pagātne

Latvian

Etymology

A neologism coined from pagā(jis) (“gone, passed”) +‎ -tne by Atis Kronvalds in 1873, as a calque of German Vergangenheit (“past”), from past participle vergangen (“gone, passed”)). As a grammatical term, it was first used by A. Stērste in 1879.

Pronunciation

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Noun

pagātne f (5th declension)

1. past (time period anterior to the present; circumstances previous to the present, current ones)

   tāla pagātne ― distant past

   atcerēties savu pagātni ― to remember one's past

   vēsturiskā, ģeoloģiskā pagātne ― historical, geological past

   tautas pagātne ― the past of a people, ethnic past

   par pagātni vēsta seni raksti, tagadni savām acīm var redzēt ikviens, un nākotne ir noslēpums visiem ― old writings tell about the past, everybody can see the present with their own eyes, and the future is a mystery to all

   cik vien tālu Kaspars spēja atskatīties pagātnē, ziemas vienmēr bija atnākušas pa nakti ― as far as Kaspars could look into the past, winters always came during the night

2. (linguistics, grammar) past (verb form describing an action that happens before the current time, before the time of speech)

   vienkāršā, saliktā pagātne ― simple, compound past

Declension

Derived terms

• pagātnes laiks

Related terms

• pagājis

See also

• nākotne
• tagadne

References