Have, absence and saying no

Latvian normally expresses have with a dative person plus ir: man ir atslēga, I have a key. A dative marks a recipient or experiencer. The complete persons are man, tev, viņam, viņai, mums, jums, viņiem, viņām.

The possessed thing stays in the nominative: Man ir atslēga. For absence use nav and a genitive noun: Man nav atslēgas. Learn this contrast now; noun genitive patterns are expanded with the empty flat.

A describing word changes with a learner’s gender: Es esmu izsalcis, male; Es esmu izsalkusi, female. These useful hunger forms are learned as a pair. Ļoti means very and does not change.

• Man ir atslēga.I have a key.

• Tev ir atslēga.You have a key, familiar.

• Viņam ir atslēga.He has a key.

• Viņai ir atslēga.She has a key.

• Mums ir atslēga.We have a key.

• Jums ir atslēga.You have a key, polite.

• Viņiem ir atslēga.They have a key, masculine or mixed.

• Viņām ir atslēga.They have a key, feminine.

When denying a description, keep the nominative: Viņš nav mans kaķis, he is not my cat. For an absent thing, use the genitive: Kaķa nav, there is no cat.