Learning numbers is one of the first milestones in any language, and Latvian is no exception.

Whether you are buying a ticket for the train in Riga, asking for the price of amber jewelry in Sigulda, or just telling someone your age, you need to know your numbers.

Is counting in Latvian difficult?

The good news is that the system is very logical. Once you learn 1 through 10, the rest follows a very predictable pattern.

However, because Latvian is a highly inflected language (meaning words change their endings), numbers can sometimes change depending on the gender of the object you are counting.

Don’t worry - I’ll break this down simply so you can start using numbers today.

The basics: numbers 0-10

Let’s start with the foundation. These are the numbers you will use most often.

You will notice that for the number one (viens), I have listed a masculine and feminine form. I will explain why in the grammar section below, but for now, just memorize the main list.

Note on pronunciation: In Standard Latvian, the letter o is typically pronounced as a diphthong “uo” (like wo in “woah”), but in nulle (zero), strictly speaking, the u is short. However, in foreign loanwords, o can be a short “o”.

The teens: numbers 11-19

Once you know the numbers 1-10, the “teens” are very easy.

You simply take the base number (1-9) and add the suffix -padsmit.

Think of -padsmit as “on ten” (pa desmit).

A quick pronunciation tip: locals speak fast. Often deviņpadsmit sounds a bit like “devīpadsmit” in casual conversation. But you should learn the full spelling.

The tens, hundreds, and thousands

The pattern continues to be logical here.

For tens (20, 30, 40…), we use the suffix -desmit. For hundreds (200, 300…), we use the suffix -simt.

How do you combine them?

It’s just like English. You say the tens, and then the ones. They are written as separate words.

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third)

Ordinal numbers answer the question “which one?” (Example: the first bus, the second floor).

In Latvian, these function exactly like adjectives with definite endings (-ais for masculine, -ā for feminine).

Important: Ordinal numbers are vital for telling the time and dates in Latvian.

Grammar: gender and declension with numbers

This is the part that scares beginners, but I will make it simple.

In Latvian, most nouns are either Masculine or Feminine. The numbers 1 through 9 (except 3) must match the gender of the thing you are counting.

The Golden Rules:

1. Numbers 1-9 change endings. Viens, divi, četri… are masculine. Viena, divas, četras… are feminine.
2. Number 3 (trīs) usually doesn’t change. It looks the same for masculine and feminine.
3. Tens and Teens don’t change. Desmit (10), divpadsmit (12), and divdesmit (20) stay the same regardless of gender.

Let’s look at some examples using a masculine noun (dogs - suņi) and a feminine noun (days - dienas).

Examples with Gender Agreement:

Examples involving invariant numbers (Teens/Tens):

Notice how divpadsmit did not change? That makes big numbers much easier to use!

How to say your age in Latvian

When you introduce yourself, you will often need to state your age.

In English we say “I am X years old.” In Latvian, we literally say “To me are X years.”

The construction is: Man ir [number] gadi.

Gadi is the plural for “years”.

Exceptions:

If a baby is one year old, you must use the singular form for year (gads).

If the age ends in the number one (21, 31, 41…), you also use the singular gads because the phrase grammatically ends with “one”.

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Do you find Latvian numbers hard?

Don’t let the grammar stop you from speaking. If you accidentally say divi dienas instead of divas dienas, Latvians will still understand you perfectly.