By Whom: The Genitive Agent

Level 5

To say built by father, put the doer in the genitive right before the participle: tēva celta māja (a house built by father).

How It Works

1. The pattern. doer (genitive) + -ts participle + noun:

  • tēva celta māja (a house built by father)
  • mammas cepta kūka (a cake baked by Mum)
  • mūsu audzēti tomāti (tomatoes grown by us)
  • Blaumaņa sarakstīta luga (a play written by Blaumanis)

Personal pronouns use their genitive forms: mūsu, jūsu, and manis, tevis in writing: manis radītie projekti (projects created by me).

2. After būt. The phrase can also follow ir or bija to describe a result: Šī glezna ir mana drauga gleznota. This builds on passive būt + -ts.

3. Order matters. The genitive must stand right before the participle. In tēva celta māja, tēva belongs to celta. In celta tēva māja it would belong to māja ('father's house'), as in genitive before the noun.

4. Where it is not used. The genitive agent is not normal with the process passive passive tikt + -ts. Standard Latvian also avoids marking the doer with no. When the doer is the point of the sentence, an active sentence is usually best: Māju uzcēla tēvs (Father built the house).

Examples (5)

  1. Tā ir tēva celta māja.

    It is a house built by my father.

    Word by Word: That is father's built house.

  2. Šī glezna ir mana drauga gleznota.

    This picture was painted by my friend.

    Word by Word: This painting is my friend's painted.

  3. Uz galda bija mammas cepta kūka.

    There was a cake baked by Mum on the table.

    Word by Word: On table was Mum's baked cake.

  4. Šie ir mūsu pašu audzēti tomāti.

    These are tomatoes we grew ourselves.

    Word by Word: These are our own grown tomatoes.

    Mūsu is the genitive of mēs.

  5. Teātrī rāda Blaumaņa sarakstītu lugu.

    The theatre is showing a play written by Blaumanis.

    Word by Word: In-theatre show Blaumanis's written play.

    The participle agrees with lugu, which is accusative here.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding the doer with no, copying English 'by'.

    Šī ir māja, celta no tēva.
    Šī ir tēva celta māja.

    Latvian names the doer of a participle in the genitive, placed right before it. Standard Latvian does not use no for 'by'.

  • Putting the genitive after the participle.

    Tā ir celta tēva māja.
    Tā ir tēva celta māja.

    After the participle, tēva would describe māja (father's house). To mean 'built by father', put tēva right before celta.

  • Not making the participle agree with the noun.

    mammas cepts kūka
    mammas cepta kūka

    The participle agrees with kūka, which is feminine, so it needs -ta.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

By Whom: The Genitive AgentLevel 5

Learn This First

The genitive can name the doer.