LvLatvian grammar

VI declension

-s

The sixth declension nouns end in -s. These are mostly feminine nouns.

Word endings

CaseSingularPlural
Nominatīvs-s-is
Ģenitīvs-s-u, -u*
Datīvs-ij-īm
Akuzatīvs-i-is
Instrumentālis-i-īm
Locatīvs-īs
Vocatīvs-s-is

The ending marked with * indicates palatalization of the preceding consonant (except r). In spelling, this means that the last letter of the stem is replaced with another one.

The noun ļaudis belongs to the VI declension but is masculine. The rest are feminine.

VI declension words

acs
eye
asins
blood
auss
ear
balss
voice
cilts
tribe
dzelzs
iron
debess
sky
govs
cow
klēts
barn
klints
rock
krūts
breast
kūts
cattle-shed
nāss
nostril
nots
note (music)
pils
palace, castle
pirts
baths
plīts
stove
sirds
heart
smilts
sand
uguns
fire
valsts
country, state
vēsts
message
uts
louse
zivs
fish
zoss
goose

There are very few words that belong to the sixth declension.

Some of the words have only plural form. The words debess/debesis and smilts/smiltis can be found in texts in both singular and plural forms.

VI declension plurals

brokastis
breakfast
durvis
door
ļaudis
people

Compound words take their declension based on the last word. For example: pusnakts (VI).

⚠️ In the old grammars and books you may find the word sāls (salt) marked as a VI declension noun. This is not the case nowadays. It is attributed to the II declension now.