The Object of a Debitive

Level 4

After a debitive verb, the object is in the nominative: Man jāpērk maize. (I have to buy bread.) Only me, you, us and sevi stay in the accusative: Tev mani jāgaida. (You have to wait for me.)

How It Works

1. The nominative object. Compare an ordinary sentence with its debitive version:

  • Es pērku maizi. (I buy bread.) → Man jāpērk maize. (I have to buy bread.)
  • Tu raksti vēstuli. → Tev jāraksta vēstule. (You have to write a letter.)
  • Mēs mācāmies jaunus vārdus. → Mums jāmācās jauni vārdi. (We have to learn new words.)

Adjectives with the object go into the nominative too: jauni vārdi. The question word is also nominative: Kas man jāņem līdzi? (What do I have to bring?)

2. Third-person pronouns. Viņš, viņa, viņi, viņas and tas, tā are nominative as well: Mums jāņem viņš līdzi. (We have to take him along.) Tas jāizdara šodien. (That has to be done today.)

3. Me, you, us: the accusative. The first- and second-person pronouns keep the accusative (see object pronouns): mani, tevi, mūs, jūs. So does the reflexive sevi:

  • Tev mani jāgaida. (You have to wait for me.)
  • Man tevi jāsagaida stacijā. (I have to meet you at the station.)
  • Tev jāsargā sevi. (You have to look after yourself.)

4. Writing and speech. In relaxed speech you will sometimes hear the accusative with a noun: man jāpērk maizi. Standard written Latvian uses the nominative, so write maize.

5. After an extra infinitive. When the debitive verb is followed by another infinitive, as in Man jāsāk rakstīt vēstule (I have to start writing a letter), both the nominative and the accusative vēstuli are used. Language advisers prefer the accusative here, because the object belongs to the infinitive rakstīt: Man jāsāk rakstīt vēstuli.

Examples (6)

  1. Man jāpērk maize.

    I have to buy bread.

    Compare Es pērku maizi. In the debitive, maizi becomes maize.

  2. Tev jāraksta vēstule.

    You have to write a letter.

    Vēstule is in the nominative, not the accusative vēstuli.

  3. Mums jāmācās jauni vārdi.

    We have to learn new words.

    The adjective agrees in the nominative plural too: jauni vārdi.

  4. Kas man jāņem līdzi?

    What do I have to bring?

    The question word is nominative as well: kas, not ko.

  5. Tas jāizdara šodien.

    That has to be done today.

    A third-person pronoun as the object: nominative tas.

  6. Tev mani jāgaida.

    You have to wait for me.

    Mani (me) is a first-person pronoun, so it keeps the accusative.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a first- or second-person pronoun in the nominative.

    Tev es jāgaida.
    Tev mani jāgaida.

    Only nouns and third-person pronouns switch to the nominative. Mani, tevi, mūs, jūs and sevi stay accusative.

  • Keeping a noun object in the accusative (non-standard in writing).

    Man jāpērk maizi.
    Man jāpērk maize.

    You may hear the accusative in casual speech, but standard Latvian puts the debitive object in the nominative.

How It Connects

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

The Object of a DebitiveLevel 4

Learn This First

Debitive noun objects are usually nominative; first- and second-person pronouns and sevi stay accusative.

Words in This Pattern

manitevimūssevi