cik + Genitive

Asking how many or how much

cik is the question word for amounts. Like daudz and maz, it takes the genitive. See Amounts With the Genitive.

• Things you count take the genitive plural: Cik cilvēku tur bija? (How many people were there?) See Genitive Plural in -u.
• Things you do not count take the genitive singular: Cik naudas tev ir līdzi? (How much money do you have with you?)

The noun can come right after cik or at the end: Cik bērnu jums ir? and Cik jums ir bērnu? both mean "How many children do you have?"

Asking someone's age

The usual age question is Cik tev ir gadu? (How old are you?), literally "how many years are there to you?" The answer uses a number with gadi: Man ir divdesmit pieci gadi. (I am twenty-five.) You can also ask Cik vecs tu esi? See Saying Your Age.

The answer uses an ordinary number

The genitive belongs to the question, not to the answer. After the numbers two to nine, the noun agrees as usual: Cik tev ir brāļu? — Man ir divi brāļi. (How many brothers do you have? — I have two brothers.) See Numbers That Agree.

When cik has no genitive

• without a noun: Cik tas maksā? (How much does it cost?)
• with an adjective or adverb, where it means "how": Cik tālu ir Sigulda? (How far is Sigulda?)
• asking the time: Cik ir pulkstenis? (What time is it?) Here you are not counting clocks, so pulkstenis stays in the nominative.

cik also starts exclamations: Cik skaisti! (How beautiful!) See Exclamations.