kad

When: Kad

Level 2

Kad? asks when: Kad sākas filma? (When does the film start?) As a joining word, kad says when the main event happens: Kad es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos.

How It Works

1. Asking when. Kad tu nāc? (When are you coming?) Kad sākas koncerts? (When does the concert start?) For a clock time, you can also ask Cikos? (At what time?): see telling the time.

2. A time clause.

  • First: Kad es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos. (When I was little, I lived in the countryside.)
  • Second: Es lasu, kad braucu ar vilcienu. (I read when I travel by train.)

Either way, a comma separates the clauses. When the kad clause comes first, the main clause may begin with tad, but it does not have to.

Every time. With the present tense, kad can mean whenever: Kad līst, es braucu ar autobusu. (When it rains, I take the bus.)

After a time word. Kad can follow a noun of time, like English when: Tā bija diena, kad es satiku Annu. (That was the day when I met Anna.)

Inside a statement. After verbs like zināt, kad keeps its question meaning: Es nezinu, kad sākas koncerts. (I don't know when the concert starts.) See reporting a question.

Kad, ja and ka. Kad is about time: the event happens, and you say when. Ja (if) is for something that may or may not happen. Ka (that) has no d and no time meaning. For an event still to come, the kad clause goes in the future too: see future after kad.

Examples (6)

  1. Kad tu nāc?

    When are you coming?

    Word by Word: When you come?

  2. Kad sākas filma?

    When does the film start?

    Word by Word: When starts film?

  3. Kad es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos.

    When I was little, I lived in the countryside.

    The kad clause comes first, and a comma separates it from the main clause.

  4. Es lasu, kad braucu ar vilcienu.

    I read when I travel by train.

    Word by Word: I read, when travel with train.

  5. Kad līst, es braucu ar autobusu.

    When it rains, I take the bus.

    With the present tense, kad can mean whenever.

  6. Es nezinu, kad sākas koncerts.

    I don't know when the concert starts.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ja for a time in the past.

    Ja es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos.
    Kad es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos.

    Ja means if. You certainly were little once, so this is a time, not a condition, and Latvian uses kad.

  • Leaving out the comma between the clauses.

    Kad es biju mazs es dzīvoju laukos.
    Kad es biju mazs, es dzīvoju laukos.

    A comma always separates the kad clause from the main clause.

  • Writing ka instead of kad.

    Es nezinu, ka sākas koncerts.
    Es nezinu, kad sākas koncerts.

    Ka means that and says nothing about time. Here you don't know when, so use kad.

How It Connects

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kadLevel 2When: Kad

Learn This First

Kad joins a time clause.

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Words in This Pattern

kad