drīkstēt

May I: Drīkstēt

Level 2

Drīkstēt + infinitive = to be allowed to: Vai drīkstu ienākt? (May I come in?), Šeit nedrīkst smēķēt (Smoking is not allowed here).

How It Works

1. Present tense forms.

  • es drīkstu, tu drīksti, viņš / viņa drīkst
  • mēs drīkstam, jūs drīkstat, viņi / viņas drīkst

The past is drīkstēju (I was allowed) and the future is drīkstēšu (I will be allowed).

2. Asking for permission. Vai drīkstu ...? is a polite way to ask: Vai drīkstu ienākt? (May I come in?), Vai drīkstu jums jautāt? (May I ask you something?). Vai varu ...? (Can I ...?) is also common in everyday speech, but drīkstēt is the word that means permission.

3. Rules without a person. Drīkst and nedrīkst can stand without a subject to state a general rule: Šeit nedrīkst smēķēt (Smoking is not allowed here), Vai drīkst? (May I? Is it allowed?).

4. Nedrīkst means must not. Add ne- to forbid something (see ne- + verb): Tu nedrīksti to stāstīt mammai (You must not tell Mum). This is not the same as do not have to. For that, Latvian uses the debitive: Tev nav jānāk (You do not have to come).

Examples (6)

  1. Vai drīkstu ienākt?

    May I come in?

  2. Šeit nedrīkst smēķēt.

    Smoking is not allowed here.

    Word by Word: Here not-may smoke.

    Nedrīkst has no subject here. It states a general rule.

  3. Vai te drīkst sēdēt?

    Is it all right to sit here?

  4. Bērni drīkst spēlēties dārzā.

    The children may play in the garden.

  5. Tu nedrīksti to stāstīt mammai.

    You must not tell Mum.

    Nedrīksti forbids something. It does not mean you do not have to.

  6. Vai drīkstu jums jautāt?

    May I ask you something?

    Jautāt (to ask) takes the person in the dative: jums.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the third-person form with es.

    Vai es drīkst ienākt?
    Vai es drīkstu ienākt?

    With es, the verb ends in -u: es drīkstu. You can also leave out es: Vai drīkstu ienākt?

  • Leaving the second verb in a personal form.

    Šeit nedrīkst smēķē.
    Šeit nedrīkst smēķēt.

    After drīkstēt, the second verb is always an infinitive ending in -t.

  • Using nedrīkstēt for do not have to.

    Tu nedrīksti nākt.
    Tev nav jānāk.

    Tu nedrīksti nākt means You are not allowed to come. To say You do not have to come, use the debitive: Tev nav jānāk.

How It Connects

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drīkstētLevel 2May I: Drīkstēt

Learn This First

Drīkstēt works like gribēt and varēt.

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Words in This Pattern

drīkstēt