ā ē ī ū

Long Vowels with a Macron

Level 1

ā ē ī ū are long vowels. Hold them about twice as long as a e i u, because the wrong length can give you a different word.

How It Works

Latvian has four short vowels with long partners: a/ā, e/ē, i/ī, u/ū. A long vowel keeps the same sound and is simply held about twice as long.

These pairs differ only in length:

  • pile (a drop) and pīle (a duck)
  • kazas (goats) and kāzas (a wedding)
  • sals (frost) and sāls (salt)
  • koka (of a tree, wooden) and kokā (in the tree)

Length and stress are separate. The stress is almost always on the first syllable (see stress), but a long vowel stays long wherever it is: kafejnīca (café), universitāte, skolotājs. English speakers tend to stress a long vowel or to shorten an unstressed one. Keep the stress at the start and the length where it is written.

Many endings are long vowels, and they carry grammar. The locative, which means "in" or "at", ends in -ā, -ī, -ē, -ū: māja → mājā (in the house), Rīga → Rīgā (in Riga), upe → upē (in the river). See the locative.

There is no letter for a long o. In loanwords a long o is simply written o, as in opera, and in Latvian words o is the glide "uo" (see diphthongs). Like short e, long ē has two sounds: ēdu (I eat) and ēdu (I ate) are spelled the same but sound different. See two sounds of e.

Examples (6)

  1. Pīle ir upē.

    The duck is in the river.

    Word by Word: Duck is in-river.

    Pīle has a long ī. With a short i, pile means a drop.

  2. Kāzas ir rīt.

    The wedding is tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Wedding is tomorrow.

    Kāzas has a long ā. Kazas, with a short a, means goats.

  3. Kaķis ir kokā.

    The cat is in the tree.

    Word by Word: Cat is in-tree.

    The long -ā ending means in. Koka, with a short a, means of a tree or wooden.

  4. Tas ir koka galds.

    That's a wooden table.

    Word by Word: That is of-tree table.

    Here koka has a short a and describes what the table is made of.

  5. Ārā ir sals.

    It's freezing outside.

    Word by Word: Outside is frost.

    Sals is frost. Sāls, with a long ā, is salt.

  6. Es dzīvoju Rīgā.

    I live in Riga.

    Word by Word: I live in-Riga.

    Rīgā has a long ī in the first syllable and a long -ā ending that means in.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the macron.

    Pile ir upē.
    Pīle ir upē.

    Pile means a drop, so the sentence says a drop is in the river. Hold the ī long and write the line.

  • Leaving off the long ending that means in.

    Es dzīvoju Rīga.
    Es dzīvoju Rīgā.

    Rīga is only the name of the city. To say in Riga, the ending becomes a long -ā.

  • Stressing the long vowel instead of the first syllable.

    ka-fej-NĪ-ca
    KA-fej-nī-ca

    The macron shows length, not stress. Keep the stress on the first syllable and hold the ī long.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ā ē ī ūLevel 1Long Vowels with a Macron

Learn This First

Long vowels come right after the alphabet.