Latvian prepositions

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This article describes the use of prepositions and postpositions in Latvian grammar.

Contents

The lists below are organized according to the case of the noun phrase following the preposition. In the plural, however, all prepositions in Latvian can be described as governing the dative case. For example:

Examples

LatvianEnglish approximateCase Frequency Example phraseTranslation
aiz behindgenitive172paslēpties aiz liela kokato hide behind a large tree
aiz behinddative*172apspriede notika aiz slēgtām durvīmthe discussion took place behind closed doors
bez withoutgenitive446
kopš sincegenitive133
no fromgenitive3524skaitīt no viens līdz desmitto count from one to ten
pēc aftergenitive980pēc darba braucu uz mājāmafter work I go home
pēc afterdative*980pēc diviem mēnešiem būs pārbaudījumiafter two months there will be a test
pie at, on, togenitive1275māja pie jūrasa house on the sea
pirms before (time or location with time connotation).genitive0Viņš stāvēja pirms manis rindāhe stood before me in line
uz to, on (location)genitive3664
virs above, overgenitive191mati virs galvashair over the head
virs above, overdative191uzraksts virs durvīmthe inscription above the door
zem undergenitive106
ap around, about, ca.accusative72
ar withinstrumental 4682
caur throughaccusative106jāt caur mežuto ride through the forest
caur throughdative*106smaidīt caur asarāmto smile through the tears
gar alongaccusative24
pa byaccusative637iet pa ceļuto walk along the road
pa in, on, duringdative637pa naktīmduring night
pār over, acrossaccusative63pār upiacross the river
par aboutaccusative4328
pret againstaccusative407
starp betweenaccusative191galds atrodas starp skapi un loguthe table is situated between the cabinet and the window
starp betweendative*191sēdēt starp draugiemto sit among friends
uz to, towardsaccusative3664
līdz untildative619

Archaic forms

LatvianEnglish approximateCaseExample phraseTranslation
apakš undergenitive
ārpus beside, out ofgenitive
iekšpus insidegenitive
lejpus belowgenitive
otrpus across, beyond, on the other side (of), overgenitive
šaipus on this side (of)genitive
viņpus in other sidegenitive
virspus above, ongenitive
iekš ingenitive
iz from, out ofgenitiveiz apakšzemesfrom the underworld
priekš for (location wise)genitive

Semi-prepositions

Latvian has also some adverbs, known as pusprievārdi "semi-prepositions", which can be used like prepositions or postpositions, in combination with a dative noun phrase:

Postpositions

The following postpositions govern the genitive case, in both singular and plural:

See also

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