Amounts With the Genitive

Level 2

After an amount word, the thing measured goes in the genitive: daudz cilvēku (a lot of people), maz laika (little time), glāze ūdens (a glass of water).

How It Works

Amount words

These words take the genitive:

  • daudz (a lot, many), maz (little, few)
  • nedaudz and mazliet (a little)
  • vairāk (more), mazāk (less)

Containers and measures

The same happens after glāze (glass), tase (cup), pudele (bottle), kilograms (kilo), litrs (litre) and gabals (piece): tase kafijas (a cup of coffee), pudele piena (a bottle of milk), gabals maizes (a piece of bread).

Singular or plural genitive?

  • Things you count take the genitive plural: daudz cilvēku (a lot of people), kilograms ābolu (a kilo of apples). See Genitive Plural in -u.
  • Things you do not count take the genitive singular: daudz naudas (a lot of money), maz laika (little time), glāze ūdens (a glass of water). See Genitive Singular Endings.

Only the container changes

daudz and maz never change. A container word takes the case the sentence needs, while the contents stay in the genitive: Es izdzēru glāzi ūdens. (I drank a glass of water.) Here glāzi is the object, and ūdens stays genitive.

Numbers are different

The numbers two to nine are not amount words. They agree with the noun like adjectives: divi āboli (two apples), trīs cilvēki (three people). See Numbers That Agree. With desmit and bigger round numbers, the genitive plural is also used: desmit dienu or desmit dienas (ten days). See Ten, a Hundred and a Thousand With the Genitive.

daudz or daudzi?

There is also an adjective daudzi (many), which agrees with its noun: Daudzi cilvēki strādā Rīgā. (Many people work in Riga.) With daudz, always use the genitive: Daudz cilvēku strādā Rīgā.

Examples (6)

  1. Pludmalē bija daudz cilvēku.

    There were a lot of people on the beach.

    cilvēki (people) becomes the genitive plural cilvēku.

  2. Man ir maz laika.

    I have little time.

    laiks is uncountable, so it takes the genitive singular laika.

  3. Es izdzēru glāzi ūdens.

    I drank a glass of water.

    glāze is the object, so it becomes glāzi. ūdens stays genitive.

  4. Mamma nopirka kilogramu ābolu.

    Mom bought a kilo of apples.

    kilogramu is the object. ābolu is the genitive plural.

  5. Viņš ēd daudz maizes.

    He eats a lot of bread.

    maize is uncountable here, so it takes the genitive singular maizes.

  6. Pudele piena maksā vienu eiro.

    A bottle of milk costs one euro.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative after daudz.

    Pludmalē bija daudz cilvēki.
    Pludmalē bija daudz cilvēku.

    daudz takes the genitive. If you want the nominative, use the adjective daudzi: daudzi cilvēki.

  • Using the genitive after the numbers two to nine.

    Es nopirku trīs ābolu.
    Es nopirku trīs ābolus.

    Small numbers are not amount words. The noun takes its normal case, here the object form ābolus.

  • Changing the contents instead of the container.

    Es izdzēru glāzi ūdeni.
    Es izdzēru glāzi ūdens.

    Only the container changes to fit the sentence. The contents always stay genitive: glāzi ūdens.

How It Connects

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Amounts With the GenitiveLevel 2

Learn This First

Amounts and containers take the genitive: plural for counted things and singular for uncounted quantities.

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Words in This Pattern

maz