Numbers That Agree

Level 2

Numbers from one to nine take the noun's gender and case, just like adjectives: divi galdi, divas mājas, Es redzu divus kaķus, ar diviem draugiem. Trīs has one form for both genders.

How It Works

1. Viens: singular endings. The noun after viens is singular, and both change together: viens galds → vienu galdu (as an object), vienam draugam (to one friend), vienā dienā (in one day). Feminine: viena māja → vienu māju, vienai draudzenei, vienā mājā.

2. Divi to deviņi: plural endings.

  • nominative: divi draugi / divas mājas
  • genitive: divu draugu / divu māju
  • dative: diviem draugiem / divām mājām
  • accusative: divus draugus / divas mājas
  • instrumental: ar diviem draugiem / ar divām mājām
  • locative: divos draugos / divās mājās

Četri, pieci, seši, septiņi, astoņi and deviņi work the same way: četrus gadus, piecām minūtēm, sešās pilsētās. The noun has the matching plural ending.

3. Trīs. It is the same for both genders: trīs brāļi, trīs māsas. Its careful forms are genitive triju, dative trim (also trijiem, trijām) and locative trijos or trijās. In the accusative it is always trīs: Es redzu trīs kaķus. In the other cases you will also meet the unchanged form: trīs gadu vecumā (at the age of three), ar trīs draugiem. Both are correct; ar trim draugiem is the more careful choice.

4. After prepositions. A plural number and its noun take the dative after a preposition (see plural nouns after prepositions): ar diviem draugiem, pirms divām nedēļām (two weeks ago), pēc četrām stundām (in four hours).

5. Bigger numbers. In a number like 25, only the last word agrees: divdesmit piecas mājas. See numbers above ten. More case forms, including clock times like piecos (at five), are in numbers in other cases.

Examples (6)

  1. Man ir divi brāļi un viena māsa.

    I have two brothers and one sister.

    Brālis is masculine, so divi; māsa is feminine, so viena.

  2. Es nopirku četras grāmatas.

    I bought four books.

    The feminine accusative plural looks the same as the nominative: četras grāmatas.

  3. Viņš uzaicināja piecus draugus.

    He invited five friends.

    As an object, pieci draugi becomes piecus draugus.

  4. Mēs runājām ar diviem skolotājiem.

    We talked with two teachers.

    After ar, the plural number and noun take the dative ending -iem.

  5. Es iedevu konfektes trim bērniem.

    I gave sweets to three children.

    Trim is the dative of trīs: to three children.

  6. Viņa strādā divās vietās.

    She works in two places.

    Divās is the feminine locative: in two places.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative after ar.

    Es runāju ar divi draugiem.
    Es runāju ar diviem draugiem.

    After a preposition, the number changes along with the noun: ar diviem draugiem, ar divām draudzenēm.

  • Leaving the number and noun in the nominative when they are the object.

    Es redzu divi kaķi.
    Es redzu divus kaķus.

    The object takes the accusative, and the number does too: divus kaķus.

  • Using the masculine number with a feminine noun.

    Man ir divi māsas.
    Man ir divas māsas.

    Māsa is feminine, so the number is divas. Only trīs is the same for both genders.

How It Connects

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Numbers That AgreeLevel 2

Learn This First

Numbers agree like adjectives.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

viensdivasdivusdiviemtrīs