lietus – Latvian noun declension

Noun: lietus
Hyphenation:

Gender: Declension:

Singular

Nominative	lietus
Accusative	lietu
Genitive	lietus
Dative	lietum
Instrumental	lietu
Locative	lietū
Vocative	lietus

Plural

Nominative	lieti
Accusative	lietus
Genitive	lietu
Dative	lietiem
Instrumental	lietiem
Locative	lietos
Vocative	lieti

Sample Sentences

pavasara lietus (spring rain, shower)
garie rudens lietus (long autumn rain)
spēcīgs lietus (heavy rain)
īslaicīgs lietus (short-term rain)
Lietus bungo pa jumtu. (The rain is drumming on the roof.)
Lietus līst. (It (lit. rain) is raining.)
Lietus līņā, smidzina. (It (lit. rain) is drizzling.)
lietus ūdens (rainwater)
lietus lāses (raindrops)
Lietus pil no jumta. (The rain(water) is dripping from the roof.)
lietus mākoņi (rain clouds)
lietus mētelis, lietusmētelis (rain coat)
Caur pelēcīgo lietus plīvuru parādās kravas automobilis. (Through the grayish veil of rain a truck (lit. cargo automobile) appeared.)
Viņi bija lietū ieecējuši auzas. (They had begun to harrow the oats in the rain (= while it was raining).)
Pēc lielajiem lietiem sākās labības pļauja. (After the big rains began the cereal harvest.)
zvaigžņu lietus (star rain (= meteor shower))
dzirksteļu lietus (spark rain (= many sparks))
ložu lietus (bullet rain (e.g., from a machine gun))
Priedēs iespurdz vējš, un uz ceļa nolīst ziedputekšņu lietus. (The wind began to flutter in the pine trees, and a rain of pollen fell (lit. rained) on the road.)

Nouns inflected like lietus

dienvidus, ledus, vidus, apvidus, lietus, tirgus, virsus,

Etymology

From the same stem as Latvian liêt (“to pour”) and lît (“to flow, to stream, to rain”) (q.v.), made into a masculine third declension noun (with ending -us); from Proto-Balto-Slavic *l(e/o)ʔi-, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ley- (“to flow, pour, stream; to glide, slip, be slippery”). Cognates include Lithuanian lietùs (“rain”), lytùs, li̇́eti (“to pour”), lai̇̃vas (“ship”), and likely the names of Latvia and Lithuania. More distantly related are Old Church Slavonic лити (liti, “to pour”) (< Proto-Slavic *lìti), Albanian lisë (“to pour”), Proto-Germanic *līþu (“cider ~ liquor”), Proto-Celtic *liyeti (“to flow”), Ancient Greek ἄλεισον (áleison, “wine container”), and perhaps λάταξ (látax, “drop”), Old Irish laith (“liquid; ale, liquor”) (< Proto-Celtic *latis), Latin litus (“shore, beach”), and various descendants of Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). See: Ancient Greek Nouns 'ἄλεισον', Latin Nouns 'litus'.