Age With gadi
Saying Your Age
Latvian gives age the way it says what someone has: Man ir divdesmit pieci gadi. (I am twenty-five, literally 'to me are twenty-five years'.) Ask with Cik tev ir gadu?
How It Works
Latvian does not say that a person is a number. It says how many years they have, with the same shape as man ir (I have): the person goes in the dative, and the years stay in the nominative.
- Man ir divdesmit pieci gadi. (I am twenty-five.)
- Viņai ir trīs gadi. (She is three.)
- Manam brālim ir astoņi gadi. (My brother is eight.)
For the person, use a dative pronoun (man, tev, viņam, viņai, mums, jums) or a noun with a dative ending: Annai, tētim, vecmāmiņai.
The form of gads. Gads (year) is masculine, so the number is masculine too, whoever you are talking about:
- viens gads: one takes the singular, and so does any number that ends in viens: divdesmit viens gads (twenty-one). See twenty-one with the singular.
- divi, trīs … deviņi gadi: two to nine take the plural. Say divi, not divas.
- desmit, the teens and the round tens (vienpadsmit, divdesmit, trīsdesmit) never change. After them careful Latvian often uses the genitive plural gadu: Man ir desmit gadu. You will also hear desmit gadi. See numbers with the genitive plural.
- In a longer number the last word decides: divdesmit pieci gadi, trīsdesmit divi gadi.
Asking. Cik tev ir gadu? (How old are you?) and politely Cik jums ir gadu? After cik the word is always the genitive plural gadu. An answer can leave out the noun: Man ir divdesmit.
Past age. Change ir to bija: Kad man bija seši gadi, mēs dzīvojām Cēsīs. (When I was six, we lived in Cēsis.)
In descriptions you may also meet gadus vecs: trīs gadus vecs bērns (a three-year-old child).
Examples (6)
- Man ir divdesmit pieci gadi.
I am twenty-five.
Word by Word: To me are twenty-five years.
The person is dative (man), and gadi stays nominative plural after pieci.
- Viņai ir divi gadi.
She is two.
Divi, not divas: the number agrees with gads, which is masculine, not with the girl.
- Cik jums ir gadu? – Man ir trīsdesmit.
How old are you? – I am thirty.
After cik, gadu is genitive plural. The answer can leave out the noun.
- Manam brālim ir astoņi gadi.
My brother is eight.
A noun can be the dative person too, and manam agrees with brālim.
- Vecmāmiņai ir deviņdesmit divi gadi.
Grandma is ninety-two.
In a long number the last word, divi, decides the form gadi.
- Kad man bija seši gadi, mēs dzīvojām Cēsīs.
When I was six, we lived in Cēsis.
Bija puts the age in the past.
Common Mistakes
Saying es esmu with a number, as in English.
Es esmu divdesmit pieci.Man ir divdesmit pieci gadi.Latvian does not give age with es esmu. Put the person in the dative and say how many years they have.
Making the number feminine for a woman or girl.
Viņai ir divas gadi.Viņai ir divi gadi.The number agrees with gads, which is masculine. The gender of the person does not matter.
Using the plural after a number that ends in viens.
Man ir divdesmit viens gadi.Man ir divdesmit viens gads.When the last word of the number is viens, the noun is singular: divdesmit viens gads.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Saying your age combines man ir, numbers and cik.
Related Patterns
- Numbers That Agree
Numbers from one to nine agree with gads, so it is divi gadi, not divas.
Level 2 - divdesmit viens + SingularTwenty-One with the Singular
Ages like twenty-one and thirty-one take the singular gads.
Level 3 - desmit / simts / tūkstotis + Genitive PluralTen, A Hundred and a Thousand with the Genitive
Explains why you often hear desmit gadu and divdesmit gadu.
Level 4 - man / tev / viņam / viņaiPronouns for to and for
These dative pronouns name the person whose age you give.
Level 1
Words in This Pattern
Practice Age With gadi in Bubblegum
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