn a k š ņ o t (2) p ā rn ā k t (1) p ā rtik a p ā rd e vē js p ā rra id e p a sa cīt (3) pa saka (dim.

the day after tomorrow pour over stay overnight arrive food sales assistant programme, broadcast say, tell fairy tale

pasaciņa) pa sau le pa sa žie ris p a sē d ē t (2) p a s n ie g t (1) p a sp ē t (1) p a sta ig a p a s ta ig ā tie s (2) p a s tā s tīt (3) pa sts p a s ū tīt (3) pat p a te ik t (1) p a tik t (1) pa ts, p a ti p a va d īt (3) p a va sa ris p a z iņ o t (2) p a z īt (1) p a z īs ta m s p a z u s t (1) pē c (+ gen.) pē c ta m p ē cp u sd ie n a pēda p e lē ks p e ln īt (3) p e nsija p ē rk o n s

p e ro n s pica pie (+ gen.) p ie ci p ie d ā vā t (2) piedeva p ie k ta is p ie k td ie n a p ie k u s is p ie lie t (1) p ie lik t (1) p ie lik u m s

world passenger sit (for a while) serve manage walk (go for a) walk tell post, post office order even, as much as say, tell please, be pleasing to (one)self spend spring inform, announce know, recognize known, famous be missing, get lost after after that afternoon foot grey earn pension thunder

p iem ē ra m p ie m ē rs p ie n ā k t (1) piens p ie ņ e m t (1) piere p ie tu ra p ie v ie n o t (2) p ild īt (3) p iln īg s p ilns p ils (fem.) p ilsē ta p ip a ri (pl.) p irk s ts p irk t (1) p irm d ie n a p irm s (+ gen.) plāns plecs p līts (fem.) p lu d m a le p o litis k s p o rta tīv a is

platform pizza at, by five offer, present side dish fifth Friday tired add (by pouring) add attachment for example example arrive milk adopt forehead stop add, attach fill complete full castle town pepper finger buy Monday before thin shoulder cooker beach political laptop (computer)

d a to rs p ra k tis k s p re t (+ acc.) p re z id e n ts p rie c īg s p rie k s

practical against, for president happy, joyful pleasure

Latvian-English glossary

p rie kša uz p rie kšu p rie k š te lp a p rin te ris p ro b lē m a p ro g n o ze p ro je k to rs p ro je k ts p ro k la m ē t (2) p ro ta m s p ro v in c e PSRS = P ad om ju S o c iā lis tis k o

front ahead hallway, entrance printer problem forecast projector project proclaim of course (the) province(s), rural areas Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

S avien īb a p u lk s te n is p u sa u d zis p u sdiena p u sd ie n a s p u s d ie n o t (2) puse p ū s t (1) p u tu k rē ju m s

resns re s to rā n s re ze rvē t re zid e n ce re ž īm s rīs i (pl.) rie tu m i rīt, rītd ie n rīts rīve ro ka ro k d a rb i ro ta ro ta ļlie ta rozā ru d e n s

R e p u b liku p u de le

247

ru p jš

bottle clock teenager, adolescent noon lunch (have) lunch side, half blow whipped cream

S sa ce p u m s s a c īt

(3)

s a g a id īt

(3)

s a g la b ā t (2) s a g rie z t (1) s a k a rs ē t (2) s ā k t (1) (tr.) s ā k tie s (1) (intr.) sā ku m s

R ra d ia to rs rā d īt

(3)

ra id īju m s re ce p te re d z ē t

(3)

re fe rā ts reize rē ķin s re n o v ē t (2) re n tg e n s re p u b lik a

radiator show programme, broadcast prescription see presentation, report time, occasion bill renovate X-ray republic

stout, fat restaurant reserve, book residence routine, regime rice west tomorrow morning grater hand, arm handicrafts ornament toy pink autumn, fall rough, coarse

sala sa lā ti (pl.) sa ld ē ju m s salds sa ld u m s s a ld skā b m a ize sāls sa n ā ksm e s a n ā k t (1) sa ņ e m t (1) sāpe(s)

fried dish say await, meet preserve cut heat (v.) start, begin (sthg) start, begin beginning island salad ice cream sweet (adj.) sweet (n.) sourdough bread salt meeting, conference succeed, be managed receive pain

248

Latvian-English glossary

s ā p ē t (3) (+ dat.) s a ra k s ts s a rg ā t (2) s a rīv ē t (2) s a rk a n s s a s tā v s s a tik t (1) s a tik tie s (1)

hurt, be painful list, timetable protect grate red structure meet meet

(re c ip ro c a l)

s a u k t (1) s a u la in s sa u le s a v ie n o ju m s savs s a v u k ā rt s a z v a n ītie s (3)

call sunny sun connection (one’s) own in turn ring, telephone

(re c ip ro c a l)

s ē d ē t (3) se ja s e k c ija s e k re tā rs sekunde s e n c is sē n e se n s s e p te m b ris s e p tiņ i s e p tīta is s e riā ls s ē rija s e s ta is s e s td ie n a se ši sē ta se v s ie rs sie va s ie v ie te s īk s s ik s n a

sit face display/storage unit secretary second ancestor mushroom ancient September seven seventh series, sitcom episode sixth Saturday six farm, yard, enclosure for (one)self cheese wife woman small (men’s) belt

warm herring s īp o ls onion heart s ird s (fern.) skābs sour; pickled s k a id ro tie s clear up s k a is ts beautiful sk a ņ a sound s k a p is cupboard s k a tītie s (3) watch s k a ts view, scene s k o la school s k o lo tā js (masc.) teacher s k rie t (1) run s la id s slim s la v e n s famous s le p e n s secret s lē p o t (2) ski s lik ts bad s lim s sick s lin k s lazy s līp s slanting, oblique s lo k s n e strip s n ie g s snow (n.) s n ig t (1) snow (v.) som a bag S p ā n ija Spain spēks power shine s p īd ē t (3) s p ilv e n s cushion s p o rts sport s ta c ija station s ta rp (+ acc.) between, among s ta rp c itu among other (things) s ta rp n ie c īb a mediation, auspices s tā v o k lis condition stā v s floor, storey s te ik s steak s tils style s trā d ā t (2) work s ilts

s iļķ e

Latvian-English glossary

strategically s tro g a n o v s strogonoff s tu d e n ts (masc.) student s tu d ē t (2) study s tu n d a hour s u d ra b s silver su la juice s u līg s juicy su n s dog s u v e n īrs souvenir s v ā rk i (pl.) skirt s v e ik s hello, hi s v ē tb rīd is religious service s v ē td ie n a Sunday s v ē tk i (pl.) festival s v ie s tm a iz e sandwich s v ie s ts butter s tra tē ģ is k i

249

ta g a d ta g a d ē js ta is ī t

(3)

(3) (3) ta is ītie s (3)

t a is īt c ie t

t a is īt va ļā ta is n i tā lru n is tā p a t tā p ē c ta s , tā tā ta d ta u ta

ta v s (sing, fam.) te te ā tris

Š

te h n is k s

šad un ta d ša lle š a m p in jo n s š a u rs š e it šis, š ī

now and then scarf button mushroom narrow here this

tē ja

ham seem plate hit (song) today chocolate tonight this morning this evening

te m p e ra tū ra

te le fo n s te le v iz o rs te lp a te ļš tē m a

(masc./fem.) š ķ iņ ķ is š ķ is t (1) š ķ īv is š lā g e rs š o d ie n š o k o lā d e šonakt š o r īt šovakar

te n is s te p a t te r ito r ija te v (sing./fam.) tē v s tic īb a tie s īb a s (pl.) tie š ā m tik

T tā ta b le te ta č u ta d

tik a i

so tablet, pill of course then

tīk ls t ik t (1) tip s tird z n ie c īb a

now present-day make close open get ready straight telephone also, likewise therefore, that is why that, it so people, nation, folk your here theatre technical tea telephone television space, room, premises calf theme, subject, topic temperature tennis right here territory to/for you father faith right(s) really so only net (work) get (to) type trade, commerce

250

Latvian-English glossary

trader market clean tomato nevertheless at that time tram dishes dishwasher

tirg o tā js tirg u s tīrīt

(3)

to m ā ts to m ē r to re iz tra m v a js tra u k i tra u k u

u zņ e m š a n a uzņem t u z re iz u z s tā tie s (par)

(1) u z v a lk s u z v ā rd s u z v ilk t (1)

m a z g ā ja m ā

V

m a šīn a

V ā c ija

third Wednesday three you toilet immediately, in a moment dark tunnel there as well, moreover there, thither right there near near by nearness

tre š a is tre š d ie n a tr īs tu (fam.) tu a le te t ū lī t tu m š s tu n e lis tu r tu r k lā t tu rp tu rp a t tu v s tu v u m ā tu v u m s

va d s vai

(question word),

v a i . . . vai v a ic ā t (2) v a irā k v a irā k i v a irs v a ja d z īg s v ā jš vakar v a k a riņ a s v a k a riņ o t (2) v a k a rs v a n iļa va ra

un u n iv e rs ā lv e ik a ls up e uz (+ gen.)

(+ acc.) u z a ic in ā t

(3)

u z b ē rt (1) u z k a is īt

(3)

uzkoda u z la ik o š a n a s

and department store river on to invite sprinkle, strew sprinkle snack fitting room

ka b īn e u z la ik o t (2) u z lik t (1)

v ā rd s v ā rīt

(3)

v a s a ra vecāki v e c ā m ā te vecs v e c tē v s v ē d e rs v e ģ e tā rs v e id la p a v e id s

try on put onto

suit surname wind up

Germany wire

va n n a U, Ū

admissions admit immediately speak up (for)

v e ik a ls v e ik t (1)

or, oh either. . . or ask more several no longer necessary weak yesterday evening meal have dinner/ supper evening vanilla bathtub power, authority name boil summer parents grandmother old grandfather stomach vegetarian (adj.) form kind, type shop carry out

Latvian-English glossary

vē ja in s vē jja ka vējš vēl v ē lē tie s (3) ve lo sip ē d s veļa veļas

windy windcheater, anorak wind more, still want, would like bicycle linen, washing washing machine

251

virsū v irtu ve virzie n s v irz ītie s (3) v is p irm s viss vista Z

m a zg ājam ā

zāb aki

m a šīn a

za ķis

boiling lead vē stu le letter vē stu re history v ē s tu ris k s historic v e te rin ā rā rs ts vet vid e environment vidū in the middle vid u s middle v id u s la ik u (gen.) medieval viela material vie n a u d zis peer vie n m ē r always vie ns one v ie n v ie tīg s single (room) vie n virzie n a one-way, single vie sis guest v ie sista b a living room vie s n īc a hotel vie ta place v ie tē js local, home-grown v ik in g s Viking v ilc ie n s train v ilk s wolf vilna wool vīns wine viņa she viņ a s (fem.) they v iņ i (masc.) they viņ š he v e rd o š s

on top kitchen direction lead first (of all) all hen, chicken

Z aķusa la

v ē rs t

zāle zaļš z e ķ b ik s e s zeķe ze lts zem (+ gen.) zem ene zīds zie de ziem a z ie m e ļi z ilo n is zils zīm ē t (2) z in ā t (3) ziņa ziņas zirg s zivs (fem.) zo b s zupa

boots hare Hare Island, district of Riga herb green tights, pantyhose sock, stocking gold under strawberry silk ointment winter north elephant blue draw know report, (piece of) news news horse fish tooth soup

Ž ža ke te žan rs žēl ž u rn ā lis ts

jacket genre pity journalist

English-Latvian glossary

Adjectives, numbers and nouns that are variable for gender are given in their masculine form. Noun gender is given if it deviates from the normal pattern. Verbs are given in their infinitive form. The numbers indicate the conjugation group of each verb. A

add address adopt advice after after that afternoon against ahead aim air all already also although altogether always amber American (n.)

p ie lik t (1) ad rese p ie ņ e m t (1) pa do m s pē c (+ gen.)

a p rīlis

arrive

p ā rn ā k t (1),

pē c ta m p ē cp u sd ie n a

ga iss

a rh ite k tū ra a tp ū ta s krē sls pa (+ acc.) ie b ra u kša n a ,

p ie n ā k t (1), ie ra stie s (1)

uz p rie kšu m ē rķis

a rh ite k ts

ie raša nās

p re t (+ acc.)

art artist

m āksla m ā k s lin ie k s

viss

(masc.)

ja u

m ā k s lin ie c e

(fem.)

a rī k a u t gan kopā vie n m ē r d z in ta rs a m e rik ā n is

(masc. n.) a m e rik ā n ie te

(fem. n.) ancient and animal appetite apple

April architect architecture armchair around arrival

sens

as as well ask at at that time at what time attachment August autumn

p a r (+ acc.) tu rk lā t v a ic ā t (2) pie (+ gen.) to re iz c ik o s p ie lik u m s a u g u sts rud en s

un d zīv n ie k s

B

a p e tīte

back, backwards back

ā b ols

a tp a ka ļ m ug ura

English-Latvian glossary

bad bag bake balcony bank bathtub beach beautiful because bed bedroom beef beer before berry beside

s lik ts som a c e p t (1) b a lk o n s

big bill biscuit black block blouse blow blue boil book boots both both .. . and bottle box bread brief bring brother brown build build in building

burn bus station butter buy

d e g t (1) a u to o s ta s v ie s ts (n o )p irk t (1)

banka va n n a

C

p lu d m a le

cabbage cafe cafeteria call canteen car

s k a is ts jo g u lta g u ļa m is ta b a lie llo p a g a ļa a lu s p irm s (+ gen.) oga b la k u s (adv. &

prep. + dat.) between bicycle

253

s ta rp (+ acc.) v e lo s ip ē d s lie ls rē ķ in s cepum s m e ln s k v a rtā ls b lū ze p ū s t (1) zils v ā r īt (3) g rā m a ta zābaki ab i, a b a s g a n . . . gan p u d e le k a s te m a ize īs la ic īg s ; īs s a tn e s t (1) b rā lis b rū n s c e lt (1) ie b ū v ē t (2) ē ka

k ā p o s ti (pi.) k a fe jn īc a ē d n īc a s a u k t (1) ē d n īc a m a š īn a , a u to m a š īn a

carrot carry carry out castle cat centre century ceramics chair cheap cheese chemist’s chest (also breasts) chicken (meat) child chips, French fries chocolate choice church cinema classical clean clear up client clock close clothes

b u rk ā n s n e s t (1) v e ik t (1) p ils (fem.) k a ķ is c e n trs g a d s im ts k e ra m ik a k rē s ls lē ts s ie rs a p tie k a k rū tis (pl.) v is ta (s ga ļa ) b ē rn s f r ī k a rtu p e ļi š o k o lā d e izvē le b a z n īc a k in o k la s is k s n o t īr ī t (3) s k a id ro tie s (2) k lie n ts p u lk s te n is t a is īt c ie t a p ģ ē rb s

254

English-Latvian glossary

cloudy club coat coffee cold comfortable company complete computer condition conference connection cooker cost cotton countryside couple (of) courtyard cream dessert cream crossroads cucumber cupboard cushion cut

m ā ko ņ a in s klu b s

dishes dishwasher

m ē te lis

ē rts firm a p iln īg s d a to rs s tā v o k lis sa n ā ksm e sa vie n o ju m s

tra u k u m azg ājam ā

ka fija a u k s ts

tra u k i

m ašīna

display/storage unit do doctor dog draw dress drink

s e k c ija iz d a rīt (3) ā rs ts sun s (pl. suņi) z īm ē t (2) kle ita d zē rie n s (n.) d z e rt (v.) (1)

p līts (fem.) m a k s ā t (2) k o kviln a

E

la u ki (pl.)

ear early earn east

p ā ris pa g a lm s krē m s krē ju m s k ru s to ju m s g u rķ is sk a p is sp ilve n s s a g rie z t (1)

D

dance

de ja (n.)

dark date day day after tomorrow December definitely department department store departure description dining room direction

tu m š s

d e jo t (v.) (2) d a tu m s diena p a rīt d e c e m b ris n o te ik ti no da ļa u n ive rsā lve ika ls

auss (fem.) ag rs p e ln īt (3) a u s tru m i

ola egg a sto ņ i eight v a i . . . vai either. . . or c itu r elsewhere e -p a s ts e-mail b u rv īg s enchanting end be ig as (pl.), gals in že n ie ris engineer a n g lis Englishman enter ie n ā k t (1) ie kā rta equipment, furniture especially (it) sevišķi even (as much as) p a t example p ie m ē rs for example p iem ē ra m a tv a in o t (2) excuse d ā rg s expensive eye a cs (fem.)

izb ra u kša n a a p ra k s ts

F

ē d a m ista b a

face family

virzie n s

seja ģim e n e

English-Latvian glossary

famous father favourable

sla ven s tē vs izd evīgs, la b vē līg s

February festival fill fill in find finger finish first first (of all) fish five flat floor (storey) folk tale

fe b ru ā ris sv ē tk i p ild īt (3) a iz p ild īt (3) a tra s t (1) p irk s ts b e ig tie s (1) p irm a is v is p irm s zivs (fem.) p ie ci d z īv o k lis stāvs pasaka (dim. pasaciņa)

food foot foreign forest form fortunately foundation four France free French fries Friday friend

p ā rtik a pēda ā rze m ju m ežs ve id la p a p a r la im i pa m a ts č e tri F rancija b rīv s fr ī k a rtu p e ļi p ie k td ie n a

G gain garden Germany get, receive get (to) get to know give (present) give (provide) glass (utensil) gloves go go (travel) go out, leave go shopping go visiting gold good good day good evening good morning grandmother great Great Britain green grey grill grow (cultivate) guard guest guide

ie g ū t (2) d ā rzs V ācija d a b ū t (2) t ik t (1) ie p a z ītie s (1) d ā vin ā t (3) ie d o t (irreg.) glāze c im d i ie t (irreg.) b ra u k t (1) iz ie t (irreg.) ie p irk tie s (1) c ie m o tie s (2) ze lts labs la bd ien la b va ka r la b rīt ve cā m ā te lie lis k i L ie lb ritā n ija zaļš pe lē ks g rilē t (2) a u d zē t (2) a p s a rg ā t (2) vie sis g id s

d ra u g s

(masc.) dra u d ze n e

from front fruit fry full furnish furniture

255

(fem.) no (+ gen.) p rie kša a u g lis c e p t (1) p ilns

H

hair half hallway ham hand happen happy

š ķ iņ ķ is

hat

ce p u re

m ē b e lē t (2) m ēb eles (pl.)

m a ti (pl.) puse p rie k š te lp a roka n o tik t (1) la im īg s, p rie c īg s

256

English-Latvian glossary

have/eat a meal he head hear heart heating hello help

p a ē st (1)

J

viņš

jacket January jar jazz jeans join journalist journey juice juicy July June

galva d z ird ē t (3) s ird s (fem.) a p ku re sve iks p a līd z ē t

(+ dat.) (3) helpful herb here high hill history holidays (at) home honey hope horse hot hotel hotel room hour house how how (much, many)

iz p a līd z īg s zāle te, š e it a u g sts

ža ke te ja n v ā ris b u rciņ a džezs d žin si (pl.) ie k ļū t (1) ž u rn ā lis ts ceļš sula s u līg s jū lijs jū n ijs

kalns v ē s tu re

K

a tv a ļin ā ju m s

key kitchen knee knife know (a fact) know (recognize) known (famous)

m ājās m ed us c e rē t (3) z irg s ka rs ts vie s n īc a

atslē g a virtu v e celis nazis z in ā t (3) p a z īt (1) p a z īs ta m s

nu m urs, ista b a stu n d a

L

m āja

lake laptop

ezers

last

b e id zam ais;

Latvia law lawyer lay lazy leather leave left on the left lemon length letter (have a) lie-in

La tvija

kā c ik

p o rta tīv a is d a to rs pa g ā ju ša is

1

1 ice cream idea if immediately impress in order to inform inside interesting invite it

es s a ld ē ju m s ideja ja tū līt, uzre iz ie s p a id o t (2) lai p a z iņ o t (2) iekšā in te re s a n ts u za ic in ā t (3) ta s

lik u m s ju ris ts lik t (1) s lin k s āda a tie t (irreg.) kre iss pa kreisi c itro n s g a ru m s v ē stu le izg u lē tie s

English-Latvian glossary

life lift light (bright) likewise linen lip listen in listen to little a little live local long long (time) look at, around look for (have a) look love luggage lunch

257

d z īv e lifts g a iš s tā p a t lin i (pi.) lū p a

(3)

p a k la u s ītie s k la u s ītie s

(3)

m azs m a z lie t d z īv o t (2) v ie tē js g a rš ilg s a p s k a tīt

(3)

m e k lē t (2) a p s k a tītie s m īlē t

(3)

(3)

b a g ā ža p u s d ie n a s

milk mineral water (be) missing mobile (telephone) modern moment Monday money more morning mother mountain mouth move in much museum mushroom music my

p ie n s m in e rā lū d e n s t r ū k t (1) m o b ila is (te le fo n s ) m ū s d ie n u b rīd is p irm d ie n a na ud a v a irā k (+ gen.) rīts m ā te k a ln s m u te ie v ā k tie s (1) d a u d z (+ gen.) m u z e js sēne, šam pinjons m ū z ik a m a n s, m ana

(masc./fem.) M

machine make many March market May may (be allowed) me meal mean meat medieval meet meet (reciprocal) meeting memory mention menu middle in the middle

N

m a š īn a t a is īt

(3)

d a u d z (+ gen.) m a rts tirg u s m a ijs d r īk s tē t

(3)

m ani ē d ie n s n o z īm ē t (2) g a ļa v id u s la ik u s a tik t (1) s a tik tie s (1) sanāksm e, m ītiņš a tm iņ a m in ē t (2) ē d ie n k a rte v id u s vid ū

name narrow nation nature near necessary neck (neck)tie never nevertheless new next week next year nice night nine no noon north

v ā rd s š a u rs n ā c ija , ta u ta daba tu v s v a ja d z īg s k a k ls k a k la s a ite n e ka d to m ē r ja u n s nākošnedēļ nākošgad ja u k s n a k ts (fem.) d e v iņ i nē p u s d ie n a z ie m e ļi

258

English-Latvian glossary

nose not nothing nought November now now and then nowhere nurse O October of course offer, present office often oh oil old on one (one)self for (one)self one-way onion only open or orange (adj.) orange (n.) order other outside

deguns nekas nulle n o ve m b ris ta g a d šad un ta d n e ku r m ed m āsa

p ro ta m s, ta č u p ie d ā vā t (2) b iro js bieži vai eļļa vecs uz (+ gen.) vie ns pats, pa ti sev vie n virzie n a s īp o ls tik a i ta is īt vaļā (3) je b , vai o ra nžs a p e lsīn s p a s ū tīt (3) c its ārā, ā rp u s

(prep. + gen.) krā sn s

P pain be painful parents

a u to m a š īn a s

parking place part particularly passenger patient pepper person photograph

a u to s tā v v ie ta

n o vie to ša n a daļa īp a š i p a sa žie ris p a c ie n ts p ip a ri cilv ē k s fo to g ra fē t (2); fo to g rā fija

o k to b ris

ā rp u se (n.)

oven

parking

ne-

piece pink pity plate platform please please (be pleasing to) pleasure pork possible post (office) potato prescribe prescription presentation preserve price printer problem proper protect pub purple put put into put onto

ga ba ls rozā žēl š ķ īv is pe ron s lūdzu p a tik t (+ dat.) (1) p rie ks c ū ka s gaļa ie sp ē ja m s p a sts k a rtu p e lis iz ra k s tīt (3) re c e p te re fe rā ts s a g la b ā t (2) cena p rin te ris p ro b lē m a k ā rtīg s s a rg ā t (2) kro g s lillā n o lik t (1) ie lik t (1) u z lik t (1)

sape(s) sā p ē t (+ dat.)

Q

(3)

quick, rapid quiet

ve cā ki

ā trs klu ss

English-Latvian glossary

R railway rain

d ze lzce ļš lie tu s (n.)

259

Saturday sauce say

se std ie n a

scarf school sea second see send separate September serious serve service seven she shine shirt shoe shop shoulder show shower sick side side dish silk silver since single, one-way sister sit sit (for a while) site six ski skirt sleep (v.) sleep (n.) slight slim

šalle

te ik t (1)

līt (1)

rainy read read through ready really rebuild receipt receive receptionist recommend red red wine refrigerator relax renovate report, (piece of) news restaurant restore rice rich ring, telephone

lie ta in s la s īt (3) iz la s īt (3) ga tavs tie šā m p ā rb ū v ē t (2) k v īts (fem.) s a ņ e m t (1) re ģ is tra to re ie te ik t (1) sa rka n s sa rk a n v īn s le d u sska p is a tp ū s tie s (1) re n o v ē t (2) ziņa re sto rā n s a tja u n o t (2) rīs i (pl.) ba g ā ts sa z v a n ītie s (3)

(reciprocal) rise, get up river road roast room route ruins run

c e ltie s (1) upe ceļš c e p e tis ista b a m a rš ru ts d ru p a s s k rie t (1)

S

salad sales assistant salmon salt sandwich

sa lā ti (pl.) p ā rd e vē js la sis sāls svie stm a ize

m ē rce s a c īt (3),

sko la jū ra se ku n d e re d z ē t (3) n o s ū tīt (3) a ts e v iš ķ s s e p te m b ris n o p ie tn s p a s n ie g t (1) p a k a lp o ju m s s e p tiņ i viņa s p īd ē t (3) k re kls ku rp e ve ika ls ple cs (p a )rā d īt (3) duša slim s puse piedeva z īd s s u d ra b s k o p š (+ gen.) vie n virzie n a m āsa sē d ē t (3) p a sē d ē t (3) o b je k ts seši s lē p o t s v ā rk i (pl.) g u lē t (3) m ie gs ne lie ls s la id s

260

English-Latvian glossary

slow small snack snow (n.) snow (v.) so sock sofa solve some some, any

lē ns s īk s , m azs uzkoda s n ie g s

zeķe d īv ā n s a tris in ā t (3) kā d s, kā d a

s tu d ē t (2)

sk a ņ a zu p a skābs s a ld s k ā b m a iz e d ie n v id i S p ā n ija p a v a d īt (3)

sugar suit

s tils s a n ā k t (1), iz d o tie s (+ dat.) c u k u rs u z v a lk s (men’s); k o s tīm s

(women’s) summer sun Sunday sunny supermarket surname sweater, jumper sweet

v a s a ra sa u le s v ē td ie n a s a u la in s lie lv e ik a ls u zv ā rd s d ž e m p e ris s a ld s (adj.) k o n fe k te (n.)

k a ro te s p o rts

ķ īs e lis s tu d e n ts

(irreg.) (1)

kaut kur iz k la u s ītie s (3)

iela

(masc.)

k ā d re iz

swimming pool

p e ld b a s e in s

u z k a is īt (3), la u k u m s k ā p n e s (pl.) s ā k t (tr. start

sthg) (1) s ā k tie s (intr.) (1)

start (n.) station stay overnight steak still stomach stone stop (bus, etc.) stout straight ahead

study style succeed (manage)

d a ži

u z b ē rt (1)

square (town) staircase start (v.)

zem ene

s n ig t (1) tā , tā ta d ; tik

(masc., fem.) sometimes somewhere sound (v.) sound (n.) soup sour sourdough bread south Spain spend (time) spoon sport sprinkle

strawberry street stewed fruit student

sākum s

T

table take take off take place tall taste

g a ld s

tasty tea teacher

g a rš īg s

s ta c ija p ā rn a k š ņ o t (1) s te ik s vēl

p ie tu ra

p rie k š u

n o tik t (1) g a rš g a rš o t (+ dat.)

tē ja s k o lo tā js

(masc.) teenager telephone

re sn s ta is n i uz

n o v ilk t (1)

(2)

k u ņ ģ is , v ē d e rs akm ens

p a ņ e m t (1)

p u s a u d z is tā lru n is , te le fo n s

television tell

te le v iz o rs p a s tā s tīt (3)

English-Latvian glossary

ten thanks that that then there there (thither) therefore they

d e s m it p a ld ie s ta s ka (conj.) ta d tu r tu rp tā p ē c viņ i, viņ a s

261

tram tree trousers try try on T uesday turn to (go to) twice two

tra m v a js koks b ik s e s m ē ģ in ā t (3) u z la ik o t (2) o trd ie n a g rie z tie s (1) d iv re iz d iv i

(masc., fem thin think this evening this morning this; this one

p lā n s

U

d o m ā t (2)

umbrella under underwear unfortunately until up use usually

šovakar š o r īt šis, š ī

(masc ./fem.] three through

tr īs c a u r (+ acc.), pa (+ acc.)

thunder Thursday ticket tie time time, occasion timetable, list tired to to/for me today toe toilet tomato tomorrow tonight too tour town toy trade, commerce trader, merchant train

lie tu s s a rg s zem (+ gen.) a p a k š v e ļa d ie m ž ē l ka m ē r, līd z a u g šā lie to t (2) p a ra s ti

p ē rk o n s c e tu rtd ie n a

V

b iļe te

various vegetable very (much) view vinegar visit

k a k la s a ite la ik s re ize s a ra k s ts p ie k u s is uz (+ acc.)

dažādi d ā rz e n is ļo ti s k a ts e tiķ is a p c ie m o t (2), a p m e k lē t (2)

m an š o d ie n

W

k ā ja s p irk s ts

waiter walk (n.) (go for a) walk (v.) want

o fic ia n ts

warm wash

s ilts

washing watch we

veļa

tu a le te to m ā ts rīt, rītd ie n šonakt

p ils ē ta

tirg o tā js v ilc ie n s

(2) v ē lē tie s (3),

iz m a z g ā t (2), m a z g ā t (2)

ro ta ļlie ta tird z n ie c īb a

p a s ta ig ā tie s

g rib ē t (3)

p ā rā k a p s k a te

p a s ta ig a

s k a tītie s (3) m ēs

262

English-Latvian glossary

weak weather week weekend well west what what (kind of)

vājš la iks nedēļa ne dē ļas no ga le labi, nu rie tu m i kas kā d s /k ā d a

(masc./fem.) when where, where to? which

kad kur, uz ku rie n i? kurš, kura

(masc./fem.) whipped cream white who wife willingly wind windy windcheater, anorak

window wine winter wish with without woman wonderful wood wool work (n.) work (v.) world

lo gs vīn s ziem a v ē lē tie s (3) a r (+ acc.) bez (+ gen.ļ s ie vie te b rīn iš ķ īg s k o ks vilna d a rb s s trā d ā t (2) pasaule

p u tu k rē ju m s b a lts

Y

kas

year yellow yes yesterday you (sing.) (pl./formal) young

sieva la b p rā t vējš vē ja in s vē jja ka

gads d ze lte n s jā va k a r tu jū s ja u n s

Bibliography

In writing this course we have consulted several authoritative diction­ aries, grammars and textbooks which we would like to mention here:

Dictionaries Belzēja, Z. et al. (1977), English-Latvian Dictionary. Waverly, Iowa: National Latvian Publishers. Ceplītis, L. et al. (1995), Latviešu Valodas Pareizrakstības un Pareizrunas Vārdnīca (Dictionary o f the correct orthography and pronunciation o f the Latvian language). Riga: Avots. Jātniece, A.Z. (2004), Latvian Dictionary & Phrasebook. New York: Hippocrene Books. Kalniņa, D. et al. (2007), English-Latvian Dictionary. Riga: Avots. Turkina, E. (1982), Latviešu-Angju Vārdnīca (Latvian-English Dictionary). Riga: Avots. Veisbergs, A. (2005), Jaunā Latviešu-Angļu Vārdnīca (The new LatvianEnglish Dictionary). Riga: Zvaigzne ABC.

Grammars Ceplīte, B. and L. Ceplītis (1991, 1997), Latviešu Valodas Praktiskā Gramatika (Practical grammar o f the Latvian language). Riga: Zvaigzne. Fennell, T. and H. Gelsen (1979), A Grammar o f Modern Latvian (3 volumes). The Hague: Mouton. Nau, N. (2002), Palīgā! Komunikatīvā Gramatika (Help! Communicative grammar). Riga: LVAVP. Steinbergs, A. (last revised 2008), The Latvian Language, \nvjw. Iatvianstuff.com/Language.html

264

B ibliography

Textbooks Būdiņa Lazdiņa T. (1966), Teach Yourself Latvian. London: English Universities Press. Budviķe I. et al. (2005), Palīgā! 1. Līmenis (Help! First level). Riga: LVAVA. Cīrule L. (2005), Palīgā! 2. Līmenis (Help! Second level). Riga: LVAVA. Šalme A. and P. Cldris (1996), Do it in Latvian! Riga, Apgāds.

Index

accusative case 22 addressing people 1 adjectives comparative 97 definite 82 demonstrative 92 indefinite 69 possessive 8 superlative 141 adverbs 87 adverbs comparative 97 superlative 141 adverbs of frequency 84 age 72 alphabet, spelling 32 ‘be’ (present tense) 5 body, parts of the body 148 breakfast 36 b ū t (present tense) 5 buying tickets 47 chemist’s 153 clothes 93 colours 94 commands 107 commas 101 communications 187 comparative of adjectives 97

comparative of adverbs 97 compass points 176 conditional 95 consonant changes in nouns 169 countries and nationalities 133 cuisine 114 culture 156. currency 39 daily routines 119 dates 32 dative case 33 da ud z (‘much/many’) 71 days 121 debitive mood 123 demonstrative adjectives 92 describing people 73-74 diminutives 109 directions 16 direct object 22

gan 68

gender 2 genitive case 52 gerunds 154 greetings and goodbyes 3 ‘have’ 35 health 146-149 history 183 holidays and trips 131 hotels 29 ‘if sentences 95 imperative 107 inclusive plural pronouns 162 indirect object 33 ‘in’ or ‘at’ a place 7 ‘in order to’ 124 introducing oneself and others 1 ‘it’ 49 jobs 12 k a u t kas, nekas

family relationships 69 festivals and national holidays 88 flats and houses 160 food 36, 113 foreign names 7 furniture 167 future tense 58

(‘something, nothing’) 87 kiosk, at the 23 lai (‘in order to’) 124

languages H leisure activities 78-80 ‘let’s’ 166

266

Index

‘like’ 60 ‘little/few’ Z1 locative case 63 materials 94 m az (‘little/few’) 71 media 187 medicine, instructions 154 menus 57 money 20, 47 months and dates 32 ‘much/many’ 71 ‘must’ 123 nā kt, p ie n ā k t (‘come,

arrive’) 49 nationalities 12, 133 negation, double 127 negative verbs 10 newspapers and media 194 nominative case 17 nouns accusative 22 consonant changes 169 dative 33 diminutives 109 genitive 52 locative 63 nominative 1Z vocative 4 nouns following numbers 72 numbers agreement 20 cardinal 13, 26, 30 ordinal 31 object of infinitives 133

passive voice 180 past tense 134 perfect tenses 163 personal pronouns 4 accusative Z place names 140 places around town 18 plural pronouns 16 possessive adjectives 8

prefixes 49 prepositions 25, 61, 166 present tense 74 pronouns inclusive plural 162 personal 4 accusative Z questions 10 reflexive verbs 80 relative mood 188 reported commands 190 reported speech 188 restaurants 54 Riga 177 savs (‘one’s own’) 140 seasons 176 shops 95 shopping for clothes 91 shopping for food 105 shopping for souvenirs 99 ‘should’ 180 šis (‘this’) 92 song and dance festival 183 spelling 32

souvenirs 99 subjectless clauses HZ superlative of adjective 141 superlative of adverb 141 ta s (‘it’, ‘that’) 49, 92 telephone and e-mail 187 ‘there isn’t any’ 59 ‘this/that’ 92 time, telling the time 44,46 time expressions 192 transport 24travelling by taxi 20 travelling by train 42, 4Z

verbs commands 108 conditional 95 debitive mood 123 future tense 58 negative 10 passive voice 180 past tense 134 perfect tenses 163 present tense 74reflexive 80, 136 relative mood 188 reported commands 190 vocative case 4 weather 173 websites 195 weights, etc. 108 word order 101 ‘would’ 95