Finished Actions With Prefixes

Level 4

A plain verb names the activity: Es lasīju grāmatu (I was reading the book). A prefixed verb says the job was finished: Es izlasīju grāmatu (I read the book to the end).

How It Works

1. Common pairs. Learn each verb with its usual "finished" partner:

  • rakstīt → uzrakstīt (to write out)
  • lasīt → izlasīt (to read through)
  • ēst → apēst (to eat up)
  • dzert → izdzert (to drink up)
  • darīt → izdarīt (to get done)
  • pirkt → nopirkt (to buy)
  • mācīties → iemācīties (to learn, to have learned)
  • gatavot → pagatavot (to cook, to make)

2. Process or result. Vakar es mācījos vārdus tells what you were busy with. Vakar es iemācījos vārdus says you now know them.

3. How long versus how fast. A plain verb goes with how long you spent, in the accusative: Es lasīju visu vakaru. (I read all evening.). A verb that finishes a job goes with how long the job took, in the locative: Es izlasīju grāmatu vienā vakarā. (I read the book in one evening.). Verbs with pa- or no- that mean "for a while" are different. They name a stretch of time, so they take the accusative: pasēdēt stundu (to sit for an hour).

4. The present stays present. A prefixed verb in the present tense still talks about now or about a habit. It does not become a future: Katru rītu es izdzeru glāzi ūdens. (Every morning I drink a glass of water.)

5. Not every verb has a pair. Some verbs have no plain partner with the same meaning (aizmirst, to forget). Some prefixes change the meaning too much to count as a pair (dzīvot, to live, but uzdzīvot, to live it up). Each prefix also keeps its own direction when it can: see the overview.

Examples (6)

  1. Es uzrakstīju vēstuli.

    I wrote the letter.

    uzrakstīt: the letter is finished.

  2. Vakar es lasīju grāmatu.

    Yesterday I was reading a book.

    The plain verb names the activity. It does not say whether you finished.

  3. Vakar es izlasīju grāmatu.

    Yesterday I finished reading the book.

    izlasīt: you reached the last page.

  4. Viņš apēda visu kūku.

    He ate up the whole cake.

    apēst: nothing is left.

  5. Es iemācījos jaunu dziesmu.

    I learned a new song.

    iemācīties: you now know it. Mācīties alone means to study.

  6. Izdzer tēju, kamēr tā ir silta!

    Drink up your tea while it is warm!

    izdzert: drink all of it.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a job-finishing verb like izlasīt with a length of time in the accusative.

    Es izlasīju grāmatu divas stundas.
    Es izlasīju grāmatu divās stundās.

    A verb that finishes a job goes with how long the job took, in the locative: divās stundās (in two hours). For time spent on an activity, use the plain verb: Es lasīju divas stundas.

How It Connects

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

Finished Actions With PrefixesLevel 4

Learn This First

Prefixes can make an action complete.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

uz-iz-ap-