Latvian

Verb

gribēt tr., 3rd conj., pres. gribu, gribi, grib, past gribēju

1. to want (to feel the need for something, to desire something)

   gribēt ēst, dzert‎ ― to be hungry, thirsty (lit. to want to eat, to drink)

   gribēt strādāt, mācīties‎ ― to want to work, to study

   bērns grib gulēt‎ ― the child wants to sleep

   dara, ko grib‎ ― (he) does what (he) wants

   gribot negribot‎ ― wanting, not wanting (= willy-nilly)

   negribēt (ne) dzirdēt‎ ― not (even) want to hear (= to be categorically against)

   visas tautas grib mieru, grib celt jaunus namus, dēstīt dārzus‎ ― all peoples want piece, (they) want to build new houses, to plant gardens

2. to want (to intend, to plan)

   Ozols gribēja Vili iepazīstin

   viņš grib līdz vakaram pabeigt iesākto darbu‎ ― he wants to finish the work (he) started by evening

3. (colloquial) to want (to be able to (in a given situation), to be about to)

   mitrā malka negribēja degt‎ ― the wet firewood didn't want to (= couldn't, wouldn't) burn

   gribēju izdarīt lielu kļūdu‎ ― I wanted (= was about) to make a big mistake

   skapis gandrīz gribēja apgāzties‎ ― the cupboard almost wanted (= was likely) to fall over

   tik liels un pieaudzis viņš ilgos gados bija kļuvis, ka Pelašķiene to pirmajā mirklī lāgā pazīt negribēja‎ ― (in, during) many years he had grown so big that Pelašķiene at first didn't quite want to (= couldn't quite) recognize him

Conjugation

Synonyms

• vēlēties

Derived terms

Related terms

• griba

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “gribēt”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7