You are translating source text into Latvian for Latvia. This skill captures grammar, register, UI conventions, formatting, and Latvian-specific failure modes derived from a production translation prompt.
Scope & Variants
One standard:
- lv-LV — Latvian as used in Latvia. Official state language.
No widely-distinguished variants in software localization. Latvian outside Latvia (Latvian diaspora) uses the same standard.
Native name: Latviešu valoda (the language); latviski (the adverb "in Latvian"). Use "latviešu" for the language in UI, never the obsolete "lettish".
Identity guardrail:
- Latvian is Baltic, NOT Slavic. It is in the same family as Lithuanian (Baltic) — not Russian, Polish, or any Slavic language, despite geographic proximity.
- Latvian is NOT Lithuanian. Sister languages, but distinct: different cases (lv=6, lt=7), different special characters (lv uses macrons ā ē ī ū + cedillas ģ ķ ļ ņ; lt uses ogoneks ą ę į ų + unique ė), different plural patterns, different prepositional government.
- Never translate Latvian content via Lithuanian or Russian intermediaries.
Register Auto-Detection (CRITICAL — severity 2.5)
The default register is NEUTRAL, NOT formal. Latvian must determine register from source content tone. Defaulting all content to Jūs-form is a quality failure.
Determine register from source signals BEFORE translating:
| Source signals | Target register |
|---|---|
| Casual blog, personal narrative, internet slang, dialog, rhetorical fragments, exclamations, sarcasm ("Fight me.", "Sorry, Kenji.", "Look, here's the thing—") | tu-form or neutral — preserve casualness |
| Product UI strings, error messages, system notifications, documentation, customer support | Jūs-form (formal/professional) |
| Marketing copy, landing pages, value props | Jūs-form UNLESS source uses deliberately casual/friendly tone — then match |
| Short punchy fragments | Preserve the rhetorical device — do NOT expand to full polite sentence |
Register mismatch examples that MUST be caught:
- ❌ "Fight me." → "Strīdieties ar mani." (formal Jūs for casual slang) → ✅ "Cīnies ar mani." (tu-form)
- ❌ "Sorry, Kenji." → "Atvainojiet, Kendži." (formal for casual aside) → ✅ "Piedod, Kendži."
- ❌ "Look, here's the thing—" → "Klausieties, lieta ir šāda —" (formal imperative for conversational opener) → ✅ "Klau, lieta ir tāda —"
When source is casual but you used Jūs-form, the result sounds stilted and unnatural. This is severity 2.5 — a quality failure, not a style preference.
Within a file, ONE register only. Mixing Jūs vari... (Jūs verb + tu form) or jūsu fails + Saglabā (formal possessive + informal imperative) is always wrong.
Critical Hard Rules
Special Characters: ā č ē ģ ī ķ ļ ņ š ū ž (severity 3.0)
These are essential letters, not optional diacritics. Stripping makes Latvian unreadable and is severity 3.0.
- Macrons (ā, ē, ī, ū) = long vowels. Changes meaning:
mājas(home) vsmajas(nonsense),mīt(live) vsmit(nonsense). - Cedillas (ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ) = palatalized consonants. Distinct phonemes.
- Háčeks (č, š, ž) = post-alveolar fricatives/affricates.
| Wrong (stripped) | Correct | Word |
|---|---|---|
| iestatijumi | iestatījumi | settings (ī essential) |
| lietotajs | lietotājs | user (ā essential) |
| drosiba | drošība | security (š AND ī essential) |
| valoda | valoda | (already correct, no diacritic needed) |
| Latviesu | Latviešu | Latvian (š essential) |
Common required diacritics in UI: iestatījumi, lietotājs, drošība, sistēma, mainīt, saņemt, paroles, e-pasts, vārds, pārlūks.
Two-Gender Agreement (severity 2.0)
Latvian has 2 grammatical genders determined by noun ending:
| Ending | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -s, -š, -is, -us | masculine | lietotājs, fails, akmens, mēnesis, ledus |
| -a, -e | feminine | sistēma, platforma, mape, parole, lieta |
Adjectives agree in gender + number + case (3-way agreement):
| Wrong | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| jauns sistēma | jauna sistēma | sistēma is fem |
| jauna fails | jauns fails | fails is masc |
| labs platforma | laba platforma | platforma is fem |
| jauna lietotājs | jauns lietotājs | lietotājs is masc |
Six-Case System (severity 2.0)
Latvian has 6 cases (vocative is rare and largely absent from modern UI):
| Case | Function | Example (fails — file, masc) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | subject | fails ir atvērts |
| Genitive | possession, after no/bez/dēļ/līdz/pie/pēc | faila saturs |
| Dative | indirect obj, after palīdzēt/pateikties; "for whom" | failam |
| Accusative | direct obj, after uz/caur/par/pret/ap/pa, after ar (instrumental sense) | redzu failu / ar failu |
| Locative | location ("in"), no preposition needed | failā |
| Instrumental | NO separate form — uses accusative with ar |
ar failu |
Key gotchas:
- ❌
ar fails→ ✅ar fail**u**(ar + accusative form) - ❌
uz sistēmā→ ✅uz sistēm**u**(uz + accusative) ORsistēmā(locative, no prep) - ❌
no sistēma→ ✅no sistēm**as**(no + genitive) - ❌
par fails→ ✅par fail**u**(par + accusative)
Verb-Governed Case (severity 2.0)
Specific verbs require specific cases for their objects — do not confuse with preposition-governed case:
| Verb | Required case | Example |
|---|---|---|
| palīdzēt (help) | dative | palīdzēt lietotājam ❌ palīdzēt lietotāju |
| pateikties (thank) | dative | pateikties lietotājam ❌ pateikties lietotāju |
| vajadzēt (need) | genitive | vajadzēt faila ❌ vajadzēt fails |
| gaidīt (wait) | accusative | gaidīt failu |
| meklēt (search for) | accusative | meklēt failu |
Relative Pronoun Agreement: kurš/kura (severity 2.5)
Relative pronouns must agree with antecedent in gender + number. Case is determined by the relative clause role.
| Wrong | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| sistēma, kurš darbojas | sistēma, kura darbojas | sistēma is feminine → kura |
| fails, kura ir atvērts | fails, kurš ir atvērts | fails is masculine → kurš |
| platforma, kurš atbalsta | platforma, kura atbalsta | platforma is feminine → kura |
Number+Case in Counted Nouns (severity 2.0)
Latvian quantified-noun phrases follow a specific case pattern:
| Number | Case | Example (fails) |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 21, 31... (ends in 1, except 11) | nominative singular | 1 fails, 21 fails |
| 2-9, 22-29... | nominative plural | 3 faili, 5 faili |
| 0, 10-20, multiples of 10 | genitive plural | 10 failu, 15 failu, 0 failu |
Adjectives match this pattern:
- ❌ trīs jauns faili → ✅ trīs jauni faili (nom.pl)
- ❌ desmit jauni failu → ✅ desmit jaunu failu (gen.pl)
ICU Plural Categories (severity 2.5)
Latvian has 3 CLDR plural categories: zero / one / other.
| Branch | Rule | Case required | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| zero | n = 0 | genitive plural | zero {# failu} |
| one | n mod 10 = 1 AND n mod 100 ≠ 11 | nominative singular | one {# fails} |
| other | everything else | nominative plural | other {# faili} |
{count, plural,
zero {# failu}
one {# fails}
other {# faili}
}
❌ zero {# fails} (nom.sg in zero branch) → ✅ zero {# failu} (gen.pl)
❌ one {# faili} (nom.pl in one branch) → ✅ one {# fails} (nom.sg)
Reflexive Verbs in -ties (severity 1.5)
Verbs ending in -ties keep the reflexive in conjugation. Common UI verbs:
| Infinitive | 1sg | 3sg/pl | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| pieslēgties | pieslēdzos | pieslēdzas | log in |
| atslēgties | atslēdzos | atslēdzas | log out |
| reģistrēties | reģistrējos | reģistrējas | register |
| atgriezties | atgriežos | atgriežas | return |
❌ "Es pieslēdzu" (non-reflexive) → ✅ "Es pieslēdzos" (reflexive)
Verb Construction Integrity (severity 2.0)
- "Before doing X": use
pirms + verbal noun (gen)orpirms + gerund, NOTpirms + finite verb- ❌ pirms jūs samaksājāt → ✅ pirms samaksāšanas / pirms maksājuma
- Passive voice:
tiek + past participle- ❌ Fails ir saglabā (broken) → ✅ Fails tiek saglabāts / Fails ir saglabāts
Ellipsis Completion (severity 2.0)
Latvian requires an explicit noun after numbers/quantifiers. English allows ellipsis ("4 others", "3 more") — Latvian does not.
- ❌ "4 citu" (bare genitive, no noun) → ✅ "vēl 4 modeļi" / "4 citi modeļi"
- ❌ "un 3 vairāk" → ✅ "un vēl 3 faili" / "un 3 papildu"
Pronouns and Possessives
| English | Formal (Jūs) | Informal (tu) |
|---|---|---|
| you (subj) | Jūs | tu |
| your (poss) | jūsu | tavs (masc) / tava (fem) — declines like adjective |
| Imperative ending | -iet / -jiet (Saglabājiet, Noklikšķiniet) | base / -i (Saglabā, Noklikšķini) |
Decline tavs:
- Masc: tavs fails / tava faila / tavam failam / tavu failu / ar tavu failu / tavā failā
- Fem: tava lieta / tavas lietas / tavai lietai / tavu lietu / ar tavu lietu / tavā lietā
jūsu is invariable in form (does NOT decline).
UI Conventions
Button Labels — Infinitive Form
Latvian buttons use the infinitive, NOT the imperative or nominalization:
| Wrong | Correct | English |
|---|---|---|
| Saglabājiet (imperative) | Saglabāt | Save |
| Saglabāšana (nominalization) | Saglabāt | Save |
| Dzēsiet | Dzēst | Delete |
| Sūtiet | Sūtīt | Send |
| Atceliet | Atcelt | Cancel |
| Atlasiet | Atlasīt | Select |
Status Messages — Impersonal / 3rd Person
Use active 3rd person or impersonal passive with tiek + participle — NOT "Mēs analizējam...":
| Wrong | Correct | English |
|---|---|---|
| Mēs analizējam... | Analizē... / Tiek analizēts... | Analyzing... |
| Sistēma ielādē | Ielādē... / Tiek ielādēts... | Loading... |
| Mēs saglabājam jūsu darbu | Saglabā darbu... / Tiek saglabāts... | Saving your work... |
Bulk Action Buttons — Use "visu" (accusative)
✅ Atlasīt visu (Select All)
✅ Noņemt visu atlasi (Deselect All)
✅ Notīrīt visu (Clear All)
❌ Atlasīt visus (implies "all people", not "everything")
❌ Atlasīt visu atlasi (redundant)
Drag-and-Drop Vocabulary
- vilkt = drag
- nomest = drop
- ❌ "atlaist" = release/liberate — wrong meaning
✅ Velciet failus šurp (drag files here)
✅ Ievelciet un nometiet failus šeit (drag and drop files here)
❌ Nometiet savus failus šeit (drop-only — feels incomplete)
❌ Atlaidiet failu šeit (atlaist = release, not drop)
File Picker / Placeholder Handling
Avoid putting the placeholder in a case-marked position — restructure:
- ❌ "{name} failam" (case on placeholder) → ✅ "Failam {name}" / "Fails ar nosaukumu {name}"
- ❌ "Atbalsts {formatList} failiem" → ✅ "Atbalstīti {formatList} faili / formāti" (participle over noun+dative)
Definite vs Indefinite Adjective in UI
For non-specific general reference, use the indefinite form (jauns fails). The definite form (jaunais fails, ending -ais masc / -ā fem) is for specific/already-mentioned referents.
- General: "Saglabāt kā jaunu failu" (save as a new file)
- Specific: "Atvērt jauno failu" (open the new file [the specific one])
UI text predominantly uses indefinite.
Punctuation, Numbers, Dates, Currency
Quotation Marks
- Latvian uses German-style low-high quotes:
„...."(the closing is high-right, like English close-quote) - ❌ "English quotes" → ✅ „Latviešu pēdiņas"
- Severity 0.5 (cosmetic but expected in polished text)
Numbers
- Decimal separator: comma (1**,**5)
- Thousands separator: space (1 234,56)
- ❌ 1,234.56 → ✅ 1 234,56
Dates
- Numeric: DD.MM.YYYY → 15.01.2024
- Long form: "2024. gada 15. janvāris" (months lowercase)
- Year takes the construction:
2024. gada(genitive: "of 2024")
Time
- 24-hour: 14:30 or
plkst. 14:30(plkst. = pulkstenis = "o'clock")
Currency: EUR (since 2014)
- Latvia adopted the euro on 2014-01-01. Symbol after amount.
- Format:
99,99 €/1 234,56 € - Pre-2014 currency was lats (Ls) — should NOT appear in new UI.
Comma Rules
NO comma before coordinating conjunctions:
- vai (or), un (and), un arī (and also)
- ❌ "Saglabājiet, un aizveriet" → ✅ "Saglabājiet un aizveriet"
- Exception: comma DOES precede
bet/taču(but)
ALWAYS comma before subordinating conjunctions:
- ka (that): "Redzu, ka fails ir atvērts"
- kas / kurš / kura (which/who): "Fails, kuru izvēlējāties"
- ja (if): "Noklikšķiniet, ja vēlaties turpināt"
- jo / tāpēc ka (because): "Nedarbojas, jo fails nav atrasts"
- kad (when): "Sniegt paziņojumu, kad tiek pabeigts"
Terminology
| English | Preferred Latvian | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Click | noklikšķināt | klikšķēt (anglicism) |
| Settings | iestatījumi | — |
| User | lietotājs | — |
| Delete | dzēst | — |
| Save | saglabāt | — |
| Upload | augšupielādēt | uploadēt |
| Download | lejupielādēt | downloadēt |
| Log in | pieslēgties | — |
| Log out | atslēgties | — |
| File | fails | — |
| Folder | mape | — |
| Dashboard | vadības panelis | — |
| Account | konts | — |
| e-pasts | e-meils | |
| Browser | pārlūkprogramma / pārlūks | brauzers |
| Link | saite | — |
| Password | parole | — |
| Search | meklēt / meklēšana | — |
Proper noun abbreviations in UI:
- ✅ "ASV" (NOT "Amerikas Savienotās Valstis" in cramped UI)
- ✅ "ES" (Eiropas Savienība — European Union)
Brand names remain undeclined. Take gender of implied noun (OneSky platforma = fem, OneSky rīks = masc) or default to masculine.
Calque / Anti-Pattern Blocklist
| Wrong (calque) | Correct (idiomatic) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tas rada jēgu | Tam ir jēga / Tas ir loģiski | "makes sense" |
| darīt jēgu | būt jēgai / ir loģiski | "make sense" |
| Dienas beigās | Galu galā / Kopumā | "at the end of the day" |
| būt drošā pusē | drošības pēc / lai būtu droši | "be on the safe side" |
| mēri divreiz, griez vienreiz | septiņreiz nomēri, vienreiz nogriez | "measure twice, cut once" (Latvian uses 7, not 2) |
| Salauz kāju (literal) | Lai veicas! | "break a leg" |
| lietotāja-draudzīgs | ērts lietotājam / lietotājam draudzīgs | "user-friendly" |
| mākoņa-bāzēts | mākonī bāzēts / mākoņpakalpojums | "cloud-based" |
| konteksta apzināts | kontekstu izprotošs / kontekstuāls | "context-aware" |
| AI-darbināts | ar mākslīgā intelekta atbalstu / izmantojot mākslīgo intelektu | "AI-powered" |
| datu vadīts | balstīts uz datiem / datu balstīts | "data-driven" |
| downloadēt | lejupielādēt | direct anglicism |
| uploadēt | augšupielādēt | direct anglicism |
| e-meils | e-pasts | direct anglicism |
"priekš" Colloquialism Warning (severity 1.5)
In professional/UI text, priekš + genitive (meaning "for whom/what") is colloquial and should be replaced with the dative case (no preposition):
| Colloquial (avoid) | Formal (preferred) |
|---|---|
| ❌ priekš lietotāja | ✅ lietotājam |
| ❌ priekš faila | ✅ failam |
| ❌ iestatījumi priekš konta | ✅ konta iestatījumi / iestatījumi kontam |
| ❌ priekš jums | ✅ jums |
priekš IS acceptable for:
- Temporal:
priekš vakariņām(before dinner) - Fixed idioms
Tense and Aspect
Latvian preserves present continuous with present tense (no separate continuous form):
| English | Wrong | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| "we are building" | mēs uzbūvējām (past perf) | mēs būvējam (present) |
| "costs are increasing" | izmaksas pieauga (past) | izmaksas pieaug (present) |
| "I have been working here for 5 years" | Es strādāju šeit 5 gadus (just past) | Es šeit strādāju jau 5 gadus (ongoing marker jau) |
For "have been doing X for Y" use the ongoing marker jau (already) to convey continuity.
Polysemous Word Disambiguation
| English (domain) | Correct Latvian | Wrong sense |
|---|---|---|
| scale (IT scalability) | mērogošana / paplašināšana | mērogs (measurement scale) |
| deploy (software) | izvietot / nodot ekspluatācijā | izvietot (military) |
| resume (verb, continue) | atsākt / turpināt | CV (only if document) |
| resume (noun, document) | CV | atsākt (only if verb) |
| copy (marketing text) | teksts / reklāmas teksts | kopija (photocopy) |
| bug (defect) | kļūda | kukainis (insect) |
| pipeline (CI/CD) | konveijers / pipeline | caurule (plumbing) |
Check domain context — first dictionary definition is often the wrong one.
Self-Check Checklist
Run BEFORE finalizing each translation:
Accuracy (critical):
- Gender agreement: -s/-š/-is = masc, -a/-e = fem; adjectives match
- Case correct: 6 cases; locative for "in", accusative after uz/par/ar
- Adjective agreement: gender + number + case all three
- Number-noun case: 1=nom.sg, 2-9=nom.pl, 10-20=gen.pl
- Relative pronoun: kurš (masc) / kura (fem) matches antecedent
- Verb-governed case: palīdzēt→dat, vajadzēt→gen, gaidīt→acc
- Preposition case: ar→acc, no/bez→gen, uz→acc (motion) or loc (no prep, location)
- Diacritics preserved: all ā č ē ģ ī ķ ļ ņ š ū ž present
- Reflexive -ties verbs correctly conjugated (pieslēdzos, not pieslēdzu)
- Placeholders preserved exactly
- ICU plural cases: zero=gen.pl (failu), one=nom.sg (fails), other=nom.pl (faili)
- Quotation marks: „..." not "..."
- Number format: 1 234,56 (space + comma)
- Conjunction commas: no comma before vai/un; comma before ka/kas/kurš/ja/jo
- Date format: DD.MM.YYYY or "2024. gada 15. janvāris"
- Currency: 99,99 € (comma decimal, € after amount)
Naturalness:
- Jūs/tu consistency — possessives, verbs, imperatives all same level
- Register matches source tone — casual source → tu-form, not Jūs-form
- No "priekš + gen" for "for" — use dative
- Buttons in infinitive (Saglabāt, not Saglabājiet)
- Status in 3rd person/impersonal (Ielādē / Tiek ielādēts, not Mēs ielādējam)
- "visu" pattern for bulk actions (Atlasīt visu)
- vilkt/nomest for drag-and-drop (NOT atlaist)
- Native vocabulary (lejupielādēt, e-pasts — not downloadēt, e-meils)
- No hyphenated calques (X-aware, X-powered, X-driven, user-friendly)
- Abbreviations in UI (ASV, ES — not full forms in cramped space)
- Ellipsis completed — explicit noun after numbers (vēl 4 modeļi)
Worked Examples
Example 1 — Save button + status
Source:
Save
Saving your changes...
Changes saved.
Wrong:
Saglabājiet (imperative)
Mēs saglabājam jūsu izmaiņas...
Izmaiņas tika saglabājis. (wrong participle gender)
Correct:
Saglabāt (infinitive button)
Saglabā izmaiņas... / Tiek saglabātas izmaiņas... (impersonal)
Izmaiņas saglabātas. (fem.pl participle agreeing with izmaiņas)
Example 2 — Files counter with ICU
Source:
{count, plural, =0 {No files} one {# file} other {# files}}
Correct Latvian ICU:
{count, plural,
zero {# failu}
one {# fails}
other {# faili}
}
Reasoning: zero=genitive plural (failu), one=nominative singular (fails), other=nominative plural (faili).
Example 3 — Drag-and-drop area
Source:
Drag and drop files here, or click to browse
Wrong:
Nometiet failus šeit, vai noklikšķiniet, lai pārlūkotu (drop-only; comma before vai)
Correct:
Ievelciet un nometiet failus šeit vai noklikšķiniet, lai pārlūkotu (no comma before vai; comma before lai-clause)
Example 4 — Casual register
Source (casual blog):
"Look, here's the thing — my kids find this hilarious."
Wrong (over-formal):
"Klausieties, lieta ir šāda — mani bērni to uzskata par ārkārtīgi smieklīgu." (formal imperative, formal noun construction)
Correct (matching casual register):
"Klau, lieta ir tāda — maniem bērniem tas šķiet neprātīgi smieklīgi." (casual conversational opener, natural dative construction)
Example 5 — "priekš" colloquialism
Source:
Settings for your account
Wrong (colloquial):
Iestatījumi priekš jūsu konta
Correct (dative):
Konta iestatījumi / Jūsu konta iestatījumi / Iestatījumi kontam
Example 6 — Bulk action
Source:
Select All
Wrong:
Atlasīt visus (implies "all people") / Atlasīt visu atlasi (redundant)
Correct:
Atlasīt visu (compact accusative)
Example 7 — Number+case in counted nouns
Source:
1 file uploaded
5 files uploaded
12 files uploaded
Correct:
1 fails augšupielādēts ← nom.sg + masc.sg participle
5 faili augšupielādēti ← nom.pl + masc.pl participle
12 failu augšupielādēti ← gen.pl + (participle still agrees with the nominal subject in the broader phrase, but for "12 files" the noun is gen.pl)
Example 8 — Relative pronoun gender
Source:
The system that supports multiple languages
Wrong:
Sistēma, kurš atbalsta vairākas valodas (kurš is masculine; sistēma is feminine)
Correct:
Sistēma, kura atbalsta vairākas valodas (kura matches feminine sistēma)
When in Doubt
- Diacritic uncertain? Default to the form with macron/cedilla/háček — Latvian rarely has unmarked forms where marked exists. Look up
iestatījumi, notiestatijumi. - Case unclear? Re-read the preposition or verb governing the noun. Lookup table:
- ar (with) → accusative
- no, bez, dēļ, līdz, pie, pēc → genitive
- uz, caur, par, pret, ap, pa → accusative
- palīdzēt, pateikties → dative object
- vajadzēt → genitive object
- Gender unclear? Look at the ending. -s/-š/-is/-us → masc. -a/-e → fem. (A few -is nouns are feminine — sirds (heart), zivs (fish) — but rare in UI.)
- Register unclear? Default to Jūs-form ONLY for product UI / errors / docs. For everything else, check source tone signals.
- Number+case unclear? Use the table: 1/21/31 = nom.sg, 2-9/22-29 = nom.pl, 0/10-20 = gen.pl.
- ICU branch unclear? zero=gen.pl, one=nom.sg, other=nom.pl. Memorize this.
- Want to use "priekš"? Almost always wrong. Use dative instead.
- Compound adjective with hyphen? Almost always wrong. Restructure with preposition or participle.
Latvian is a Baltic language with a rich case system. When the translation feels stiff, the cause is usually one of: wrong case, wrong gender agreement, calque from English, or priekš colloquialism. Fix the structure, don't just swap synonyms.