Nouns That Never Change
Words like kino, radio, metro, kakao and eiro never change: uz kino, ar metro, pa radio. Adjectives next to them still change, and they treat these nouns as masculine: karsts kakao (hot cocoa).
How It Works
1. The words. The most common ones are kino (cinema), radio (radio), metro (metro), kakao (cocoa), auto (car), ateljē (studio) and eiro (euro). Many place and person names work the same way: Oslo, Pikaso (see foreign names).
2. The same in every case.
- accusative: Es eju uz kino. (I am going to the cinema.)
- instrumental: Mēs braucām ar metro. (We went by metro.)
- genitive: Rīgā nav metro. (There is no metro in Riga.)
- with numbers: trīs eiro (see prices)
3. Adjectives still agree. The noun does not change, but an adjective or number beside it does, and it takes masculine forms: vecs radio (an old radio), ar jauno metro (with the new metro), divus eiro (two euros).
4. Kino as a place. Kino can also mean at the cinema: Vakar mēs bijām kino. (Yesterday we were at the cinema.)
Examples (6)
- Es eju uz kino.
I am going to the cinema.
After uz, most nouns take the accusative. Kino stays the same.
- Mēs braucām ar metro.
We went by metro.
After ar, metro stays the same.
- Vakarā mēs klausāmies radio.
In the evening we listen to the radio.
Radio does not take an accusative ending.
- Kafija maksā trīs eiro.
The coffee costs three euros.
Eiro never changes, whatever the number.
- Rīgā nav metro.
There is no metro in Riga.
Nav usually needs the genitive, but metro has only one form.
- Man patīk karstais kakao.
I like hot cocoa.
Kakao is masculine, so the adjective is karstais.
Common Mistakes
Adding a Latvian ending to kino.
Es eju uz kinu.Es eju uz kino.Kino never changes. Its form is the same after every preposition.
Adding an ending to metro.
Mēs braucām ar metru.Mēs braucām ar metro.Ar metru means with a metre, since metrs is the word for a metre. The metro stays metro.
Making the adjective feminine.
Man patīk karstā kakao.Man patīk karstais kakao.Nouns that never change are usually masculine, so the adjective is masculine too.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Some nouns never change.
Related Patterns
- Prices With eiroPrices in Euros
Eiro is the indeclinable noun you will use most.
Level 2 - Indeclinable Adjectives Like rozāAdjectives That Never Change
Adjectives that never change, such as rozā.
Level 4 - Foreign Names With Latvian Endings
Most foreign names do take endings. Only some stay the same.
Level 3 - Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Why these nouns count as masculine.
Level 1 - Adjective Agreement
Adjectives still agree with nouns that never change.
Level 1
Words in This Pattern
Practice Nouns That Never Change in Bubblegum
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