Latvian Survival Phrases for Expats, With Pronunciation
October 1, 2026 · 10 min read
39 phrases, grouped by the situation you will be standing in when you need them. Each line gives the Latvian, a phonetic reading with the stressed syllable in capitals, and what the phrase actually does.
Latvian gives you two large gifts up front. The spelling is almost perfectly phonetic, so you can read any word aloud correctly from day one. And the stress is on the first syllable, almost without exception, which removes the guesswork that makes languages like Bulgarian and Lithuanian hard to pronounce from the page.
The one thing you must respect is vowel length. The lines over ā, ē, ī and ū are not accents, they mean hold the vowel twice as long, and they change what words mean. That section comes before the phrases because getting it wrong undoes the rest. If you want to say these out loud rather than read them, you can practise Latvian with an AI tutor on the same situations.
The Macrons Are Not Accents
Ā, ē, ī and ū are long vowels. Same sound as a, e, i and u, held about twice as long. English speakers read the line as a stress mark and hit the syllable harder instead of holding it longer, which is the most common mistake on this page and the easiest to fix. Two pairs show what is at stake.
| Short | Means | Long | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| kazas | goats | kāzas | a wedding |
| sals | frost | sāls | salt |
How to practise it
Say paldies and lūdzu next to each other. The u in lūdzu is held, the a in paldies is not. Once you can hear that difference in two words you use fifty times a day, the rest of the language follows the same rule.
👋Greetings and Goodbyes
Sveiki is the safest greeting in the language. It works for one person or a group, formal or not, at any hour. If you learn one greeting, learn that one.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sveiki | SVEI-ki | Hello (works everywhere, any time, any number of people) |
| Labdien | LAB-dien | Good day (formal, offices and shops) |
| Labrīt | LAB-reet | Good morning |
| Labvakar | LAB-va-kar | Good evening |
| Ar labu nakti | ar LA-bu NAK-ti | Good night (only when parting for the night) |
| Čau | chau | Hi, and also bye (casual) |
| Uz redzēšanos | uz RE-dzeh-sha-nos | Goodbye (formal, neutral everywhere) |
| Kā jums klājas? | kaa yums KLAA-yas | How are you? (formal) |
🙏Politeness, Starting With Lūdzu
Lūdzu is the word to learn first. It means please, you are welcome, and here you are, depending on when you say it. One word, three jobs.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Lūdzu | LOO-dzu | Please, and 'you're welcome', and 'here you are' |
| Paldies | PAL-dies | Thank you |
| Liels paldies | liels PAL-dies | Thank you very much |
| Nav par ko | nav par ko | You're welcome (literally: nothing for what) |
| Atvainojiet | AT-vai-no-yiet | Excuse me (to get attention, formal) |
| Piedodiet | PIE-do-diet | I'm sorry (formal) |
| Jā | yaa | Yes |
| Nē | neh | No |
🤔When You Do Not Understand
Riga switches to English fast, which is comfortable and slows you down. These five phrases keep the conversation in Latvian while you catch up.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Es nerunāju latviski | es ne-RU-naa-yu LAT-vis-ki | I don't speak Latvian |
| Es nesaprotu | es ne-SA-pro-tu | I don't understand |
| Vai jūs runājat angliski? | vai yoos RU-naa-yat AN-glis-ki | Do you speak English? |
| Lūdzu runājiet lēnāk | LOO-dzu RU-naa-yiet LEH-naak | Please speak more slowly |
| Kā to sauc? | kaa to sauts | What is this called? |
☕Shops, Cafés and Restaurants
Latvian numbers and nouns change shape together, so a phrase like vienu kafiju is worth learning whole rather than assembling from parts.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Cik maksā? | tsik MAK-saa | How much does it cost? |
| Es vēlos... | es VEH-los | I would like ... |
| Vienu kafiju, lūdzu | VIE-nu KA-fi-yu, LOO-dzu | One coffee, please |
| Vai jums ir...? | vai yums ir | Do you have ...? |
| Rēķinu, lūdzu | REH-ki-nu, LOO-dzu | The bill, please |
| Ar karti | ar KAR-ti | By card |
| Priekā | PRIE-kaa | Cheers |
🧭Finding Your Way
Kur ir is the most useful two words on this page. Put any noun after it and you have asked a complete, correct question.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Kur ir...? | kur ir | Where is ...? |
| Kur ir tualete? | kur ir tu-a-LE-te | Where is the toilet? |
| Pa kreisi | pa KREI-si | To the left |
| Pa labi | pa LA-bi | To the right |
| Taisni uz priekšu | TAIS-ni uz PRIEK-shu | Straight ahead |
| Vai tas ir tālu? | vai tas ir TAA-lu | Is it far? |
🚨If Something Goes Wrong
Latvian marks the speaker's gender on this kind of phrase, so 'I am lost' has two forms and you need the one that matches you. 112 works across Latvia.
| Latvian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Palīdziet! | PA-leed-ziet | Help! |
| Izsauciet ārstu | IZ-sau-tsiet AARS-tu | Call a doctor |
| Man ir slikti | man ir SLIK-ti | I feel unwell |
| Es esmu apmaldījies | es es-mu ap-MAL-dee-yies | I am lost (said by a man) |
| Es esmu apmaldījusies | es es-mu ap-MAL-dee-yu-sies | I am lost (said by a woman) |
Three Things Worth Knowing Early
Nouns change ending constantly
Latvian has seven cases, so the same noun appears with different endings depending on its role. Kafija is coffee, kafiju is coffee as the thing you are ordering. This is why the phrases here are given whole: learning vienu kafiju as a block is faster and more reliable than learning the rule first.
Riga will switch to English before you finish
English levels are high, especially among younger people, and someone hearing a foreign accent will often help by switching. It is kindness, not rejection. If you want to stay in Latvian, the five phrases in the 'do not understand' group are what keep the conversation there.
It is a Baltic language, not a Slavic one
Latvian and Lithuanian are the only surviving Baltic languages. They are distant relatives of Russian and Polish within Indo-European, which produces occasional familiar-looking words, but Latvian is its own language. Knowing Russian helps far less than people expect.
How To Actually Keep These
Reading 39 phrases once produces almost nothing. Using five of them out loud, in order, in a situation you are about to be in, produces all five.
Pick one situation, not one group. Buying coffee tomorrow needs five lines: sveiki, vienu kafiju lūdzu, cik maksā, paldies, uz redzēšanos. Rehearse those five in that order.
Say them aloud, because of vowel length. Length is the one feature you cannot get from reading silently, and it is the one that decides whether you are understood.
Trust the first syllable. Unlike most languages on this site, Latvian stress is predictable. Lean on that: it means you can pronounce a word you have never seen with a good chance of being right.
Practise These In A Real Conversation
Written and spoken practice on the situations these phrases are for, with audio and pronunciation on every line. Free to start, no credit card.
Start Learning FreeFrequently Asked Questions
What do the lines above Latvian vowels mean?
They mark length. Ā, ē, ī and ū are simply the long versions of a, e, i and u, held about twice as long. Length is not decoration, it distinguishes words: sals is frost and sāls is salt. English speakers tend to read the macron as an accent and stress it instead of lengthening it, which is the single most common pronunciation error.
Where does the stress fall in Latvian words?
On the first syllable, almost always. This is excellent news and makes Latvian far more predictable than Bulgarian or Lithuanian, where stress moves and is not written. There are a handful of exceptions, mostly in loanwords and in a few words like paldies, but if you stress the first syllable you will be right nearly every time.
Do I need Latvian to live in Riga?
Not to get by day to day. Riga has a high level of English, especially among people under forty, and you can handle shops, restaurants and most services without a word of Latvian. You will need it for paperwork, for the residence process, for medical appointments outside the private clinics, and for being treated as someone who lives there rather than someone passing through.
Is Latvian related to Russian?
No, despite the geography and the shared history. Latvian is a Baltic language, and Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two Baltic languages still spoken. Baltic and Slavic are distant cousins within Indo-European, which produces some familiar-looking words, but Latvian grammar and vocabulary are their own. Knowing Russian helps very little with Latvian.
How hard is Latvian for an English speaker?
Harder than Spanish, easier than Finnish. The main work is seven noun cases and two grammatical genders, which means nouns change ending depending on their role in the sentence. The pronunciation is regular once you accept vowel length, and the spelling is almost perfectly phonetic, so you can read any word correctly from the first day. Fixed first-syllable stress removes an entire category of difficulty.
Which phrases should I learn before I land?
Sveiki, lūdzu, paldies, atvainojiet and es nesaprotu. Those five carry almost every short interaction. Add cik maksā for prices and kur ir for directions and you can manage a shop, a café and a street without English.