prast
Latvian
Etymology
From an earlier *prasti, from *prat-ti, from Proto-Baltic *prat-, from Proto-Indo-European *pret-, *prot- (“to understand”); the first-person form is derived from a variant with an extra n, *prantuo, from *prantu, from protu. Up until the 17th century, prast basically meant “to understand,” “to perceive,” i.e, it was synonymous with saprast; the present-day meaning occurred alongside the older meaning and became dominant only by the end of the 19th century. Cognates include Lithuanian pràsti (“to get used to, to understand, to perceive”), present tense prantù, Old Prussian issprestun (“to understand”) (compare Latvian izprast), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fraþjan, “to think, to recognize, to understand”), 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌹 (fraþi, “mind, intelligence”), Latin interpres (“intermediary, mediator, interpreter”), Tocharian A pratim, Tocharian B pratiṃ (“decision, intention”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pɾast]
Verb
prast tr. or intr., 1st conj., pres. protu, proti, prot, past pratu
- (often with an infinitive) to know how to, to be able to do (a certain activity, task, etc.)
- prast šūt, zīmēt, lasīt ― to know how to sew, draw, read
- Oto labi prata visus zvejas darbus ― Oto knew well all the work of fishing
- to know, to speak, to be fluent in (a language)
- Puškins prata vairākas valodas ― Pushkin knew several languages
- viņš labi prata angļu valodu un bez kādām grūtībām varēja lasīt katru grāmatu vai laikrakstu ― he knew English well and could read all books and magazines without any difficulty
- (intransitively) to know, to be able
- “dzīvojam, kā kurais prot,” vecais jūrnieks norūca ― “we live as each (of us) can”, the old sailor growled
- tu esi man laba bijusi, es gribu tev laba būt, kā jau nu es, muļķe, protu ― you have been good to me, I want to be good to you, as (much) as I, poor fool, am able
Conjugation
| INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) | IMPERATIVE (pavēles izteiksme) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present (tagadne) | Past (pagātne) | Future (nākotne) | |||
| 1st pers. sg. | es | protu | pratu | pratīšu | — |
| 2nd pers. sg. | tu | proti | prati | pratīsi | proti |
| 3rd pers. sg. | viņš, viņa | prot | prata | pratīs | lai prot |
| 1st pers. pl. | mēs | protam | pratām | pratīsim | pratīsim |
| 2nd pers. pl. | jūs | protat | pratāt | pratīsiet, pratīsit | protiet |
| 3rd pers. pl. | viņi, viņas | prot | prata | pratīs | lai prot |
| RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) | PARTICIPLES (divdabji) | ||||
| Present | protot | Present Active 1 (Adj.) | protošs | ||
| Past | esot pratis | Present Active 2 (Adv.) | prazdams | ||
| Future | pratīšot | Present Active 3 (Adv.) | protot | ||
| Imperative | lai protot | Present Active 4 (Obj.) | protam | ||
| CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) | Past Active | pratis | |||
| Present | prastu | Present Passive | protams | ||
| Past | būtu pratis | Past Passive | prasts | ||
| DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) | NOMINAL FORMS | ||||
| Indicative | (būt) jāprot | Infinitive (nenoteiksme) | prast | ||
| Conjunctive 1 | esot jāprot | Negative Infinitive | neprast | ||
| Conjunctive 2 | jāprotot | Verbal noun | prašana | ||
Synonyms
- (of "know how"): jēgt, mācēt
- (of "be able to, capable of"): spēt, varēt
Derived terms
- prefixed verbs:
- izprast
- noprast
- pārprast
- pieprast
- saprast
- other derived terms:
- prasties
Related terms
- prāts
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “prast”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN