Preposition + manis / tevis / viņa

Pronouns After Prepositions

Level 3

After bez, pie, no, pēc, pirms, aiz, zem, virs, say manis, tevis, viņa, viņas: bez tevis (without you), pie manis (at my place). In the plural, these prepositions usually take the dative: pie mums (at our place), ar jums (with you).

How It Works

1. Singular pronouns in the genitive.

  • es → manis: pie manis (at my place), bez manis (without me), pēc manis (after me)
  • tu → tevis: pie tevis (at your place), bez tevis (without you)
  • viņš → viņa: no viņa (from him)
  • viņa → viņas: no viņas (from her)
  • reflexive: pie sevis (to one's own place), see sevi, sev, sevis

2. Singular pronouns with other prepositions. Prepositions that take the accusative use mani, tevi, viņu: par mani (about me), uz tevi (at you). Ar also takes these forms: ar tevi (with you).

3. Plural pronouns in the dative. After most prepositions, plural pronouns use the dative: pie mums (at our place), bez jums (without you), ar viņiem (with them), par viņām (about them, women). The polite jūs follows the same rule: Pēc jums! (After you!).

4. Do not mix these up with possessives. Mans (my) and mūsu (our) describe a noun: pie mūsu mājas (by our house). With no noun after it, use the pronoun: pie mums. Also note that viņa can be she, his, or the genitive of he. The preposition in front tells you which: no viņa means from him.

Examples (6)

  1. Vai tu nāksi pie manis?

    Will you come to my place?

    Word by Word: Whether you will-come at me?

    Pie takes the genitive: es → manis.

  2. Es nevaru dzīvot bez tevis.

    I can't live without you.

    Bez takes the genitive: tu → tevis.

  3. Es saņēmu vēstuli no viņas.

    I got a letter from her.

    No takes the genitive: viņa (she) → viņas.

  4. Nāc pie mums vakariņās!

    Come to our place for dinner!

    In the plural, pie takes the dative: mēs → mums.

  5. Vai tu brauksi ar mums?

    Will you come with us?

    Ar with a plural pronoun takes the dative: ar mums.

  6. Lūdzu, pēc jums!

    After you, please!

    The polite jūs takes the dative too: pēc jums.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the accusative after a genitive preposition.

    Nāc pie mani!
    Nāc pie manis!

    Pie takes the genitive, so es becomes manis.

  • Using the possessive mūsu instead of the pronoun.

    Nāc pie mūsu!
    Nāc pie mums!

    Mūsu means our and needs a noun after it. With the standalone plural pronoun, pie takes the dative: pie mums.

  • Using the accusative after bez.

    Es nevaru dzīvot bez tevi.
    Es nevaru dzīvot bez tevis.

    Bez takes the genitive: tevis.

How It Connects

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Preposition + manis / tevis / viņaLevel 3Pronouns After Prepositions

Learn This First

Genitive-taking prepositions such as pie, bez and no use singular manis, tevis, viņa and viņas; plural pronouns usually take the dative.

Words in This Pattern

manistevisviņassevisjumsviņiemviņām