ir (There Is)

There Is and There Are

Level 1

Ir also means there is and there are: Te ir kafejnīca (There is a café here), Istabā ir galds un krēsls (There is a table and a chair in the room).

How It Works

The pattern
place + ir + thing

  • Te ir kafejnīca. — There is a café here.
  • Ledusskapī ir piens. — There is milk in the fridge.
  • Rīgā ir liela upe. — There is a big river in Riga.

The place is often a locative (istabā, ledusskapī) or a word like te or šeit (here).

Word order changes the meaning
Latvian puts new information last; see Putting New Information Last.

  • Istabā ir galds. — There is a table in the room. (The table is the news.)
  • Galds ir istabā. — The table is in the room. (Where it is, is the news.)

No empty there
In English, there in there is does not point anywhere. Latvian simply leaves it out. The word tur means over there, a real place you can point at: Tur ir veikals. (There is a shop over there.)

Questions and answers
Ask with vai: Vai te ir aptieka? (Is there a pharmacy here?) Answer Ir (There is) or Nav (There isn't).

The negative
For there is no, use nav. In standard Latvian the missing thing takes the genitive: Te nav kafejnīcas. (There is no café here.) See There Is No and I Have No.

Examples (6)

  1. Te ir kafejnīca.

    There is a café here.

    Word by Word: Here is café.

  2. Istabā ir galds un krēsls.

    There is a table and a chair in the room.

    Word by Word: In-room is table and chair.

  3. Vai te ir aptieka?

    Is there a pharmacy here?

    Word by Word: [Question] here is pharmacy?

    Vai turns the statement into a yes-no question.

  4. Ledusskapī ir piens.

    There is milk in the fridge.

    Word by Word: In-fridge is milk.

    The place comes first, and the new thing, piens, comes last.

  5. Stacijā ir divi veikali.

    There are two shops at the station.

    Word by Word: In-station is two shops.

    Ir does not change when the thing is plural.

  6. Mežā ir ezers.

    There is a lake in the forest.

    Word by Word: In-forest is lake.

Common Mistakes

  • Translating the English there with tur.

    Tur ir veikals parkā. (meaning: There is a shop in the park.)
    Parkā ir veikals.

    Tur means over there and points at a place. For there is, start with the real place and leave English there out.

  • Saying ne ir for there is no.

    Te ne ir kafejnīca.
    Te nav kafejnīcas.

    The negative of ir is nav, and the missing thing takes the genitive: kafejnīca → kafejnīcas.

  • Putting the new thing first.

    Galds ir istabā. (meaning: There is a table in the room.)
    Istabā ir galds.

    Galds ir istabā talks about a table you already know and says where it is. To say that there is a table, put the place first.

How It Connects

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

ir (There Is)Level 1There Is and There Are

Learn This First

There is uses ir with a place.

Words in This Pattern