censties

Latvian

Etymology

Originally the reflexive form of an archaic verb censt, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Baltic *kensti, from *kent-ti, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *ken- with an extra t, meaning “to try hard, to strive for, to hurry” from an earlier “to rise, to stretch.” The meaning of censties would thus have evolved from “to stretch oneself” to “to make an effort, to strive for.” Note, in addition to the standard forms with š (cenšos < *kentyuos), there are also dialectal forms with t (centos) and with s (censos), which explains why, alongside standard derived forms centīgs, centība, there are also parallel forms like censīgs, sacensība and censonis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tsɛ̀nstiɛ̂s]

Audio:

(file)

Verb

censties refl., 1st conj., pres. cenšos, centies, cenšas, past centos

1. to strive for, to endeavor (to make efforts to, to insist on, doing something)

   censties saprast ― to make an effort, to strive to understand

   censties kādu panākt ― to strive to catch up with someone

   visiem spēkiem censties sasniegt mērķi ― to make all efforts to reach (one's) goals

   Rūdis gulēja aizvērtām acīm un centās iemigt, skaitīdams līdz simtam un atpakaļ ― Rūdis lay down with closed eyes and tried hard to fall asleep, counting up to a hundred and back

   nē, viņa nevēlējās samierināties ar savas dzīves ēnām, nespēja un arī necentās atrast attaisnojumu Fēliksa Vildes rīcībai ― no, she did not want to be satisfied with their life's shadows, she couldn't and also didn't make an effort to find an excuse for Fēlikss Vilde's actions

Conjugation

conjugation of censties

	INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme)				IMPERATIVE (pavēles izteiksme)
		Present (tagadne)	Past (pagātne)	Future (nākotne)
1st pers. sg.	es	cenšos	centos	centīšos	—
2nd pers. sg.	tu	centies	centies	centīsies	centies
3rd pers. sg.	viņš, viņa	cenšas	centās	centīsies	lai cenšas
1st pers. pl.	mēs	cenšamies	centāmies	centīsimies	centīsimies
2nd pers. pl.	jūs	cenšaties	centāties	centīsieties, centīsities	centieties
3rd pers. pl.	viņi, viņas	cenšas	centās	centīsies	lai cenšas
RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme)			PARTICIPLES (divdabji)
Present	cenšoties		Present Active 1 (Adj.)		—
Past	esot centies		Present Active 2 (Adv.)		cenzdamies
Future	centīšoties		Present Active 3 (Adv.)		cenšoties
Imperative	lai cenšoties		Present Active 4 (Obj.)		cenšamies
CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme)			Past Active		centies
Present	censtos		Present Passive		—
Past	būtu centies		Past Passive		—
DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme)			NOMINAL FORMS
Indicative	(būt) jācenšas		Infinitive (nenoteiksme)		censties
Conjunctive 1	esot jācenšas		Negative Infinitive		necensties
Conjunctive 2	jācenšoties		Verbal noun		cenšanās

Synonyms

• dzīties
• lauzties
• mēģināt
• pūlēties
• tīkot
• tiekties

Derived terms

prefixed verbs:

• pacensties
• pārcensties
• sacensties

Related terms

• centība
• centīgs
• censonis
• centiens