Lithuanian Survival Phrases for Expats, With Pronunciation
October 1, 2026 · 10 min read
38 phrases, grouped by the situation you will be standing in when you need them. Each line gives the Lithuanian, a phonetic reading with the stressed syllable in capitals, and what the phrase actually does rather than a literal translation.
Two practical things before the list. First, say ačiū, not dėkoju: both mean thank you, and ačiū is the one you will hear all day. Second, Lithuanian stress moves from word to word and is never written, so the capitals on this page are doing real work. A correct word with the stress in the wrong place is the most common reason a Lithuanian does not catch what you said.
Very few foreigners attempt Lithuanian, which means the effort is noticed immediately and out of proportion to its size. Thirty phrases go further socially here than in most countries. If you want to practise them out loud rather than read them, you can practise Lithuanian with an AI tutor on the same situations.
The Letters That Look Alarming And Are Not
Lithuanian adds nine letters to the Latin alphabet. None of them is difficult, and two of the groups are simply length marks rather than new sounds.
ą ę į ų
The hook is called a nosinė. It marked nasal vowels centuries ago, but in modern Lithuanian these are just long vowels. Ą is a long a, not a French 'an'.
ė and ū
Ė is a closed, long e, roughly the vowel in 'bay' without the glide. Ū is a long oo. Both are length and quality marks, nothing exotic.
č š ž
Exactly the sounds you expect from Czech or Croatian: ch as in church, sh as in shop, zh as in measure. One letter instead of two.
y
In Lithuanian y is a vowel, a long i. Not a consonant and not a 'why' sound. Gydytojas, doctor, starts with a long ee.
👋Greetings and Goodbyes
Sveiki is the safe default with anyone you do not know, and with any group. Labas is for friends. Using sveiki when labas would do is harmless, the reverse is noticed.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sveiki | SVEI-ki | Hello (formal, or to a group, safe everywhere) |
| Labas | LA-bas | Hi (informal, one person you know) |
| Laba diena | LA-ba DIE-na | Good day (formal, offices and shops) |
| Labas rytas | LA-bas RY-tas | Good morning |
| Labas vakaras | LA-bas VA-ka-ras | Good evening |
| Labanakt | LA-ba-nakt | Good night (only when parting for the night) |
| Viso gero | VI-so GE-ro | Goodbye (literally: all the best) |
| Iki | I-ki | Bye (casual, very common) |
🙏Politeness, And Which Thank You To Use
Both ačiū and dėkoju mean thank you. Ačiū is what you will hear almost all the time. Dėkoju is more formal and sounds slightly stiff in a shop. Start with ačiū.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Prašau | PRA-shau | Please, and 'you're welcome', and 'here you are' |
| Ačiū | AA-chyoo | Thank you (the everyday one) |
| Labai ačiū | LA-bai AA-chyoo | Thank you very much |
| Dėkoju | DEH-ko-yu | Thank you (formal, more written than spoken) |
| Nėra už ką | NEH-ra uzh kaa | You're welcome (literally: there is nothing for) |
| Atsiprašau | at-si-PRA-shau | Excuse me, and also I'm sorry |
| Taip | taip | Yes |
| Ne | ne | No |
🤔When You Do Not Understand
Lithuanian stress moves around and is not written, so you will mishear words you technically know. These five phrases are how you stay in the conversation instead of leaving it.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Nekalbu lietuviškai | ne-KAL-bu lie-TU-vish-kai | I don't speak Lithuanian |
| Nesuprantu | ne-su-PRAN-tu | I don't understand |
| Ar kalbate angliškai? | ar KAL-ba-te AN-glish-kai | Do you speak English? |
| Prašau kalbėkite lėčiau | PRA-shau kal-BEH-ki-te LEH-chyau | Please speak more slowly |
| Kaip tai vadinasi? | kaip tai va-DI-na-si | What is this called? |
☕Shops, Cafés and Restaurants
Nouns change ending when they become the thing you are asking for: kava is coffee, kavą is coffee as an order. Learn vieną kavą as one block rather than two words.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Kiek kainuoja? | kiek kai-NUO-ya | How much does it cost? |
| Norėčiau... | no-REH-chyau | I would like ... |
| Vieną kavą, prašau | VIE-naa KA-vaa, PRA-shau | One coffee, please |
| Ar turite...? | ar TU-ri-te | Do you have ...? |
| Sąskaitą, prašau | SAAS-kai-taa, PRA-shau | The bill, please |
| Kortele | kor-TE-le | By card |
| Į sveikatą | ee svei-KA-taa | Cheers |
🧭Finding Your Way
Kur yra plus any noun is a complete question. It is the highest value pattern on this page for the smallest amount of grammar.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Kur yra...? | kur y-RA | Where is ...? |
| Kur yra tualetas? | kur y-RA tu-a-LE-tas | Where is the toilet? |
| Į kairę | ee KAI-reh | To the left |
| Į dešinę | ee DE-shi-neh | To the right |
| Tiesiai | TIE-siai | Straight ahead |
| Ar toli? | ar to-LI | Is it far? |
🚨If Something Goes Wrong
112 works across Lithuania and reaches police, ambulance and fire. Operators handle Lithuanian and English, but the person helping you in the street may not.
| Lithuanian | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Pagalba! | pa-GAL-ba | Help! |
| Iškvieskite gydytoją | ish-KVIES-ki-te GY-dy-to-yaa | Call a doctor |
| Man bloga | man BLO-ga | I feel unwell |
| Pasiklydau | pa-si-KLY-dau | I am lost |
Three Things Worth Knowing Early
Stress is the real difficulty, not the sounds
Individual Lithuanian sounds are manageable for an English speaker. What is hard is that stress is mobile, unwritten, and can move between forms of the same word. Learn phrases as whole units with the stress attached, rather than assembling them from dictionary forms.
Nouns change ending when they become the object
Kava is coffee, kavą is coffee as the thing you are ordering. Seven cases means this happens constantly. For survival purposes, learn the whole phrase: vieną kavą, prašau. The grammar can come later and will make more sense with examples already in your mouth.
It is a Baltic language, not Slavic
Lithuanian and Latvian are the only surviving Baltic languages, distant relatives of Polish and Russian within Indo-European. Lithuanian preserved more archaic Indo-European grammar than any other living language, which is why it is used in reconstructing the family. Knowing Russian or Polish helps less than people expect.
How To Actually Keep These
Reading 38 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, vieną kavą prašau, kiek kainuoja, ačiū, iki. Rehearse those five in that order.
Say them aloud, because of the stress. Lithuanian stress cannot be recovered from the page. Reading silently installs a wrong habit that is harder to undo later than to avoid now.
Expect a warm reaction. Almost no foreigner tries Lithuanian. A clumsy sveiki followed by a clumsy ačiū gets a response out of all proportion to the effort, which is the best possible reason to use the phrases badly rather than wait until you use them well.
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 hooks under Lithuanian vowels mean?
Ą, ę, į and ų carry a small hook called a nosinė. It marked nasal vowels historically, but in modern standard Lithuanian those vowels are simply pronounced long, not nasal. So ą sounds like a long a, not like French 'an'. The hook survives because it still tells you which grammatical ending you are looking at, which is useful once you study cases.
Should I say ačiū or dėkoju for thank you?
Ačiū, in almost every situation. It is what you will hear in shops, cafés and on the street, and it suits both casual and polite registers. Dėkoju is more formal and appears more in writing and in speeches than in daily life. Saying dėkoju to a barista is not wrong, it just sounds slightly stiff.
Where does the stress fall in Lithuanian?
It moves, it is not written, and it can shift within the forms of a single word. This is the real difficulty of Lithuanian pronunciation, more than any individual sound. There is no shortcut: stress is learned by hearing words rather than by reading them, which is why every line on this page has it marked.
Is Lithuanian really the oldest living Indo-European language?
It is the most archaic surviving one, which is a more precise claim than oldest. Lithuanian preserved features of Proto-Indo-European grammar that other living languages lost, which is why linguists studying the family reconstruct it with Lithuanian evidence. That is a point of real national pride and worth knowing, though it does not make the language any easier to learn.
How hard is Lithuanian for an English speaker?
Genuinely hard, and the honest answer is harder than Latvian. Seven cases, two genders, mobile unwritten stress and a rich system of verb forms. The compensation is that spelling is regular, so once you know the letters you can read any word, and Lithuanians are notably pleased when a foreigner tries at all because very few do.
Do I need Lithuanian to live in Vilnius?
Not for daily survival. English is widely spoken in Vilnius, particularly among younger people and in anything tech related. You will need Lithuanian for official paperwork, for the residence and citizenship process, for medical appointments outside private clinics, and for any life beyond the expat circuit.