Latvian

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Etymology

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From sa- +‎ prast (to know how, to be able to). The meaning of this word stabilized during the 19th century; before that, it could often mean the same as prast: “to know how,” “to be able to.”[1]

Verb

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saprast (transitive, 1st conjugation, present saprotu, saproti, saprot, past sapratu)

  1. to understand (to perceive something by using concepts, notions, judgments in one's mind)
    saprast mākslas darbusto understand works of art
    saprast drauga pārdzīvojumusto understand a friend's experiences
    saprast sabiedrības attistības virzībuto understand the development path of society
  2. to understand (to know, to grasp the meaning of something, what someone means)
    saprast dažus vārdus angļu valodāto understand a few words in English
    saprast žestuto understand a gesture
    Eiropa mūs nesapratīsEurope won't understand us
    viņš sveicināja un sacīja kaut ko, bet neviens viņa nesaprata, jo viņš nerunā latviskihe saluted and said something, but nobody understood him, because he doesn't speak Latvian
    ar vārdu “zeme” saprotam mēs daudzby (lit. with) the word “earth” we understand (= mean) a lot

Conjugation

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References

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  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “prast”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN