Many people say that noun cases are the hardest part of learning Latvian.

But don’t worry.

While it looks scary at first, noun cases are just a system to show the relationship between words.

In English, we usually know who is doing what based on the order of the words. “The dog bites the man” means something very different from “The man bites the dog.”

In Latvian, word order is much more flexible. Instead of strict order, we change the endings of the words to show who is doing the biting and who is being bitten.

There are 7 cases in Latvian.

In this guide, I’ll break them down simply so you can understand what each one does.

The 7 Latvian noun cases explained

Each case answers a specific question (like “who?”, “where?”, “to whom?”). If you know the question, you know which case to use.

The nominative case: the subject

This is the easiest case. It is the basic form of the word that you find in the dictionary.

Question: Kas? (Who? / What?)

We use the Nominative for the subject of the sentence - the person or thing that is doing the action.

Here, suns (dog) and māsa (sister) are in the Nominative case because they are the ones doing the eating and sleeping.

The genitive case: possession

Think of the Genitive case as the English word “of” or the apostrophe-s (‘s).

Question: Kā? (Whose?)

We use this to show that something belongs to someone.

Notice how suns changed to suņa and māsa changed to māsas. This ending change tells us the ball belongs to the dog.

Tip: We also use the Genitive case after the word daudz (a lot).

The dative case: the indirect object

The Dative case is used when you give something to someone.

Question: Kam? (To whom?)

Important for beginners: In Latvian, we use the Dative case to say “I like.” We literally say “To me likes.”

This is one of the most common phrases you will use, so remember that the person who “likes” something must be in the Dative case!

The accusative case: the direct object

The Accusative case is for the object of the action. It is the person or thing being seen, kicked, eaten, or loved.

Question: Ko? (Whom? / What?)

Comparing the cases helps here:

• Nominative: Suns (The dog is here).
• Accusative: Suni (I see the dog).

We also use the Accusative with prepositions that show movement toward something, like uz (to/onto).

The instrumental case: doing things together

This case describes with who or with what you are doing something.

Question: Ar ko? (With whom? / With what?)

In modern Latvian, this case almost always looks exactly like the Accusative (in singular) or Dative (in plural), but it is used with the preposition ar.

The locative case: location

This is my favorite case because it saves time! In English, you need prepositions like “in,” “at,” or “on.” In Latvian, you just change the ending to a long vowel.

Question: Kur? (Where?)

If you see a long vowel (ā, ē, ī, ū) at the end of a noun, it usually means “in” or “at” that place.

The vocative case: addressing someone

We use the Vocative case when we are calling someone’s name or trying to get their attention.

Question: (No question, this is an exclamation!)

Usually, we just drop the final letter of the word.

Note: For feminine words ending in -a like “māsa”, the Vocative is often the same as the Nominative, but for masculine names like “Jānis”, removing the “s” is very important.

Summary table of endings

To help you see the patterns, here is a table using two simple words: tēvs (father - masculine) and māsa (sister - feminine).

Note: There are different “declensions” (groups of nouns) in Latvian that have slightly different endings, but this table shows you the most common logic.

How to handle variations

You might hear variations if you travel around Latvia. In the Latgale region (Eastern Latvia), the endings can sound quite different because of the Latgalian dialect. They often cut the endings shorter.

For example, in standard Latvian, “in the work” is darbā (Locative). In some dialects, they might just say darb.

However, as a beginner, you should focus on standard Latvian. Everyone in Latvia understands it, and it is what you need for everyday life, work, and exams.

Don’t memorize, practice!

My best advice for learning these cases?

Don’t try to memorize the whole table at once.

Start with the basics. Focus on:

1. Nominative (The thing is here)
2. Accusative (I want/see the thing)
3. Locative (The thing is in the place)

Once you are comfortable with these three, start adding the others. Listen to how native speakers use endings to change meaning.

It takes time, but eventually, your brain will start to “feel” which ending is right without thinking about the grammar table.

Have you struggled with Latvian cases? Which one is the hardest for you?