Language quiz: can you pick the correct word form in Latvian?

The website of the newspaper Latvijas Avīze has published a language quiz that lets readers check how confidently they inflect words in Latvian. The quiz has ten questions, and its authors stress that even people who consider their language skills excellent make mistakes in everyday use.

What the quiz is about

The publication says that very many people feel they know their native language perfectly, but this is only an impression. As an example, it cites the choice between the forms “lokām”, “locam” and “lokam”. Latvian is described as full of “hooks and traps” that catch even seasoned speakers. Readers are invited to find out whether they can get through the test unscathed.

What the questions look like

The first question asks readers to choose the correct form of the phrase “fifth place” (“piektā vieta”) when answering the question “where?”. Three options are offered: “piektaijās vietās”, “piektās vietās” and “piektajās vietās”. Tasks of this kind force a choice between similar-sounding endings that people often use differently in everyday speech and writing.

In its headline the editorial team singles out the third question, calling it “notoriously famous”. The text available from the publication does not say what that question is or what the correct answer is.

Who it is for

The quiz is an entertainment feature intended for any user of Latvian. It offers a quick way to gauge one’s feel for the language and to recall forms in which errors are common. The result only shows how correctly the reader answered these ten questions.