Past of First-Conjugation Verbs

Level 2

Every first-conjugation verb uses the same past endings: -u, -i, -a, -ām, -āt, -a. What you need to learn is the past stem: nest → nesu, ņemt → ņēmu, iet → gāju.

How It Works

1. The endings. nest (to carry): es nesu, tu nesi, viņš/viņa nesa, mēs nesām, jūs nesāt, viņi/viņas nesa.

2. Common past stems to learn.

  • braukt (to travel) → braucu, brauca
  • nākt (to come) → nācu, nāca
  • ņemt (to take) → ņēmu, ņēma
  • dzert (to drink) → dzēru, dzēra
  • pirkt (to buy) → pirku, pirka (present pērku)
  • ēst (to eat) → ēdu, ēda
  • teikt (to say) → teicu, teica
  • iet (to go) → gāju, gāja
  • dot (to give) → devu, deva

3. Present or past? In many verbs the es form is spelled the same in both tenses: nesu, braucu and ēdu can mean I carry, travel or eat, or I carried, travelled or ate. The other persons show the difference (viņš nes / viņš nesa), and so do time words like vakar (yesterday). The two forms of ēdu also differ in their e sound; see two sounds of e.

4. Prefixed verbs follow their base verb. atnākt → atnācu (I came), paņemt → paņēmu (I took), iedot → iedevu (I gave), aiziet → aizgāju (I left). You will hear these often, because a prefix shows a finished action (see finished actions with prefixes).

5. The negative. Add ne- as in the present: negāju (I did not go), nedzēra (did not drink).

Examples (6)

  1. Vakar mēs gājām uz kino.

    Yesterday we went to the cinema.

    Iet has the irregular past stem gāj-: gājām.

  2. Ko tu teici?

    What did you say?

    Teikt → teici, the past form for tu.

  3. Es dzēru kafiju bez cukura.

    I drank coffee without sugar.

    Dzert lengthens its vowel in the past: dzeru (I drink), dzēru (I drank).

  4. Viņa man deva labu padomu.

    She gave me good advice.

    Dot → deva.

  5. Vakar es braucu uz Rīgu ar vilcienu.

    Yesterday I went to Riga by train.

    Braucu is also the present form; vakar tells you it is past.

  6. Bērni ēda saldējumu un dzēra sulu.

    The children ate ice cream and drank juice.

    The third-person plural is the same as the singular: ēda, dzēra.

Common Mistakes

  • Building the past of iet from the present stem.

    Vakar mēs ejām uz kino.
    Vakar mēs gājām uz kino.

    Iet has a separate past stem: gāju, gāji, gāja, gājām, gājāt, gāja.

  • Keeping the short vowel of the present in dzert.

    Viņš dzera kafiju.
    Viņš dzēra kafiju.

    Some verbs lengthen their vowel in the past: dzert → dzēra, ņemt → ņēma.

  • Treating dot as a regular verb.

    Viņa man doja padomu.
    Viņa man deva padomu.

    Dot has the irregular past stem dev-: devu, devi, deva.

How It Connects

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

Past of First-Conjugation VerbsLevel 2

Learn This First

The past tense is learned with time words and the first conjugation.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.