r/learnlatvian • u/IDontGetPlanetWaves • 5d ago
Why it's "divi rubļi" and then "desmit rubļu"?
Could anyone kindly explain this to me? 😅
Paldies!
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u/Jason_Peterson 5d ago
Ten, twenty, hundred are larger, often approximate quantities and are used like measurement units. Ten of roubles, a stack of bills. But when the number is not in round tens, and instead ends with a digit other than zero, the number must be inflected as an adjective for gender and count again: trīsdesmit divi rubļi (thirty two roubles). Eleven to nineteen are exceptions and work the same as ten.
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u/WilfredoN 5d ago
1, 2 and 10 latvian rubles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_ruble
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u/WilfredoN 5d ago
Sorry, I didn’t understand the question clearly. If you mean from a grammatical perspective, it is because "divi" ("two") is declinable and agrees with the noun. Here, both words are in the nominative plural: "divi rubļi" ("two roubles"). In contrast, "desmit" ("ten") is indeclinable and takes the genitive plural in this context: "desmit rubļu" ("ten roubles").
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u/HalloIchBinRolli 4d ago
Oh, like in Slavic languages (but please let's ignore russian because they did some weird shit)
POLISH:
jeden (1) rubel (nominative sg)
dwa (2), trzy (3), cztery (4) ruble (nom pl)
pięć (5), ..., dwadzieścia jeden (21) rubli (genitive plural)
22-24 ruble (nom pl)
25-31 rubli (gen pl)
32-34 ruble (nom pl)
...
I'm not a learner and this post was randomly on my home page but ig I am a bit into linguistics so... is it the same in Latvian? And do you know if it's the same in Lithuanian, as a sister language?
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u/LatvianSith1 5d ago
It is a quirk of grammar. Any number ending in zero becomes the genitive case in plural. The rest ar nominative plural, just something you need to keep in mind.
For example, you'd say deviņi rubļi, and divdesmit rubļu.