-ējs Adjectives From Time Words
Adjectives from Time Words
Add -ējs to a time word to describe a noun: tagad → tagadējais darbs (the current job), vakar → vakarējā ballīte (yesterday's party).
How It Works
1. From time words.
- tagad → tagadējs (now → current)
- vakar → vakarējs (yesterday → yesterday's)
- toreiz → toreizējs (back then → of that time)
- iepriekš → iepriekšējs (before → previous)
2. From place words. The same suffix works with some place adverbs:
- augšā → augšējs (upstairs, on top → upper)
- apakšā → apakšējs (below → lower)
- iekšā → iekšējs (inside → inner, internal), ārā → ārējs (outside → outer, external)
3. Definite forms. These adjectives usually point to one specific thing, so they take definite endings in every case: vakarējo avīzi (yesterday's paper), augšējā plauktā (on the top shelf). After mans or šis the ending is definite too: mans tagadējais darbs (see definite adjectives after determiners).
4. Today's and tomorrow's. For these, Latvian usually uses a genitive: šodienas ziņas (today's news), rītdienas plāni (tomorrow's plans). For next and last, see nākamais and pagājušais.
Watch out: vakarējs comes from vakar (yesterday), not from vakars (evening). The evening news is vakara ziņas.
Examples (6)
- Kāds ir tavs tagadējais darbs?
What is your current job?
Word by Word: What-kind is your current job?
- Vai tu lasīji vakarējo avīzi?
Did you read yesterday's paper?
Word by Word: Whether you read yesterday's paper?
- Vakarējā ballīte bija ļoti jautra.
Yesterday's party was a lot of fun.
Word by Word: Yesterday's party was very merry.
- Toreizējā dzīve bija grūta.
Life back then was hard.
Word by Word: Of-that-time life was hard.
- Iepriekšējā nedēļā es biju slims.
I was ill the week before.
Word by Word: In-previous week I was ill.
- Grāmatas ir augšējā plauktā.
The books are on the top shelf.
Word by Word: Books are in-upper shelf.
Augšējs comes from the place word augšā.
Common Mistakes
Putting the adverb itself in front of a noun.
Kāds ir tavs tagad darbs?Kāds ir tavs tagadējais darbs?Tagad is an adverb and cannot describe a noun. Use the adjective tagadējais.
Confusing vakara (of the evening) with vakarējs (yesterday's).
Vai tu lasīji vakara avīzi? (meaning yesterday's paper)Vai tu lasīji vakarējo avīzi?Vakara avīze is the evening paper. Yesterday's paper is vakarējā avīze, from vakar.
How It Connects
Learn This First
-ējs makes adjectives from time words.
- Definite Adjectives -ais / -āDefinite Adjective Endings
These adjectives commonly identify a specific thing and then use definite endings, as in tagadējais prezidents.
Level 3 - šodien / rīt / vakarToday, Tomorrow and Yesterday
Vakar supplies vakarējs; contrast šodienas for today’s, which uses a genitive instead.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- Definite Adjectives After My and This
After mans or šis, the -ējs adjective is definite: mans tagadējais darbs.
Level 3 - nākamais / pagājušaisNext Week and Last Year
Next and last also describe time, but they come from participles, not from -ējs.
Level 3 - Nouns Describing Nouns
Šodienas ziņas and rītdienas plāni describe a noun with a genitive instead.
Level 2 - ārā / iekšā / augšā / promDirection Words After Verbs
These place words give ārējs, iekšējs and augšējs.
Level 3
Practice -ējs Adjectives From Time Words in Bubblegum
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