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Since no noun can have a neutral gender, it is used with subjects of neutral or undefined gender:
Ji (fem.) yra graži (fem.) – She is beautiful.
Mokytojas (masc.) bus pasirengęs (masc.) – The teacher will be ready.
Skaityti buvo įdomu (neuter) – Reading was interesting.
The gender of a pronoun kas – 'who? what?', personal pronouns aš / mes – 'I' / 'we', tu / jūs – 'you (singular) / you (plural)' and a reflexive pronounsavęs is indefinite, it means any of the genders. The word kas uses masculine inflections, the other pronouns have their own specific paradigm. The nouns of the indefinite gender have feminine form inflections.
The masculine gender is also the indeterminate gender as in many other Indo-European languages. This means that for an entire mixed group of objects belonging to masculine and feminine genders, the masculine gender is used.[1] The masculine as the indeterminate gender differs from the indefinite gender, which allows treatment of the word in two ways.
Note that there are many nouns that use masculine or feminine genders without any reason of biological gender, for instance, words that denote inanimate objects. The masculine or feminine usage of these words is stable (with few exceptions) and doesn't depend on the will of a speaker.
Lithuanian grammatical genders are similar to, for instance, Latin:
nominative
genitive
vilkas wolf vilko
kalba language kalbos
prekė commodity prekės
pilis castle pilies
viršus top viršaus
akmuo stone akmens
girdė́tas, girdė́ta, girdė́ta heard; gender sequence: m., f., n. girdė́to, girdė́tos from girdė́ti – to hear (continuing, imperfective action)
ìšgirstas, išgirstà, ìšgirsta heard ìšgirsto, išgirstõs from išgir̃sti – to hear (one-time, perfective action)
nominative
genitive
lupus wolf lupī
lingua language linguae
rēs thing reī
turris tower turris
frūctus fruit frūctūs
acūmen n. sharp point acūminis
audītus, audīta, audītum heard, listened; from audīre [1] – to hear, listen audītī, audītae, audītī
Grammatical number
The Lithuanian language has two main numbers, singular and plural. It has also a dual number, which is used in certain dialects, such as Samogitian. Some words in the standard language retain their dual forms (for example du ("two") and abu ("both"), an indefinite number and super-plural words (dauginiai žodžiai in Lithuanian). Dual forms of pronouns used in the standard language are also optional.
The singular number indicates that the denoted thing is one or indivisible (as in méilė – love, smė̃lis – sand, píenas – milk). The plural number, when it can be in contrast with the singular, indicates that there are many of the things denoted by the word. But sometimes, when a word doesn't have the singular number, being a plurale tantum noun, the plural form doesn't indicate real singularity or plurality of the denoted object(s).
Adjectives and numerals also have the singular-plural distinction. Their number depends on that of the noun they are attributed to.
The dual number indicates a pair of things. Historically, the dual number has been a full grammatical number, participating as the third element in singular-dual – plural distinction. During the last century,[clarification needed] the dual was used more or less sporadically in Lithuanian, sometimes reaching the status of a full number for agreement purposes, meaning the dual of noun required dual agreement in its adjectives or the dual of the subject required the dual of the verb. But in many more cases the dual was reduced to a nominal category explicitly indicating a pair of things, but not requiring dual agreement of adjectives or verbs. Presently, the dual is mostly used as a declension paradigm for numbers du – two, abu – both (and a variant abudu – idem) and with personal pronouns aš – I, mùdu du. – we two (mẽs pl. – we) and tu sg. – you, jùdu du. – you two (jū̃s pl. – you).
dual
plural
present
past
future
imperative
present
past
future
imperative
eĩnava – we two are going; we two go
ė̃jova
eĩsiva
eĩkiva – let us two go
eĩname
ė̃jome
eĩsime
eĩkime – let us go
eĩnata – you two are going; you two go
ė̃jota
eĩsita
eĩkita – you two go
eĩnate
ė̃jote
eĩsite
eĩkite
singular
einù
ėjaũ
eĩsiu
einì
ėjaĩ
eĩsi
eĩk – go
The indefinite number indicates that the same form of the word can be understood singular or plural, depending both on situation and on other words in the sentence. There are only few words that demonstrate indefinite number, and the indefinite number doesn't have its own forms in Lithuanian. These words are pronouns kas – 'who? what?', kažkas – 'something, somebody' and reflexive pronounsavęs. All of them use inflections of the singular.
The super-plural words are a few numbers and pronouns that indicate a counting not of separate things, but of groups of things.
keleri – 'several (groups of)'
abeji – 'both (groups of)'
(vieneri – 'one (group of)')
dveji – 'two (groups of)'
treji – 'three (groups of)'
ketveri – 'four (groups of)'
penkeri – 'five (groups of)'
šešeri – 'six (groups of)'
septyneri – 'seven (groups of)'
aštuoneri – 'eight (groups of)'
devyneri – 'nine (groups of)'
These words are also used with plurale tantum nouns instead of plural words (keli, abu, du, trys and so on), in which case they indicate not the plural of groups, but just the semantic plural or singular (a word vieneri – 'one' only) of the noun.
inessive is fully used locative case (and the only one of Indo-European origin, the following three being borrowed to Uralic). An example: nãmas – a house, namè – in a house, vyruose – in men. It is also used for a temporal meaning in some words: vakarè [vɐkɐrʲˈɛ] – in the evening (vãkaras [ˈväːkɐrɐs̪] nom. 'an evening'). But more nouns are used in accusative for the latter meaning: vãsarą – in summer, rùdenį – in autumn, trẽčią vãlandą – in three o'clock. This accusative form also means duration: trečią dieną kepina [ˈtʲrʲæːt͡ʃʲæːˈdʲiən̪äːˈkʲæːpʲɪn̪ɐ] (kepina is idiomatic or slang in such meaning) – it is the third day when it (sun) sizzles (its heat). Plural forms for temporal "locatives" are expressed by instrumental: vakaraĩs – in / by evenings, vãsaromis – in / by summers.
illative is used sparingly. Some terms are normal, for example, in law: patráukti baudžiamõjon atsakomýbėn – to prosecute; literally: to draw, pull, move to penal amenability (not į (to) baudžiamają atsakomybę acc., not (for) baudžiamajai atsakomybei dative). Other examples: singular káiman – to(wards) the village, miškañ – to(wards) a forest, and forms of the common language į káimą, į mìšką; plural káimuos-na, miškúos-na and common forms į káimus, į miškùs;
allative. Examples: namop – up to the home. Today it is used only in a few idiomic expressions like vakaróp – about nightfall, velnióp – to hell with smth.; šuniop – down the drain (about dog, to a dog); galóp – ultimately; nuteisti myriop – to send to the scaffold;
adessive. Examples: laukíe-p sg. – beside the field, at the field, namíe-p sg.. It is a historical or dialectal case, extinct in modern standard Lithuanian, but it is preserved in the adverbs: namie – at home, netoli(e) – not far, toli(e) – far, arti(e) – nearby, vienaip ar kitaip – anyway, savaip – in one's own fashion/way, tavaip – in your (sg.) fashion/way, visaip – diversely. etc.
The later three locatives are adverb-forming cases.
Lithuanian grammar makes a distinction between proper and common nouns. Only proper nouns are capitalized. Some nouns, for example sun and moon, can be both proper and common. There are no articles in Lithuanian.
The genders of nouns are masculine and feminine. A rough rule of thumb is that almost all masculine nouns in nominative case end in -s and most feminine in -(i)a or -ė. There are no strict rules governing the gender. For example, upė – river, is feminine, but upelis – rivulet, is masculine. There is no neuter gender ("it gender"), but there are a few words that can be applied to both genders equally. They mostly describe people, have negative connotations, and end in -a, for example vė́pla – dummy, el̃geta – beggar, naktìbalda – night-lumberer, a person who does not sleep at night, but mėmė̃ – gawk.
There are no separate declension paradigms for animate and inanimate nouns in Lithuanian.
Number
Most nouns have singular and plural numbers. There are some words that have only singular (e.g., pienas – milk, auksas – gold, gripas – flu, laimė – happiness) or only plural (e.g., lubos – ceiling, miltai – flour, kelnės – trousers) forms. Most such words are abstract (i.e., represent concepts like luck or love and not tangible things such as table or house), describe material or name a disease. However, in some instances, for example poetic language, it is possible to use singular nouns in plural form.
Noun modification by numeral
In Lithuanian, unlike in Romance / Germanic languages, and like Slavic languages but in a different way, the form of a count noun depends on final digits of the number.
Note: Plural or singular without the case means that the word or words can be declined in any case in plural or singular respectively, but Plural genitive means that the second word remains undeclined.
Nouns in Lithuanian language have 12 declension paradigms, in scholar grammar corresponding to five declensions which are defined by the inflection in singular nominative and genitive cases. Only few borrowed words, like taksì – taxi, kupė – compartment (in a train), coupe, are not subject to declension rules.
Inflection in singular cases
Examples
Notes
Nominative
Genitive
Nominative
Genitive
Meaning
I
-as, -is, -ys
-o
výras mẽdis traukinỹs kẽlias
výro mẽdžio tráukinio kẽlio
man, male; husband tree train road
Main pattern for masculine nouns.
II
-a, -i1, -ė
-os, -ės
žmonà šviesà várna pradžià sáulė
žmonõs šviesõs várnos pradžiõs sáulės
wife light crow beginning sun
Main pattern for feminine nouns; few masculine exceptions.
Very rare; masculine nouns; four3 feminine; all are suffixed by -en- m. and -er- f..
There are only two nouns ending in -i: pati 'wife' and marti 'daughter-in-law'. Their declension is the same to the second adjective feminine declension and similar to a second feminine noun palatalized declension. The noun pati is the same to a pronoun pati 'herself; myself f.; itself (for feminine nouns)'
Exception: petys m. – shoulder, peties, etc., after this declensional pattern. The third declension is very similar to the fifth declension.
Duktė 'daughter' is the only word of the fifth declension, not having an ending uo. A word moteris 'woman, female' often has a genitive móters; the plural genitive of moteris is moterų (not palatalized -ių); it is the only normal form for the fifth declension and one of the two (the main is -ių) for the third. The more two words, obelis f. – apple tree and dieveris m. – (older) brother-in-law, are the same declensional case as moteris, but dieveris, being masculine possibly has a sg. inst. -iu. Dieveris is also the only -er- masculine case.
Typology
In the table below the numbers of nouns, received by the statistical analysis of the data in the Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian language (Dabartinės Lietuvių kalbos žodynas; the fourth issue, 2000), are given grouped by the patterns of declension and accentuation.[2] The data does not include verbal abstracts ending in -imas, -ymas, -umas (for instance, metimas 'a throwing; a throw' from mesti 'to throw'), 18,700 in total (12,000 of the first accentuation paradigm, 6,000 of the second), because they can be made from any verb. There may be some inaccuracies due to some specific features, for instance, there are homonyms which differ only in an accent: síetas 1 – sieve (related to sijóti – to sieve), siẽtas 2 – tether, leash (related to siẽti – to tie, bond; saĩtas – bond; leash), and the possibility exists that in some of such cases the two words were taken as one.
Words with a suffix -men-, are attributed to the third declensional pattern in these tables, but they are of the fifth, the singular (can be used for all, but is not usual for all) nom. is -uo: for example, ãšmenys pl. 3b – blade, sė́dmenys pl. 3a – buttocks, nates, sėdmuõ sg., nẽšmenys pl. 3b – silts, sediments carried by a water stream. The singular instrumental is -imi, like in the third declension, while for masculine words of the fifth declension the proper ending is chosen to be -iu; but -imi can also be chosen for the words of the fifth declension.
1
2
3
3a
3b
34a
34b
4
alt.
all
-as
1907
3499
90
35
393
48
5
340
94
6411
-j-as
921
16
4
944
-ias
1
2
-is
3085
2188
22
5295
-ys
16
192
581
48
25
282
102
1246
-a
f.
1571
635
19
58
369
16
1
405
26
3100
m.
1
11
12
c
207
32
3
1
6
16
1
266
-j-a
1821
114
22
43
5
2005
-ia
-ė
f.
2668
2895
14
30
125
14
1
202
59
6008
m.
4
4
c
2
6
7
4
19
-is
f.
50
2
7
10
76
1
99
10
255
m.
1
1
2
6
10
1
3
3
27
c
3
1
1
3
8
-us
7
2
10
19
-j-us
184
314
1
504
-ius
2
-uo
23
38
1
1
63
The numbers in the upper row mean accentuation types. For the third type the additional information is given in dictionaries. The mark 3 without the letter added, is for words, stressed in the next-to-last syllable. The letter after is for polysyllabic words and says what type of stress the syllable has in those cases where the stress falls on the stem (other cases receive it on the ending) and how distant from the ending the syllable stressed is. The letter a is for a start-firm (tvirtapradė priegaidė) accent and the letter b – for an end-firm (tvirtagalė priegaidė) and short stressed vowel. The single digit with a letter means that the stress falls on the third syllable from the ending; if the stress falls on the fourth syllable from the ending, the mark is 34a or 34b, there are also nouns having stress in the fifth (35a, 35b) and sixth (36b) syllable from the ending. Here are a few examples of nouns of the third accentuation pattern, the singular nominative and the plural dative and accusative cases: akmuõ, akmenìms, ãkmenis; áugalas, augaláms, áugalus; žándas, žandáms, žándus. The first declension also includes nouns stressed in a syllable more distant from the ending than the next-to-last, but their stress is steady throughout the cases and is always clear from the nominative singular.
In the left column the nominative singular endings of words, grouped by declensional paradigms, are given: -as, -is, -ys, -ias (masculine gender) – the first; -a (-ia), -ė (feminine gender; some other) – II; -is (feminine, some other) – III; -us (-ius) (masculine) – IV; -uo (masculine; two feminine) – V. The palatalized variants of -as, -a, -us types, that is, -ias, -ia, -ius, are counted together with those having -j- before the inflectional ending: -j-as, -j-a, -j-us.
The letters f., m., c. mean gender: f. – feminine, m. – masculine, c. – common (is understood as either of the genders). The column under the abbreviation alt. is for alternative forms, for instance, a word grobuonis 2, 3a c. – predator (of the third declension), can be accentuated in two types: (2) grobuõnis, grobuõnies, grobuõniui; (3a) grobuonìs, grobuoniẽs, gróbuoniui.
(10) medùs, alùs, viršùs, vidùs, piẽtūs pl. – dinner; the south
–
–
The first declension, -as, -is, -ys, -ias.
Names of -as type have vocative -ai instead of -e of common nouns: Jõnas – Jõnai, Tòmas – Tòmai. Common nouns sometimes have this ending, it is usual for a word tė́vas: tė́vai and tė́ve.
Words having -j- before the ending -as (vė́jas – wind, naudótojas – user) have two differences of declensional cases from other -as words; -j- is soft sound and the locative for these words is like in soft -is / -ys / -ias type (mẽdyje, kepsnyjè, kelyjè), but with a vowel changed where needed for an easier pronunciation: vė́jyje, but naudótojuje. Vocative is also different: vėjau, naudótojau (naudotoje would sound the same as naudótoja, which is feminine (nominative and vocative) form of the same word. The vocative is similar for -as m. and -ė f. words: ą́žuolas – oak : ą́žuole and ẽglė – spruce : ẽgle). This form is sometimes present in other cases: nom. brólis : voc. bróli and brolaũ, vélnias : vélniau. Many of these -j- words are made with an actors (personal, not for things) suffix -ėjas m., -ėja f., -t-ojas m., -t-oja f.: veĩkti 'to act, affect; operate' – veikė́jas 'actor, character'; naudóti 'to use' – naudótojas 'user'.
There are only a few -ias words, they are declined like -ys words, except some cases: nominative for kẽlias, nominative and vocative for elnias – elni, and vélnias – vélniau.
-is and -ys words differ in that -is words (with the short i sound) are stressed on the stem (I, II accentuation patterns) and -ys words (with the same sound, but long) are stressed on the ending (III, IV accentuation patterns). In the -is type almost half of the nouns have consonants t, d in the stem ending. These consonants change when palatalized: mẽdis nom. – mẽdžio gen. etc. (in the -as paradigm, on the other hand, there are no cases with palatalization: vardas – vardo etc.). In the -ys type about 12% of nouns have t, d as stem ending.
The second, -a (-ia), -ė (gen. sg. -ės)
a type; twelve nouns are of masculine gender: viršilà 2 – warrant-officer, sergeant, barzdylà 2 – bearded one (person) (gen. barzdỹlos; it can also be heard barzdýla 1, barzdýlos; this is either a mistake and outcome of nivellation of accents or a type of word formation without changing an accent, compare adjectives, for example, ausýlas m., -a f. 'sharp-eard'), vaivadà – voivode (historical office) (it is attributed to be of the 2 accentuation type in vocabularies, but it is of 3 or 1 if used in language: vaivadà 3, dat. vaĩvadai or vaĩvada 1), maršálka 1 – historical office: mareschalus, marshal. 265 – of common gender: mušeikà 2 (1) – scrapper, bruiser, personà 2 – personage, nebrendilà 2 – immaturely behaving person (in language can also be heard nebrendýla 1, nebrendylà 2), nekláužada 1 – tinker (kid), namìsėda 1 – home-keeping, who sits at home. Two words have -i ending: martì 4 – daughter-in-law, patì 4 – wife (more like older).
ė type; four nouns are masculine: dė̃dė 2 – uncle, tė̃tė 2 (more used or equal variant is tė̃tis 2) – dad, dailìdė 2 – carpenter, woodworker and ciùcė 2 – doggy (in kid speech). 19 words are of common gender: garsenýbė 1 – renowned (person, thing), tauškalỹnė 2 – wind-bag, gasser, mėmė̃ 4 – gawk, spiegėlė̃ 3b – who shrieks too much (the latter word, for example, is not very likely to be heard, a word spieglỹs, -ė̃ 4 would probably occur). The t, d stems in -ė are present in the following percentage through the four accentuation paradigms: I – 15%, II – 35%, III – 23%, IV – 12%.
The third, -is
There were 245 feminine and 24 masculine nouns in this class. 6 nouns have common gender: (the first three can also be attributed to masculine gender[2]) palikuõnis 2, 34b 'progeny, offspring', grobuõnis 2, 3a 'predator', žiniuõnis 2, 4 'knower; witchdoctor', delsuonìs 3b 'who is dallying', giežuonìs 3b 'tiresome, sour (person)', vagìs 4 'thief'. Some other -uonis words are attributed to a masculine gender, for example, geluonìs 3b (2) – sting, deguõnis 2 (3b) (here in the table given as 3b, while 2 accentuation pattern is probably more used) – oxygen. A word vinìs f., c. 4 'nail, spike' is also sometimes understood as of common gender. The singular dative is -iui for the common gender, like in masculine nouns. The biggest part of these words have -t- stem. The second accentuation pattern is the rarest, among its examples are: durys pl. 2 'door', slistis 2 (4) 'simulation', gaištis 2, 4 'dallying' (the two latter can also be accentuated in the fourth paradigm), masculine: pirmuõnys pl. – protozoa, deguõnis (3b) – oxygen. Words with a suffix -men-, for example, ãšmenys pl. 3b – blade, sė́dmenys pl. 3a – buttocks, nates, nẽšmenys pl. 3b – silts, sediments carried by a water stream, are attributed to the third declensional pattern here, but they are of the fifth: the singular (can be used for all, but is not usual for all) nom. is -uo: sėdmuõ – buttock. The singular instrumental is -imi, like in the third declension, while for masculine words of the fifth declension the proper ending is given to be -iu; but -imi can also be and is chosen for the words of the fifth declension.
The fourth, -us, -ius
There are only 19 words with a non-palatalized ending, and more -j-us, and -ius words.
The fifth, -uo, -ė (gen. sg. -ers)
The number of words of this class is small. The words are of the third accentuation pattern; one word, šuõ – dog, is of the fourth and has sg. inst. -imì. One word, or maybe even some more, is of the first accentuation pattern, rė́muo – waterbrash (it can also be accentuated in the third pattern).
About 45% of all nouns are feminine, 55% – masculine.
Grouping by a syllable nucleus of a pre-desinential syllable
In the tables below the possibilities of syllable nucleus of the next-to-last syllable and their accent is shown. The different sound of a next-to-last syllable makes no grammatical distinction, for example, words nóras – wish and kū́nas – body, are of the same declensional and accentuation patterns. But there are a few certain differences in the accentuation features of the nucleus sounds of the next-to-last syllable. Most of the vocals and diphthongs can have either of the accents: a start-firm or an end-firm. Short a, e sounds, when they are in a stem of a word and stressed, lengthen and have always an end-firm accent; i, u are short and there is no accentual differentiation in their stress. Mixed diphthongs (a, e) + (l, m, n, r) have the first element lengthened when stressed in a start-firm accent, when in (i, u) + (l, m, n, r) and a diphthong ui the first element remains short in the same case. The words having ą, ę in a pre-desinential syllable are not included here because of the lack of declensional types. Some examples: rą̃stas 2 – balk, timber; žąsìs 4 – goose; ąsà 4 – handle; kę́sas 3 – hassock.
The four different accentuation patterns are distinguished by two different colors in the rows of the table, their sequence is from the top to the bottom – I, II, III, IV. The words of each accentuation type are given in the following sequence of the declensional types:
The first declension (masculine)
-as,
-is (I–II accentuational pattern) / -ys (III–IV accentuational patterns) and a few -ias words. Their genitive singular is -io.
The second declension (feminine)
-a (-ia)
-ė
The third declension (mostly feminine, few masculine): -is; genitive singular is -ies
The fourth declension (masculine): -us (-ius)
Some spaces of the tables are not filled, but this does not mean that there are no words which would fit. The sounds a, e (end-firm when stressed) and i, u (short) can not be start-firm and consequently the word having them in the next-to-last stressed syllable can not be of the first and the third accentuation pattern. Some of the declensional types include few words, for example there are only two words of the third accentuation pattern in the fifth declension: sūnùs and lietùs. The number of words (Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian language / Dabartinės Lietuvių kalbos žodynas; the fourth issue, 2000) of the declensional patterns can be checked in the section above.
After some of the words in the tables, a number is added. It indicates an alternative existent accentuation pattern and is given only for some of the words that have an alternative accentuation in a language. Notice that the type of accentuation of a word is shown by the place in the table and the number added means only an alternative accentuation type, which is not necessarily the main one. Some of the alternative accentuation patterns of a word are used equally often (then they are given not in brackets here), some are known from dialects, not preferred (then they are given in brackets).
Here are some illustrations of the alternative accentuation: a word nykštỹs 3 is also commonly said nýkštis 1; zýlė 1 is also known as zylė̃ 3 in some dialects, but this form is used more narrowly and not shown here. Similarly, a word rýkštė 1 is also known as rykštė̃ 4; this is shown in the table. In the case of šálmas 3 – helmet, the variant šal̃mas 4 is also very common. The alternative forms are most usually present between the 1–3 and 2–4 accentuation patterns, same in the type of accent. But there are also different cases, for example, rýkštė 1 and rykštė̃ 4. The fourth accentuation paradigm can be the result of a shift of the third paradigm. The shift can happen following nivellation of the two accents, a loss of accentual contrast. In the case of nivellation of the start-firm and end-firm accents, the distinction between the 3–4 and 1–2 loses its ground, because in a place of the stress the 1 with the 2, the 3 with the 4 acentuation groups differ only in a few cases.
Among the words given in the table, some are older, for example, ver̃pstė 2 – distaff, sker̃džius 2 – chief cowherd, butcher, and some other. Some words are borrowings: bánkas 1 – bank, tánkas 1 – tank, dùrpės – peat, turf and some other. Old borrowings: vỹnas 2 (4) – wine, blỹnas 2 – pancake, rõžė 2 – rose, rūtà 2 (4) – rue, slyvà 2 (4) – plum, vyšnià 2 (1) – cherry, and some other.
In the same case as in nouns the adjectives may be formed by adding a suffix, e.g., -inis, -ingas (full in), -iškas (alike), -klus etc. A further noun iš formed by changing the ending of the adjectives to -is (-ys), -ė. The genitive case is many times used instead of the -inis, e.g. medžio dirbinys - an artwork from wood, šokių muzikos gabalas - dance music piece (šokinis would sound awkward). The dative may also used, e.g. užtiesalas lovai - a cloth for bed. The adjectival suffix -inis may easily become a noun (also -inys then), for example, kosmetinė rankinė (terba / tašė), psichochroninė ligoninė (įstaiga).
In Lithuanian, adjectives have three declensions determined by the singular and plural nominative case inflections. Adjectives agree with nouns in number, gender, and case. Unlike nouns, which have two genders – masculine and feminine, adjectives have three (except -is, -ė adjectives), but the neuter adjectives (the third example in the table) have only one form and are not inflected. The neuter gender is formed simply by eliminating the last consonant -s from the masculine gender forms.
All the adjectives (except most -inis type adjectives) can have pronominal (definite) forms that cannot acquire the neuter form:
Declension
Singular nom. inflection
Plural nom. inflection
Examples
Masculine
Feminine
Masculine
Feminine
I
-(i)asis
-(i)oji
-ieji
-(i)osios
šaltàsis, šaltóji – the cold; šlapiàsis, šlapióji – the wet;
II
-usis
-ioji
-ieji
-iosios
gražùsis, gražióji – the pretty, the beautiful; malonùsis, malonióji – the pleasant;
III
-is
-ė
-iai
-ės
―
-ysis
-ioji
-ieji
-iosios
didỹsis, didžióji – the big, the great; dešinỹsis, dešinióji – the right; kairỹsis, kairióji – the left.
The pronominal adjectives historically have developed from the combination of the simple adjectives and the respective pronominal forms jis, ji (he, she), that is, gẽras + jìs = geràsis; an example in locative case (feminine gender): gražiosè + josè = gražiósiose. They have their own separate declension paradigms.
Pronominal adjectives have a variety of purposes in modern Lithuanian. One of them is the definitiveness, that is, these adjectives can sometimes act like an equivalent of the definite article in English: Suvalgiau raudoną obuolį – I've eaten a red apple; Suvalgiau raudonąjį obuolį – I've eaten the red apple. But they are rarely used this way, as demonstrative pronouns serve better for this purpose. Pronominal adjectives often indicate something unique, thus they are usually used with proper names: Juodoji jūra, Vytautas Didysis, Naujoji Zelandija. Another use (and a very common) is scientific terminology: kvapusis mairūnas, dėmėtoji pelėda, standusis diskas etc. In almost all of these cases, a simple adjective can be used, but it will mean a completely different thing: juoda jūra (instead of Juodoji jūra) means any sea that is black (not necessarily the particular sea in Eastern Europe); dėmėta pelėda (instead of dėmėtoji pelėda) means any owl that has dots on its plumage (not necessarily an owl of the Strix occidentalis species) etc.
Most of the first type adjectives of the third declension are with the suffix -in-. These are easily made from other parts of speech by adding the suffix -in-. When made from verbs, they are mostly made from a past passive participle: vìrti – to boil, vìrtas – boiled, virtìnis – which is boiled, made by boiling. Consequently, the suffix is -t-in- for such adjectives. Such variants of verbal derivation easily become nouns (declined in noun declension paradigm), in this case it is a noun virtìnis – dumpling (with mushrooms; curd; etc.; but dumplings with meat are called koldūnai).
Two adjectives of the third declension have long -ys: dešinỹs – right, kairỹs – left; plural nominative is dešinì, kairì; plural dative: dešiníems, kairíems. A short form of dìdelis, dìdelė is dìdis, didì (similar to pats, pati). Dešinys, kairys, didis have neuter gender of the u pattern: dešinu, kairu, didu. Pronominal forms: didỹsis, didžióji, dešinỹsis, dešinióji. An adjective didelis, didelė hasn't pronominal forms. The word didis has more mingled forms: nominative is sometimes didus; genitive masc.: didžio / didaus; accusative: didį (/ didų); plural masc. nom. didūs; other forms are of the regular pattern.
Some other forms having variations in a standard language: pė́sčias, pėsčià, pė́sčia – pedestrian, afoot; pėsčiàsis, pėsčióji and pėstỹsis, pėsčióji (adjectival and substantival meanings).
In the following examples of noun and adjective matching, gatvė – street and kelias – road are matched with tiesus – straight:
Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesios gatvės (singular vs. plural)
Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesus kelias (feminine vs. masculine)
Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesią gatvę (nominative vs. accusative case)
This does not apply in case of the neuter gender adjectives because nouns do not have neuter gender. Such adjectives are used in combination with other parts of speech having no gender (infinitive, some pronouns) or in zero subject sentences and tend to describe a general environment. For example, rūsyje buvo vėsu (zero subject sentence) – it was cool in the cellar; gera tave matyti (the gender neutral infinitive (matyti) is the subject) – it's good to see you. Moreover, adjectives in neuter can be used as an object (and in some cases – as a subject) as well (a rough equivalent of English "that which is" + adjective): jis matė šilta ir šalta – he saw [that which is] cold and hot (he went through fire and water). Adjectives that end in -is do not have the neuter gender. Most of the time neuter gender adjectives are written just like feminine adjectives. However, vocally, neuter gender is distinct by different stressing. Also neuter gender does not have any numbers or cases, and it is mostly used for predicatives. Usage in the role of object (like in "jis matė šilta ir šalta") is rare.
Degrees of comparison
The Lithuanian language has five degrees of comparison. The three main degrees are the same as in English language. Note that there are no irregular adjectives and all adjectives have the same suffixes. All such adjectives still need to match the nouns in terms of case, number, and gender. Neuter gender comparative degree is the same as adjective comparative degree.
Language
Gender
positive
comparative
superlative
Lithuanian
Masculine
Gẽras
Gerėlèsnis
Gerèsnis
Geriáusias
Pàts/visų̃ geriáusias
Feminine
Gerà
Gerėlèsnė
Gerèsnė
Geriáusia
Patì/visų̃ geriáusia
Neuter
Gẽra
Gerėliaũ
Geriaũ
Geriáusia
Visų̃ geriáusia
English
Good
A tiny bit better
Better
Best
The very best
Lithuanian
Masculine
Gražùs
Gražėlèsnis
Gražèsnis
Gražiáusias
Pats/visų gražiáusias
Feminine
Gražì
Gražėlèsnė
Gražèsnė
Gražiáusia
Patì/visų̃ gražiáusia
Neuter
Gražù
Gražėliaũ
Gražiaũ
Gražiáusia
Visų̃ gražiáusia
English
Beautiful
A tiny bit more beautiful
More beautiful
Most beautiful
The most beautiful
Adjectives of different degrees can also have their pronominal forms:
Lithuanian has no grammatical category of animacy. Pronouns (including personal ones jis, ji, jie, jos (he, she, they)) replace any noun, regardless if it is not animate (people, animals, objects etc.). Whom did you see? and What did you see? both translate as Ką tu matei?; Something is there and Somebody is there both translate as Ten kažkas yra.
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns aš (I), tu (you) jis (he, it), ji (she, it) are declined as follows:
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Instrumental
Locative
Singular
1st person
aš
manęs
man
mane
manimi
manyje
2nd person
tu
tavęs
tau
tave
tavimi
tavyje
3rd person
Masculine
jis
jo
jam
jį
juo
jame
Feminine
ji
jos
jai
ją
ja
joje
Reflexive pronoun
–
savęs
sau
save
savimi
savyje
Plural
1st person
mes
mūsų
mums
mus
mumis
mumyse
2nd person
jūs
jūsų
jums
jus
jumis
jumyse
3rd person
Masculine
jie
jų
jiems
juos
jais
juose
Feminine
jos
jų
joms
jas
jomis
jose
Reflexive pronoun
The reflexive pronounsavęs is declined like tu (savęs – sau – save ...), but it does not have the singular nominative and plural cases.
Verbs
Every Lithuanian verb belongs to one of three different conjugations:
The first conjugation is the most commonly found in Lithuanian, encompassing those verbs whose infinite form ends in -ati, -oti, -auti, -uoti or a consonant followed by -ti (e.g. dirbti). This conjugation also has the highest occurrence of irregularity of all the Lithuanian verb cases.
The second conjugation refers to those verbs whose infinitive form ends in -ėti. There are hardly any instances of irregularity for this conjugation. An exception: verbs that have -ėja in the Present Tense (like didėti / didėja / didėjo 'to increase') belong to the first conjugation.
The third conjugation consists of those verbs whose infinitive form ends in -yti. An exception: verbs that have -ija in the Present Tense (like rūdyti / rūdija / rūdijo 'to rust') belong to the first conjugation.
In Lithuanian every single verbal form can be derived from three stems: infinitive, 3rd person present tense and 3rd person past tense.
Lithuanian verbs belong to one of the following stem types:
primary (verbs without suffixes: pykti, pyksta, pyko ʽto be angry’). This group encompasses most of the verbs with irregular or unpredictable forms;
mixed (verbs with suffixes in certain forms: mylėti, myli, mylėjo ʽto love’);
suffixal (verbs with suffixes in all forms: didėti, didėja, didėjo ʽto increase’).
The 3rd person of every conjugatable verbal form in Lithuanian has no distinction between numbers: all the singular, dual and plural forms have merged into one single form. Declinable forms (such as compound tenses and passive structures), however, must match according to gender and number. This is a shared feature with its closest relative, the Latvian language.
Modern Lithuanian grammarians no longer consider the 3rd person as having an ending, instead it is now called the "final stem vowel" to which a personal ending is attached in order to make the 1st and the 2nd persons:
Simple
Reflexive
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
u
me
uosi
mės
2nd
i
te
iesi
tės
3rd
∅
∅ + si
In reality, however, the attachment of the respective ending to the 3rd person stem is not straightforward and requires additional conversion, e. g. if the 3rd person stem ends in -a, the attachment of the ending -u to make the 1st person form produces -u instead of the expected -au. Moreover, certain notable forms have dropped the final vowel in the 3rd person (future tense, conditional mood), however, the forms for other persons are still composed having the stem vowel in mind (dirbti to work → dirbs he will work → dirbsime we will work). Each one of these conversions are being represented in the following conjugation tables.
Active voice
The active voice in Lithuanian has four moods:
Indicative
Indirect
Imperative
Conditional
Indicative mood
In the active voice, the indicative mood contains 4 simple and 7 compound tenses.
In each tense five examples are given: three belonging to each conjugation group (dirbti, norėti, skaityti), one reflexive (praustis) and būti – the only auxiliary verb in Lithuanian.
Present tense
This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes present or ongoing actions or, sometimes, actions without definite tense. Its forms and stress patterns are always derived from the 3rd person of the Present tense.
dìrbti – to work
norė́ti – to want
skaitýti – to read
praũstis – to wash oneself
bū́ti – to be (es- stem)
bū́ti – to be (būn- stem)
bū́ti – to be (būv- stem)
I
dìrbu
nóriu
skaitaũ
prausiúosi
esù
būnù
būvù
You (singular)
dìrbi
nóri
skaitaĩ
prausíesi
esì
būnì
būvì
He/She/It
dìrba
nóri
skaĩto
praũsiasi
yrà / ẽsti
bū̃na
bū̃va
We
dìrbame
nórime
skaĩtome
praũsiamės
ẽsame
bū̃name
bū̃vame
You (plural)
dìrbate
nórite
skaĩtote
praũsiatės
ẽsate
bū̃nate
bū̃vate
They
dìrba
nóri
skaĩto
praũsiasi
yrà / ẽsti
bū̃na
bū̃va
E.g. dirbu = 'I work', (tu) nori = 'You want', skaitome = 'We read' (present tense).
The auxiliary verb bū́ti has two conjugations in the Present tense: an irregular one (based on es-/yr- stems) and a regular one (based on the būn- / būv- stem). The difference is that the stem bū̃n-/bū̃v- has an iterative meaning (to be frequently): Mokiniaĩ yrà pasiruõšę – The pupils are ready; Mokiniaĩ bū̃na pasiruõšę – The pupils are often ready. The 3rd person form ẽsti is semantically equivalent to bū̃na or bū̃va, but is rarely used in modern Lithuanian. The bū̃v- stem is very rare in modern Lithuanian.
In the -i conjugation type, the 1st person of singular loses the final stem vowel -i, but the last stem consonant becomes palatalized (the sound [ɪ] is absent in nóriu [n̪ôːrʲʊ], the letter i merely denotes palatalization). If the stem ends with a consonant -d, it becomes -dž: girdėti to hear → girdi he hears → girdžiu I hear.
The accentuation of all persons always corresponds to the accentuation of the 3rd person. The only exception is when its accented syllable is penultimate (excluding the reflexive formant -si) and has a short vowel (bìjo – he is afraid) or a rising tone (skaĩto – he reads, praũsiasi – he washes himself): in that case the 1st and the 2nd persons of singular move the stress to the ending: bijaũ, bijaĩ; skaitaũ, skaitaĩ; prausiúosi, prausíesi.
Past tense
This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes past actions (ongoing or complete). Its forms and stress patterns are always derived from the 3rd person of the Past tense.
In the -ė conjugation type, the last stem consonant becomes palatalized. If the stem ends with a consonant -t or -d, in the 1st person of singular it becomes -č or -dž respectively: kęsti to suffer → kentė he suffered → kenčiau I suffered; melsti to beg → meldė he begged → meldžiau I begged.
The accentuation of all persons always corresponds to the accentuation of the 3rd person. The only exception is when its accented syllable is penultimate (excluding the reflexive formant -si) and has a short vowel (bùvo – he was) or a rising tone (skaĩtė – he read, praũsėsi – he washed himself): in that case the 1st and the 2nd persons of singular move the stress to the ending: buvaũ, buvaĩ; skaičiaũ, skaiteĩ; prausiaũsi, prauseĩsi.
Past iterative tense
The basic meaning of this tense translates as "used to" in English. Its construction is simple:
Remove the infinitive ending -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
Add the suffix -dav- to the stem.
Finally, add the corresponding ending of the past tense for the first conjugation.
dìrbti – to work
norė́ti – to want
skaitýti – to read
praũstis – to wash oneself
bū́ti – to be
I
dìrbdavau
norė́davau
skaitýdavau
praũsdavausi
bū́davau
You (singular)
dìrbdavai
norė́davai
skaitýdavai
praũsdavaisi
bū́davai
He/She/It
dìrbdavo
norė́davo
skaitýdavo
praũsdavosi
bū́davo
We
dìrbdavome
norė́davome
skaitýdavome
praũsdavomės
bū́davome
You (plural)
dìrbdavote
norė́davote
skaitýdavote
praũsdavotės
bū́davote
They
dìrbdavo
norė́davo
skaitýdavo
praũsdavosi
bū́davo
E.g. dirbdavau = 'I used to work', norėdavai = 'You used to want', skaitydavome = 'We used to read'
Future tense
This tense basically describes what will happen in the future. It is relatively simple to form:
Remove the -ti ending from the infinitive form of the verb.
Add the -s- suffix which is used to form the Future Tense. Note, that ...š or ...ž + -s- assimilates to š without the final s (the infinitive vežti 'to transport' gives vešiu, veši, veš etc. in the Future Tense). In case the stem itself ends with a final ...s, it is eliminated as well: kąsti (to bite) → kąs.
Add the appropriate ending.
All the persons in this tense are completely regular (and retain the stress position and intonation of the infinitive), except for the 3rd one. The latter of this tense changes depending on several rules:
If the 3rd person's form is stressed in the final or the only syllable with a falling tone (without the inclusion of the reflexive formant -is), it is systematically replaced with a rising tone (kalbė́ti (to speak) → kalbė̃s, pramogáuti (to entertain oneself) → pramogaũs; aukótis (to sacrifice oneself) → aukõsis (the reflexive formant does not count)). This rule does not apply to cases when there the last syllable is not stressed (sáugoti (to protect) → sáugos).
Primary verbs acquire a short vowel i or u (instead of long y or ū) when the infinitive and the present tense has a long vowel, but the past tense has a short vowel: (lýti (to rain): lỹja, lìjo → lìs; pū́ti (to rot): pū̃va, pùvo → pùs, most importantly: bū́ti (to be): bū̃na, bùvo → bùs).
dìrbti – to work
norė́ti – to want
skaitýti – to read
praũstis – to wash oneself
bū́ti – to be
I
dìrbsiu
norė́siu
skaitýsiu
praũsiuosi
bū́siu
You (singular)
dìrbsi
norė́si
skaitýsi
praũsiesi
bū́si
He/She/It
dir̃bs
norė̃s
skaitỹs
praũsis
bùs
We
dìrbsime
norė́sime
skaitýsime
praũsimės
bū́sime
You (plural)
dìrbsite
norė́site
skaitýsite
praũsitės
bū́site
They
dir̃bs
norė̃s
skaitỹs
praũsis
bùs
E.g. dirbsiu = 'I shall work', norėsi = 'You will want', skaitysime = 'We shall read'
Compound tenses
Compound tenses are periphrastic structures having temporal meanings usually relative to actions indicated by other verbs. Two groups of such tenses exist in modern Lithuanian: Perfect and Inchoative. All of them require an auxiliary verb būti (to be) in its respective form and an active voice participle.
Perfect tenses
There are four perfect tenses in Lithuanian (present, past, past iterative and future) which are all formed using the verb būti in its respective tense and person as well as the active past simple participle in its respective number and gender:
Present perfect
Past perfect
Past iterative perfect
Future perfect
I
esu skaĩtęs / skaĩčiusi
buvau skaitęs / skaičiusi
būdavau skaitęs / skaičiusi
būsiu skaitęs / skaičiusi
You (singular)
esi skaitęs / skaičiusi
buvai skaitęs / skaičiusi
būdavai skaitęs / skaičiusi
būsi skaitęs / skaičiusi
He/She/It
yra skaitęs / skaičiusi
buvo skaitęs / skaičiusi
būdavo skaitęs / skaičiusi
bus skaitęs / skaičiusi
We
esame skaĩtę / skaĩčiusios
buvome skaitę / skaičiusios
būdavome skaitę / skaičiusios
būsime skaitę / skaičiusios
You (plural)
esate skaitę / skaičiusios
buvote skaitę / skaičiusios
būdavote skaitę / skaičiusios
būsite skaitę / skaičiusios
They
yra skaitę / skaičiusios
buvo skaitę / skaičiusios
būdavo skaitę / skaičiusios
bus skaitę / skaičiusios
These tenses (except for present perfect) correspond roughly to equivalent English perfect tenses (I had read / I will have read). They are used in various contexts for very different meanings, but they usually indicate an action that happened before another action said with another verb, noun or similar: Tos knygos neėmiau, nes jau ją buvau skaitęs – I didn't take that book because I had already read it; Po kelionės vaikai bus labai pasiilgę tėvų – After the trip the children will have badly missed their parents.
They are also used for a generalized meaning not associated with a specific event (equivalent of English "Have you ever done it?"): Ar esi buvęs Paryžiuje? – Have you ever been to Paris [any time in your life]?; Esu skaitęs, kad vaistai nuo peršalimo nepadeda – I read [some time ago] that pharmaceuticals are useless against common cold.
Compare phrases: Ar buvai Paryžiuje? – Were you in Paris [that day]?; Skaičiau, kad vaistai nuo peršalimo nepadeda – I read [that day, at a specific moment in my life] that pharmaceuticals are useless against common cold.
The perfect tenses are a common feature of the Lithuanian language and are often used in all types of spoken and written speech.
Inchoative tenses
There are three inchoative tenses in Lithuanian (past, past iterative and future) which are all formed using the verb būti in its respective tense and person, as well as the active present simple participle in its respective number and gender, complemented with the prefix be-. Note the absence of the present inchoative tense.
Past inchoative
Past iterative inchoative
Future inchoative
I
buvau beskaitąs / beskaitanti
būdavau beskaitąs / beskaitanti
būsiu beskaitąs / beskaitanti
You (singular)
buvai beskaitąs / beskaitanti
būdavai beskaitąs / beskaitanti
būsi beskaitąs / beskaitanti
He/She/It
buvo beskaitąs / beskaitanti
būdavo beskaitąs / beskaitanti
bus beskaitąs / beskaitanti
We
buvome beskaitą / beskaitančios
būdavome beskaitą / beskaitančios
būsime beskaitą / beskaitančios
You (plural)
buvote beskaitą / beskaitančios
būdavote beskaitą / beskaitančios
būsite beskaitą / beskaitančios
They
buvo beskaitą / beskaitančios
būdavo beskaitą / beskaitančios
bus beskaitą / beskaitančios
These tenses mostly indicate an action that was interrupted by another action said with another verb. They correspond roughly to English "...was about to do something, when": Tėvas buvo beskaitąs laikraštį, bet kažkas paskambino – The father was about to read a newspaper, but someone called.
They can also indicate an action that have started and is still going on during another action (equivalent of English continuous tenses), but they are almost never used in such a way: Kai grįši namo, motina bus bemieganti – When you will get back home, the mother will be sleeping.
Inchoative tenses are not a part of common Lithuanian speech, their use is limited to literary language and even there only past inchoative tense is ever used.
Indirect mood
The indirect mood in Lithuanian has all and the same tenses (including compound tenses) as the indicative mood, but is not conjugated. Instead of being composed of a conjugatable verb, they are made of pure active participle in nominative case, thus they must match the gender and number of the subject.
Singular
Plural
Present
skaitą̃s, skaĩtanti
skaitą̃, skaitančios
Past
skaĩtęs, skaĩčiusi
skaĩtę, skaĩčiusios
Past iterative
skaitýdavęs, skaitýdavusi
skaitýdavę, skaitýdavusios
Future
skaitýsiąs, skaitýsianti
skaitýsią, skaitýsiančios
Present perfect
esą̃s skaĩtęs, ẽsanti skaĩčiusi
esą̃ skaĩtę, ẽsančios skaĩčiusios
Past perfect
bùvęs skaitęs, bùvusi skaĩčiusi
bùvę skaitę, bùvusios skaĩčiusios
Past iterative perfect
bū́davęs skaĩtęs, bū́davusi skaĩčiusi
bū́davę skaĩtę, bū́davusios skaĩčiusios
Future perfect
bū́siąs skaĩtęs, bū́sianti skaĩčiusi
bū́sią skaĩtę, bū́siančios skaĩčiusios
Past inchoative
bùvęs beskaitą̃s, bùvusi beskaĩtanti
bùvę beskaitą̃, bùvusios beskaĩtančios
Past iterative inchoative
bū́davęs beskaitą̃s, bū́davusi beskaĩtanti
bū́davę beskaitą̃, bū́davusios beskaĩtančios
Future inchoative
bū́siąs beskaitą̃s, bū́sianti beskaĩtanti
bū́sią beskaitą̃, bū́siančios beskaĩtančios
The indirect mood of passive voice is also used. It is composed of an auxiliary active participle formed from the verb būti 'to be' and passive participle which is the main one. So, indirect mood of passive voice can only be compound. Both present and past passive participles are used. The indirect mood of passive voice has the following tenses: present (esąs skaitomas), present perfect (esąs skaitytas), past (buvęs skaitomas), past perfect (buvęs skaitytas), past iterative (būdavęs skaitomas), past iterative perfect (būdavęs skaitytas), future (būsiąs skaitomas), future perfect (būsiąs skaitytas).[3][4]
The indirect mood, sometimes called "participle speech", has multiple uses, but primarily denote actions not experienced directly by the speaker and bearing a high degree of uncertainty: Čia kažkada stovėjusi tvirtovė – [I'm not really sure, it seems like] some time ago there stood a fortress here.
Another widely known use of the indirect mood is describing actions in fictional literature (especially folklore) (could be considered as an equivalent of French Passé simple, except that in Lithuanian it is not limited to the past): Kartą gyvenęs kalvis, kuris turėjęs du sūnus – Once there lived a smith who had two sons.
In modern Lithuanian this mood is not very widely used, because other ways of expressing uncertainty and fictional events exist.
Imperative mood
The imperative mood has three forms or tenses (simple, perfect and inchoative). The simple form of the 2nd person of singular, the 1st and the 2nd persons of plural is very regular:
Remove the infinitive ending -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
Add the suffix -k- to the stem.
Finally, add the corresponding ending.
The 3rd person imperative is sometimes called the "optative mood" and has numerous equivalent forms:
By adding a simple grammatical prefix te- to the 3rd person of the present tense (tedìrba – let him work). Used moderately often.
By adding a simple grammatical prefix te- to the 3rd person of the present tense and replacing the ending with -ie or -ai (tedirbiẽ – let him work, teskaĩtai – let him read). Obsolete / rare.
By adding one of the particles tè, tegùl, tegù, laĩ before the 3rd person of the present tense (or sometimes the future tense): tegùl dìrba – let him work, laĩ skaĩto – let him read. Used very often.
dìrbti – to work
norė́ti – to want
skaitýti – to read
praũstis – to wash oneself
bū́ti – to be
I
—
You (singular)
dìrbk(i)
norė́k(i)
skaitýk(i)
praũskis
būk(i)
He/She/It
tedirbiẽ / tedìrba
tenoriẽ / tenóri
teskaĩtai / teskaĩto
tesiprausiẽ / tesipraũsia
teesiẽ / tebūniẽ / tebùs
We
dìrbkime
norė́kime
skaitýkime
praũskimės
bū́kime
You (plural)
dìrbkite
norė́kite
skaitýkite
praũskitės
bū́kite
They
tedirbiẽ / tedìrba
tenoriẽ / tenóri
teskaĩtai / teskaĩto
tesiprausiẽ / tesipraũsia
teesiẽ / tebūniẽ / tebùs
The imperative mood is used to describe an action that the speaker wants another person to do: Duok pinigų! – Give me some money! Iš pradžių įleiskime svečius. – Let us at first invite the guests in. This mood is actively used in modern Lithuanian.
The 2nd person of singular has its ending -i only in poetry / fictional literature. The usage of this ending is usually an indication of poetic style.
The perfect and inchoative forms are composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its simple imperative form and of an active participle of the main verb, matched according to gender and number of the person:
Perfect
Inchoative
I
—
You (singular)
būk skaitęs / skaičiusi
būk beskaitąs / beskaitainti
He/She/It
tebūnie skaitęs / skaičiusi
tebūnie beskaitąs / beskaitainti
We
būkime skaitę / skaičiusios
būkime beskaitą / beskaitainčios
You (plural)
būkite skaitę / skaičiusios
būkite beskaitą / beskaitainčios
They
tebūnie skaitę / skaičiusios
tebūnie beskaitą / beskaitančios
Imperative perfect means an instruction of the speaker that has to be completed before some other event: Pirmadienį jau būkite apsisprendę – Please already have your decision made by Monday. This form is actively used in modern Lithuanian.
Imperative inchoative means an instruction of the speaker that has to be started before some other event and continued afterwards: Kai grįšiu, būkite bedirbą – When I'll come back, please be working. This form is obsolete.
Conditional mood
The conditional mood has three forms or tenses (simple, perfect and inchoative). It is very regular to form:
Remove the infinitive suffix -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
Add the respective suffix and ending.
dìrbti – to work
norė́ti – to want
skaitýti – to read
praũstis – to wash oneself
bū́ti – to be
I
dìrbčiau
norė́čiau
skaitýčiau
praũsčiausi
bū́čiau
You (singular)1
dìrbtum(ei)
norė́tum(ei)
skaitýtum(ei)
praũstumeisi
bū́tum(ei)
He/She/It
dìrbtų
norė́tų
skaitýtų
praũstųsi
bū́tų
We2
dìrbtu(mė)me
norė́tu(mė)me
skaitýtu(mė)me
praũstu(mė)mės
bū́tu(mė)me
You (plural)2,3
dìrbtu(mė)te
norė́tu(mė)te
skaitýtu(mė)te
praũstu(mė)tės
bū́tu(mė)te
They
dìrbtų
norė́tų
skaitýtų
praũstųsi
bū́tų
1The longer form with the ending -ei is used very rarely in modern Lithuanian.
2In modern colloquial speech the shorter forms actually retain the -mė- syllable, but remove the final -e (except for reflexive verbs): dirbtumėm, skaitytumėt.
3A shorter form without -mė- does exist, but is used very rarely.
This mood is actively used in modern Lithuanian and one of its functions corresponds to the English conditional mood. The conditional mood is used to describe a hypothetical action that could take place if certain conditions were met (hence the name) or a desired action in present or in future: Panaikinus muitus, sumažėtų prekių kainos – Having eliminated customs duties, prices would go down. Conditional mood is used in conditional (if) sentences; this usage requires conditional mood in subordinate and main clauses if both actions are perceived as hypothetical: Visi laimėtų, jeigu priimtumėte šį pasiūlymą. – There would be a win-win situation for everyone if you accepted this offer.
Another very important function of conditional mood is the expression of purpose in final clauses (corresponds to Subjunctive mood in English): Dirbu viršvalandžius, kad uždirbčiau daugiau. – I work extra hours so that I earn more.
The third function of conditional mood is the expression of politeness: Siūlyčiau panagrinėti šią temą kitu kampu. – I would like to suggest to examine this topic from a different angle.
The perfect and inchoative forms are composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its simple conditional form and of an active participle of the main verb, matched according to gender and number of the person:
Perfect
Inchoative
I
būčiau skaitęs / skaičiusi
būčiau beskaitąs / beskaitainti
You (singular)
būtum skaitęs / skaičiusi
būtum beskaitąs / beskaitainti
He/She/It
būtų skaitęs / skaičiusi
būtų beskaitąs / beskaitainti
We
būtume skaitę / skaičiusios
būtume beskaitą / beskaitainčios
You (plural)
būtumėte skaitę / skaičiusios
būtumėte beskaitą / beskaitainčios
They
būtų skaitę / skaičiusios
būtų beskaitą / beskaitančios
Conditional perfect is actively used in modern Lithuanian. It means a hypothetical action in the past that would have taken place if certain conditions had been met (corresponds to the semantically equivalent form in English): Vadovas būtų pritaręs renginiui, bet niekas nerodė iniciatyvos. – The leader would have approved the event, but nobody showed initiative.
Inchoative conditional means an action that could have started in the past and continued until present if certain conditions were met: Jei jis būtų paklaũsęs mano patarimo, šiandien būtų besimáudąs turtuose. – If he had listened to my advice, today he would be rolling in money. This form is obsolete.
Passive voice
In Lithuanian, passive voice is always analytical and structured differently from the active voice. Passive voice has no perfect tense and no inchoative aspect, because similar semantic relationships can be expressed by the present or past passive participle dichotomy.
Passive voice is always composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its respective tense or person and either a present passive participle or a past passive participle that must match the gender and number of the subject. Sometimes the necessity participle can be used as well. In order to avoid redundancy, the following table only includes the masculine third person, singular.
Present passive
Past passive
Indicative mood
Present
yra baigiamas
yra baigtas
Past
bùvo baĩgiamas
buvo baigtas1
Past iterative
bū́davo baigiamas
būdavo baigtas
Future
bùs baigiamas
bus baigtas
Indirect mood
Present
esą̃s baigiamas
esąs baigtas
Past
bùvęs baigiamas
buvęs baigtas1
Past iterative
bū́davęs baigiamas
būdavęs baigtas
Future
bū́siąs baigiamas
būsiąs baigtas
Imperative mood
tebūnie baigiamas
tebūnie baigtas
Conditional mood
būtų baigiamas
būtų baigtas
1This form for all persons can expressed using the passive (invariable) neuter gender participle bū́ta instead of the active participle bùvęs, usually for intransitive verbs: Prieš tai mes buvome [buvę] apsilankę muziejuje → Prieš tai mūsų būta apsilankyta muziejuje. – Before that we had gone to a museum → Before that it had been gone by us to a museum. This structure is rarely used in modern Lithuanian.
The subject of the active voice is converted to the passive voice using its possessive genitive form (hence aš, tu (I, you) converts not into manęs, tavęs, but mano, tavo): Vaikus pagimdei tu, bet užauginau aš → Vaikai buvo tavo pagimdyti, bet mano užauginti. – You gave birth to the children, but I raised them → The children were given birth by you, but raised by me. The possessive adjectives are indeclinable.[5]
Passive voice structures with present participle are the passive equivalents of active voice simple tenses: Mokslininkai atranda tolimas planetas → Tolimos planetos yra mokslininkų atrandamos – Scientists discover distant planets → Distant planets are being discovered by scientists. Kaime bijodavo vilkų → Kaime būdavo bijoma vilkų – Village [people] used to fear wolves → Wolves used to be feared by village [people].
Passive voice structures with past participle are the passive equivalents of active voice perfect tenses: Siuntinį paštas bus pristatęs iki Kalėdų → Siuntys bus pašto pristatytas iki Kalėdų – The post office will have delivered the parcel until Christmas → The parcel will have been delivered by the post office until Christmas. Už tokį poelgį tave būtų pagerbę → Už tokį poelgį būtum pagerbtas – One would have praised you for such a behaviour → You would have been praised for such a behaviour.
Because of the flexibility offered by the neuter gender, in Lithuanian most active voice structures can be converted into passive voice, including intransitive, reflexive and even impersonal verbs. A transitive example (some or most of the English translations are literal, do not make sense in English and are shown only to give an idea):
Tinginys valgo duoną → Duona yra tinginio valgoma – A lazy one is eating bread → Bread is being eaten by a lazy one.
An intransitive example: Vaikai smagiai pažais ir nueis miegoti → Vaikų bus smagiai pažaista ir nueita miegoti – Children will play pleasantly and then go to sleep → It we be played pleasantly and then gone to sleep by children.
A reflexive example: Šeimos pykdavosi dėl menkniekių → Šeimose būdavo pykstamasi dėl menkniekių – The families used to quarrel for nothing → It used to be quarrelled in the families for nothing.
An impersonal example: Po vakarykštės audros daug prilijo → Po vakarykštės audros daug prilyta – There is a lot of rain water after yesterday's storm – It has been a lot of rain water after yesterday's storm.
Generally in modern Lithuanian absence of the subject has a very limited use (except for impersonal verbs). In cases where an active voice structure would have no subject or there is no need for it (except for impersonal verbs), a passive voice equivalent is used instead: Čia nerūko! → Čia nerūkoma! – [Nobody] smokes here! → No smoking here! (The subject would be too broad). Skubiai išnuomoja dviejų kambarių butą. → Skubiai išnuomojamas dviejų kambarių butas. [Someone] is urgently renting a two-room apartment. → A two-room apartment is urgently for rent. (The subject is not necessary).
The opposite case is true as well. If a passive voice structure has an agent expressed in the genitive case, an active voice structure is preferred: Pilietinė visuomenė turi būti skatinama vyriausybės. → (more common) Vyriausybė turi skatinti pilietinę visuomenę. – A civil society should be promoted by the government. → The government should promote a civil society.
Participles
Lithuanian retains a rich system of participles, fourteen in total. In contrast English contains just two: the present participle ("the eating cow") and the past participle ("the eaten cow").
Adjectival participles decline as adjectives, while adverbial participles are not declined.[2].
In Lithuanian participles are very important part of every type of speech. All of them have their own function, but not all are used equally often.
Adjectival participles
Adjectival participles have all the adjectival characteristics: three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), pronominal forms, mostly identical declension and sometimes even degrees of comparison. Their primary function is to describe a nominal part of speech (usually a noun), like any adjective would in their position, hence they are matched by gender, case and number with the noun they are describing.
They can be active or passive. In the following tables only nominative case forms are given.
The verb used is baĩgti (to finish).
Active (non pronominal forms):
Simple
Reflexive
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Present
baigią̃s / baĩgiantis
baĩgianti
baigią̃
besibaigią̃s / besibaĩgiantis / baĩgiąsis
besibaĩgianti / baĩgiantis
besibaigią̃ / baigią̃si
Past
baĩgęs
baĩgusi
baĩgę
baĩgęsis
baĩgusis
baĩgęsi
Past iterative
baĩgdavęs
baĩgdavusi
baĩgdavę
baĩgdavęsis
baĩgdavusis
baĩgdavęsi
Future
baigsią̃s / baĩgsiantis
baĩgsianti
baigsią̃
baĩgsiąsis
baĩgsiantis
baĩgsiąsi
Active (pronominal counterparts):
Simple
Reflexive
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Present
baigiantỹsis
baigiančióji
–
besibaigiantỹsis
besibaigiančióji
–
Past
baigusỹsis
baigusióji
–
(pa)sibaigusỹsis1
(pa)sibaigusióji1
–
Past iterative
–
–
–
–
–
–
Future
baigsiantỹsis
baigsiančióji
–
(pa)sibaigsiantỹsis1
(pa)sibaigsiančióji1
–
1This form only exists for verbs with prefixes (except for be-).
One of the main functions of active participles is to describe a characteristic of a noun related to some ongoing, past or future action in which the said noun is the agent: migruojantys paukščiai – migrating birds, nepatyręs vairuotojas – inexperienced driver, pablogėsiančios darbo sąlygos – working conditions that will worsen. Only present, past simple and future active participles can fulfill this function.
Another function of active participles is to describe a secondary action performed by the sentence subject before the main action: Atidariusi langą mergina grožėjosi tekančia saule. – Having opened the window, the girl admired the sunrise. This function is limited to the past simple participle and is one of its most common uses. If there is a need to describe a secondary action performed by the sentence subjectat the same time as the main action, the pusdalyvis must be used instead (present active participle does not have this function): Atidarydama langą mergina grožėjosi tekančia saule. – While opening the window, the girl admired the sunrise. See "Adverbial participles" for further explanation.
The third, a somewhat rarer, function is to explain (precise) another verb by indicating a secondary action of which the subject is the agent: Kaltinamasis prisipažįsta padaręs nusikaltimą ir labai dėl to gailisi. – The defendant confesses having committed the crime and sincerely regrets it. If the subject is not the agent expressed in the nominative case of a noun or a pronoun, an adverbial participle must be used instead.
Passive (non pronominal forms):
Simple
Reflexive
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Present
baĩgiamas
baigiamà
baĩgiama
(už)sibaĩgiamas2
(už)sibaigiamà2
baĩgiamasi
Past
baĩgtas
baigtà
baĩgta
(už)sìbaigtas2
(už)sibaigtà2
baĩgtasi
Past iterative
—
Future
baĩgsimas
baigsimà
baĩgsima
(už)sibaĩgsimas2
(už)sibaigsimà2
baĩgsimasi
Necessity
baĩgtinas
baigtinà
baĩgtina
(už)sibaĩgtinas2
(už)sibaigtinà2
baĩgtinasi
Passive (pronominal counterparts):
Simple
Reflexive
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Present
baigiamàsis
baigiamóji
–
(už)sibaigiamàsis2
(už)sibaigiamóji2
–
Past
baigtàsis
baigtóji
–
(už)sibaigtàsis2
(už)sibaigtóji2
–
Past iterative
—
Future
baigsimàsis
baigsimóji
–
(už)sibaigsimàsis2
(už)sibaigsimóji2
–
Necessity
baigtinàsis
baigtinóji
–
(už)sibaigtinàsis2
(už)sibaigtinóji2
–
2This form only exists for transitive verbs with prefixes (except for be-). In Lithuanian reflexive verbs can be transitive: susipinti plaukus – to plait one's hair [to oneself].
Passive voice present participles and the necessity participles can acquire degrees of comparison if their meaning allows it: mėgti (to like) → liked (favourite), mėgstamesnis (more liked), mėgstamiausias (most liked/favorite); būti (to be) → būtinas (necessary), būtinesnis (more necessary), būtiniausias (the most necessary).
The necessity participles are used to describe something that has to be done: Įsidėmėtinos rašybos atvejis – A spelling case one has to pay special attention to. Abejotina, ar mums pavyks – It is to be doubted if we succeed. Mostly limited to official styles, but certain participles are actively used in colloquial speech as well, some of them being considered more adjectives than verbs: Jis suimtas už pasibaisėtiną elgesį su gyvūnais – He was arrested for an appalling behaviour with animals. (Pasibaisėtinas = one that has to be detested).
Main passive participles mainly denote actions that have impact upon nouns they describe: statomas namas – a house that is being built, iškeltas klausimas – a question that has been raised, vykdysimas įsakymas – an order that will be obeyed. Future passive participles are rare in modern speech.
Present passive participles very often have an active meaning, especially if the verb is intransitive, and are one of the terminology building tools: kuliamoji mašina – a threshing machine, taupomasis bankas – a savings bank, grįžtamasis ryšys – a feedback. If the verb is transitive, it can be used in its intransitive meaning in form of a present passive participle: gydomasis vanduo – healing water. Compare: geriamasis vanduo – drinking water. The difference in those cases is only semantic (water cannot be healed, thus it is accepted that gydomasis vanduo denotes water having healing properties, but not water being healed).
Adverbial participles
As the name suggests, adverbial participles have the characteristics of an adverb and are used to describe the verb instead of the subject. There are three types of such participles: padalyvis ("sub-participle"), pusdalyvis ("half-participle") and būdinys ("descriptive participle"). These forms are not conjugatable, although the pusdalyvis has feminine and masculine genders for both singular and plural. These forms do not have equivalents in English or other languages (except Latvian), the given translations of these names are ad hoc.
Simple
Reflexive
Present padalyvis
baĩgiant
baĩgiantis
Past padalyvis
baĩgus
baĩgusis
Past iterative padalyvis
baĩgdavus
baĩgdavusis
Future padalyvis
baĩgsiant
baĩgsiantis
Pusdalyvis
baĩgdamas (m. sg.), baigdamà (f. sg.)
baĩgdamasis (m. sg.), baĩgdamasi (f. sg.)
baigdamì (m. pl.), baĩgdamos (f. pl.)
baĩgdamiesi (m. pl.), baĩgdomosi (f. pl.)
Būdinys (I)
baigtè
–
Būdinys (II)
baigtinaĩ
–
The primary function of the padalyvis is to indicate an action that is happening at the same time (present padalyvis) or before (past padalyvis) the event said with the main verb, of which the sentence subject is not the agent: Lauko darbus mes dirbome saulei šviečiant (present padalyvis) – We were doing the field works the sun shining; Skaniai pavalgius malonu pamiegoti (past padalyvis) – Having eaten a delicious meal, it is pleasant to take a nap.
The primary function of the pusdalyvis is to indicate a simultaneous, but secondary action done by the sentence subject in nominative case (it must be matched according to gender and number with the said subject): Lauko darbus mes dirbome dainuodami – We were doing the field works while singing. In this case the present padalyvis participle can be used as well: Lauko darbus mes dirbome dainuojant, but this time the sentence will mean: We were doing the field works while someone else was singing. A secondary action done previously by the sentence subject can be expressed with adjectival past simple participle: Lauko darbus mes dirbome padainavę – We were doing the field works having sung. When used with the preposition prieš (before), pusdalyvis and padalyvis denote a secondary action in future: Lauko darbus mes dirbome prieš dainuodami. – We were doing the field works before singing. Lauko darbus mes dirbome prieš dainuojant. – We were doing the field works before someone else started to sing.
This table shows the participle usage in temporal adverbial phrases:
Past action
Simultaneous action
Future action
Sentence subject is the agent
Past simple adjectival participle
Pusdalyvis
Prieš + pusdalyvis
Sentence subject is not the agent
Past padalyvis
Present padalyvis
Prieš + padalyvis
Another function of the padalyvis is to explain (precise) another verb by indicating a secondary action of which the subject is not the agent: Vartydamas seną albumą, prisiminiau mus šiame ežere maudydavusis – While seing an old photo album, I remembered us having used to swim in this lake. If the subject is the agent, an adjectival participle must be used instead.
The būdinys (the descriptive or intensifying participle) reinforces the meaning of the verb being described: Šaukte šaukiausi pagalbos, niekas neatsiliepė – I was shouting loudly for help, nobody answered. Type I būdinys is used relatively often in some written and colloquial speech. Type II būdinys is very rare and can only be found in literary language. Their primary function is the same. In some grammars they are not considered verbs, but adverbs derived from verbs.
Grammatical aspect
All Lithuanian verbs can be characterized by their aspect which can be either perfective or imperfective. Nevertheless, this important dichotomy is semantical, rather than expressed by purely grammatical means.[6] Formally distinguishing an imperfective verb from its perfective counterpart is not possible, since those forms are not mutually exclusive or interdependent. Moreover, certain grammatical categories (like past iterative tense) automatically negate any perfectiveness a certain verb might have in infinitive or in other tenses. The opposite is true as well: a different tense (like an inchoative or perfect tense) of an otherwise imperfective verb automatically grants a perfective meaning. Contrary to modern Slavonic languages, each and every Lithuanian verb, in spite of its aspect, has all tenses and forms described in previous chapters of this article.
Nevertheless, certain very general rules can be laid down to detect the aspect of a verb in Lithuanian.
The imperfective aspect of a verb means the continuity of an action or a repetitiveness of a completed action. The imperfective aspect can sometimes be implied by:
The absence of a prefix for certain verbs: dìrbti – to be working, šaũkti – to be shouting, krìsti – to be falling.
The presence of a suffix (except for -er(ė)ti, -el(ė)ti) combined with the absence of a prefix for certain verbs: maldáuti – to be begging, mė́tyti – to be throwing [multiple times], šokinė́ti – to be jumping [constantly, multiple times].
The impossibility for certain verbs to be used without a prefix: užgaulióti – to be bullying, pãsakoti – to be telling a story.
The complete or partial change of meaning for certain prefixed verbs: priklausýti – to be in possession (from klausýti – to listen), pakę̃sti – to tolerate (from kę̃sti – to suffer), atsidúoti – to be stinking (from dúoti – to give).
For some prefixed verbs that merely indicate the ability to do something: panèšti – to be able to carry, nusėdė́ti – to be able to sit.
The perfective aspect of a verb means the completeness of an action. The perfective aspect can sometimes be implied by:
The presence of a prefix for certain verbs: padìrbti – to work for a certain amount of time, pašaũkti – to call, nukrìsti – to fall. There are very few perfective prefixed verbs that would distinguish themselves from their imperfective unprefixed counterparts only by their perfective meaning, since any prefix almost always has a semantical nuance.
The presence of the suffix -er(ė)ti or -el(ė)ti: dìrsterėti – to take a glimpse, kúoktelėti – to become insane.
In other cases the aspect is contextual. This might sometimes be implied by:
The absence of a suffix and a prefix for certain verbs:
– mèsti – to throw:
Vakar mečiau darbą – I quit my job yesterday. (perfective)
Visas senas knygas jis metė į šiukšlių dėžę – He was throwing all the old books to the trash bin. (imperfective)
– grį̃žti – to come back:
Grįžęs namo, virtuvėje rasi sriubos. – Having come back home, you'll find some soup in the kitchen. (perfective)
Grįžtu namo, kol saulė dar nenusileido – I'm going home as the sun is not yet down. (imperfective)
A specific tense in some other cases:
– laimė́ti – to win:
Kol kas mūsų komanda laimi – For the meantime our team is winning. (present tense, imperfective)
mūsų komanda laimėjo dideliu skirtumu – Our team [has] won by a big difference. (past simple tense, perfective)
Verb prefixes
General usage notes
Prefixes are added to verbs to make new verbs that have different color of the primary verb's meaning. The new verb and the primary verb are considered different words, taking different positions in vocabularies. However their meanings are related, often showing similarity to being forms of a single verb. In many instances a prefixed verb has no apparent semantical relationship with the primary verb. Prefixes have mostly restrictive sense, so they restrict the meaning of the primary not prefixed verb to certain direction, amount or limit of time.
ap- round (direction, perfective), about, around
api- is a variant of ap- before b or p
at- off; from, from somewhere (direction; place, perfective); at (with 'moving towards' verbs)
ati- is a variant of at- before d or t
į- in (direction, perfective), into, be able to (imperfective)
iš- out (direction, perfective), ex-
nu- away (direction), from the start place (action with some direction, perfective); down
pa- sub-, under (direction, perfective); definite, terminating on continuous (< after), a bit, slightly, some time (time or amount, imperfective), till end (for single actions, cf su-, time or amount, perfective)
ima - 'it takes'
pa-ima - 'it takes and finishes it'
ėmė - 'it was taking', 'it has been taking', 'it had been taking'
pa-ėmė - 'it took'
par- back, similar to English (Latin) re- (with some differences; perfective)
per- through (place, perfective), over, across, thoroughly, completely (perfective)
pra- by (direction, perfective), through, between, starting (time, perfective rarely)
pri- up, to (direction or place, perfective), close to, to the place (of the action) (place, perfective), much, many (amount, sometimes perfective)
su- together (place, perfective), from everywhere (direction), till end (time, perfective), completely (long or complex action, perfective)
už- on (direction or place), completely (short action, cf. su-, perfective)
už- behind (direction, perfective), in (for limited time, cf į-) (direction and time, perfective), suddenly, unexpectedly (time, perfective)
There are also three special modifying prefixes that can be used with other prefixed or unprefixed (including reflexive) verbs. They define different forms of the same verb, rather than a new verb:
ne- is a prefix that makes negative form of a verb: turiù – I have, neturiù – I haven't.
be- says that an action of a verb:
– takes an undefined amount of time: Šitaip bedirbant galima susigadinti sveikatą – Working [for a long time] like that one can damage one's health. This function allows be- to be used as a dummy prefix for reflexive present tense participles. In that case the reflexive formant moves right after the prefix, thus avoiding the formation of a complex reflexive ending: džiaũgtis – to rejoice → džiaũgiantisis – the one (masc., sg. nominative) who rejoices, but more commonly: besidžiaũgiantis. Other forms besides nominative (džiaũgiančiasis – the ones (fem., pl. accusative) who rejoice) are not used at all in favour of besidžiaũgiančias etc.
– is restrictive (a combination of English "only" and "still"): Ligoninėje jį motina beaplanko – Only his mother still visits him to the hospital.
te- indicates:
– that an action of a verb is restrictive (equivalent of English "only"): Ligoninėje jį motina teaplanko – Only his mother visits him to the hospital;
– the 3rd person of the imperative mood (see "Imperative mood").
tebe- indicates that an action of a verb is still ongoing (equivalent of English "still"): Ligoninėje jį motina tebeaplanko – His mother still visits him to the hospital.
nebe- indicates that an action of a verb is no longer ongoing (equivalent of English "no longer"): Ligoninėje jo motina nebeaplanko – His mother no longer visits him to the hospital.
A verb cannot acquire more than one prefix, except for ne-, te-, be-, nebe- or tebe-. Only very few words are exception from this.
The indicator of reflexion-si is used between the prefix and the root if the verb is prefixed, e. g.
nẽšasi but nusìneša, atsìneša laikýtis but susilaikýti, pasilaikýti teiráutis but pasiteiráuti
The same rule is applied, when ne-, be-, nebe-, te- or tebe- is added:
nẽšasi but nesìneša, nebesìneša, also nenusìneša, neatsìneša, tebeatsìneša laikýtis, but nesilaikýti, also nesusilaikýti, nepasilaikýti teiráutis but nesiteiráuti, also nepasiteiráuti
Stress retraction
Certain Lithuanian verbs have the ability to move their stress to the last prefixed element they acquire. General stress retraction principles are laid down below.
All prefixes (including ne- type, but not including the prefix per-) acquire the stress only in:
past simple tense forms of primary (monosyllabic stem) verbs. This always happens when the 3rd person has an -ė ending, its stress would normally fall on its penultimate syllable and this syllable has a short vowel or a rising tone:
baũsti (to punish, monosyllabic stem verb) → baũdė (stress on the penultimate, rising tone) → nùbaudė, nebenùbaudė etc.
vìrti (to boil, monosyllabic stem verb) → vìrė (stress on the penultimate, short vowel) → ìšvirė, nebeišsìvirė etc.
kláusti (to ask, monosyllabic stem verb) → kláusė (stress on the penultimate, falling tone, the rule does not apply) → pakláusė
darýti (to ask, suffixal verb, the rule does not apply) → dãrė (stress on the penultimate, rising tone) → padãrė
Some present tense forms (primary or mixed stem), but only if the stress of the 3rd person falls on its penultimate syllable, this syllable is not a suffix and has a short vowel or a rising tone:
kalbė́ti (to speak, suffixal verb) → kal̃ba (stress on the penultimate, no suffix, rising tone) → sùkalba, tebesìkalba etc.
sukti (to turn, primary verb) → sùka (stress on the penultimate, no suffix, short vowel) → pàsuka, nèsuka etc.
Past simple accent retraction is regular, present tense accent retraction is sporadic. If a particular verb retracts its accent in one tense, it does not mean that the other tense will follow suit.
The accent retraction does not depend on a particular prefix (except for per-) and will systematically happen with every other prefixed structure (a prefix, a ne- type prefix or a reflexive formant). It means that even if dictionaries never include ne- type prefixes, the stress retraction can be deduced from other prefixed forms that dictionaries do include:
riñkti (to gather) → suriñkti (to gather them all) → sùrenka (retraction does happen, hence: nèrenka, tèrenka etc.)
The latter rule has two exceptions:
turė́ti (to have) → suturė́ti (to restrain) → sùturi (retraction does happen, but not for ne- type prefixes of the non-prefixed verbs: netùri, tetùri etc.)
galė́ti (to be able) → išgalė́ti (to afford) → ìšgali (retraction does happen, but not for ne- type prefixes of the non-prefixed verbs: negãli, begãli etc.)
The prefix pér- always has the falling tone and takes the stress in all parts of speech of that word, ignoring all the other accentuation rules: pérduoti – to transmit, nebepérsivalgymas – the inability to overeat.
Stem classes
The below given tables are not a full collection of types of conjugation, there can be types in language not included here.
Consonants d, t become s before t in any case in language. In verbs this occurs before a desinence -ti of the infinitive, desinence with -t- of the past passive participle.
Non-suffixed
infinitive
present tense
past tense
meaning
1p. sg.
2p. sg.
3p. sg., pl.
1p. sg.
2p. sg.
3p. sg., pl.
Consonantal non-palatalized stems (it is palatalized in the 2p. form of the present, but not in the remaining forms). Sounds of a stem do not change in conjugation, except for a common pre-desinential alternation between historically nasal vowels (in the infinitive) and nasal diphthongs.
áugti
áugu
áugi
áuga
áugau
áugai
augo
to grow
bė́gti
bė́gu
bė́gi
bė́ga
bė́gau
bė́gai
bė́go
to run
šókti
šóku
šóki
šóka
šókau
šókai
šóko
to jump, spring, leap; hop in, out; dance
dìrbti
dìrbu
dìrbi
dìrba
dìrbau
dìrbai
dìrbo
to work
sė́sti
sė́du
sė́di
sė́da
sė́dau
sė́dai
sė́do
to sit down, sit up; mount, get on (car, plain etc.)
grū́sti
grū́du
grū́di
grū́da
grū́dau
grū́dai
grū́do
to thrust; hustle; pestle; tamp
žį́sti
žìndu
žìndi
žìnda
žìndau
žìndai
žìndo
to suck, nurse (at)
ką́sti
kándu
kándi
kánda
kándau
kándai
kándo
to bite
galą́sti
galándu
galandi
galánda
galándau
galandai
galándo
to sharpen, hone
lìpti
lipù
lipì
lìpa
lipaũ
lipaĩ
lìpo
to mount; tread (on); scale, climb
kìšti
kišù
kišì
kìša
kišaũ
kišaĩ
kìšo
to put, slip, poke, stick in
rìsti
ritù
ritì
rìta
ritaũ
ritaĩ
rìto
to roll, bowl
sukti
suku
suki
suka
sukau
sukai
suko
to turn; bear (to); spin; wrap
supti
supu
supi
supa
supau
supai
supo
to swing, sway, rock
lupti
lupu
lupi
lupa
lupau
lupai
lupo
to peel; flay; swinge, thrash
skùsti
skutù
skutì
skùta
skutaũ
skutaĩ
skùto
to shave; scale, peel, scrape; run fast
There is a frequent verb with its final stem consonant palatalized in the present tense.
léisti
léidžiu
leidi
leidžia
leidau
leidai
leido
to let, allow; spend
Alternation between pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms. Possible only when the syllable contains a mixed diphthong (a, e, i, u + sonorant) and is stressed in the end-firm accent.
sir̃gti
sergù
sergì
ser̃ga
sirgaũ
sirgaĩ
sir̃go
to be ill
kirsti
kertu
kerti
kerta
kirtau
kirtai
kirto
to cut, fell (by axe); cross, traverse; strike, smite; pitch in (food)
vilkti
velku
velki
velka
vilkau
vilkai
vilko
to pull, trail, drag
tilpti
telpu
telpi
telpa
tilpau
tilpai
tilpo
to get / have enough of space for oneself: be contained, go into
rinkti
renku
renki
renka
rinkau
rinkai
rinko
to pick; collect
lįsti
lendu
lendi
lenda
lindau
lindai
lindo
to be getting into / through smth.; make a pass at, intrude, molest, cavil, meddle
A numerous part of the verbs having any short vowel – a, e, i, u – in a pre-desinential syllable in infinitive receive n, m (the latter when before p, b) after these vowels in the present.
tàpti
tampù
tampì
tam̃pa
tapaũ
tapaĩ
tãpo
to become
rasti
randu
randi
rañda
radau
radai
rãdo
to find
gesti
gendu
gendi
genda
gedau
gedai
gedo
to deteriorate; decay; spoil; corrupt
tikti
tinku
tinki
tinka
tikau
tikai
tiko
to fit
tekti
tenku
tenki
tenka
tekau
tekai
teko
to go for (property)
apnikti
apninku
apninki
apninka
apnikau
apnikai
apniko
to obsess, crowd in
migti
mingu
mingi
minga
migau
migai
migo
to be / start falling asleep
lipti
limpu
limpi
limpa
lipau
lipai
lipo
to stick, cling
plisti
plintu
plinti
plinta
plitau
plitai
plito
to spread, proliferate, circulate
misti
mintu
minti
minta
mitau
mitai
mito
to feed on, fare, live on
kisti
kintu
kinti
kinta
kitau
kitai
kito
to mutate; vary
švisti
švintu
švinti
švinta
švitau
švitai
švito
to begin to light, esp. to day-light
blukti
blunku
blunki
blunka
blukau
blukai
bluko
to fade
klupti
klumpu
klumpi
klumpa
klupau
klupai
klupo
to stumble
justi
juntu
junti
junta
jutau
jutai
juto
to sense, feel
A small group of verbs has to be written with a nosinė in the present.
balti
bąlu
bąli
bąla
balau
balai
balo
to become white, to whiten
šalti
šąla
šąli
šąla
šalau
šalai
šalo
to freeze; to cool; to feel cold
karti
kąra
kąri
kąra
karau
karai
karo
to incline, bow down (hung things, boughs)
For the verbs that have start-firm accented mixed diphthongs -il-, -ir- in the pre-desinential syllable in the infinitive, the vowel i lengthens and receives the end-firm accent in the present tense, if the syllable becomes open.
kìlti
kylù
kyli
kỹla
kilau
kilai
kilo
to rise; emerge (e.g. question)
dilti
dylu
dyli
dyla
dilau
dilai
dilo
to fray, decay, become dull
birti
byru
byri
byra
birau
birai
biro
to pour (solid, no liquid matter), fall apart
irti
yru / irstu
yri
yra
irau
irai
iro
to disintegrate, decay, crumble
Cases of alternation between a pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms in verbs which receive n, m in the present forms. The a-verb likti has ie / i alternation. The a-verb kristi can be conjugated with both -en- and -in- in the present tense.
skristi
skrendù
skrendi
skrenda
skridau
skridai
skrido
to fly
bristi
brendu
brendi
brenda
bridau
bridai
brido
to wade, go on foot through water, grass etc.
kristi
krentu /krintu
krenti
krinta
kritau
kritai
krito
to fall
likti
lieku
lieki
lieka
likau
likai
liko
to remain
Stems that are palatalized in the past tense.
ėsti
ė́du
ėdi
ėda
ė́džiau
ėdei
ėdė
to eat (for animals); eat like an animal; erode
vesti
vedù
vedi
veda
vedžiaũ
vedei
vedė
to lead, take smb. to somewhere; marry (for a man; for a woman the a-verb is tekėti, teka, tekėjo)
mèsti
metù
meti
meta
mečiau
metei
metė
to throw
vežti
vežu
veži
veža
vežiau
vežei
vežė
to carry by means of conveyance, by vehicle
nešti
nešu
neši
neša
nešiau
nešei
nešė
to carry (going on foot)
kasti
kasu
kasi
kasa
kasiau
kasei
kasė
to dig
lesti
lesu
lesi
lesa
lesiau
lesei
lesė
to peck
sekti
seku
seki
seka
sekiau
sekei
sekė
to follow; spy (on, upon); tell a tail
kepti
kepu
kepi
kepa
kepiau
kepei
kepė
to bake
degti
degu
degi
dega
degiau
degei
degė
to be on fire, burn; kiln
megzti
mezgu
mezgi
mezga
mezgiau
mezgei
mezgė
to knit
zùiti
zujù
zuji
zuja
zujau
zujai
zujo
to pop in and out
kálti
kalù
kali
kala
kaliau
kalei
kalė
to hammer, smith, batter; mint; chisel; hit
málti
malu
mali
mala
maliau
malei
malė
to grind, mill
bár̃ti
barù
bari
bara
bariau
barei
barė
to scold, trim
The a-verb pulti has alternation between u in the infinitive and uo in the present and past tenses. Verbs gimti, mirti have the suffix -st- in the present.
pùlti
púolu
puoli
puola
púoliau
puolei
puolė
to attack; fling, throw oneself, make a dive
gìmti
gìmstu
gimsti
gimsta
gimiaũ
gimei
gimė
to be born, arrive
mir̃ti
mìrštu
miršti
miršta
miriaũ
mirei
mirė
to die, stop living
For the verbs of this group that have start-firm accented mixed diphthongs starting in i – im, in, il, ir – in a pre-desinential syllable in the infinitive, the syllable becomes open and a vowel i lengthens (the accent remains start-firm) in the past tense.
pìlti
pilù
pili
pila
pýliau
pylei
pylė
to pour (any non solid material); tip
tirti
tiriu
tiri
tiria
tyriau
tyrei
tyrė
to investigate; analyse; research
skinti
skinu
skini
skina
skyniau
skynei
skynė
to pluck (fruits, flowers etc.)
pinti
pinu
pini
pina
pyniau
pynei
pynė
to plait; weave; pleach
trinti
trinu
trini
trina
tryniau
trynei
trynė
to rub
minti
minu
mini
mina
myniau
mynei
mynė
to step, tread (on); trample; treadle
ginti
ginu
gini
gina
gyniau
gynei
gynė
to defend
im̃ti
imù
imi
ima
ėmiaũ
ėmeĩ
ė̃mė
to take
There are some verbs having mixed diphthongs in a pre-desinential syllable that have alternation between pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms. A sound i of a pre-desinential syllable is not lengthened in the past tense. The a-verb virti has d insterted after -er- in the present tense.
atsimiñti
atsìmenu
atsimeni
atsimena
atsìminiau
atsiminei
atsiminė
to remember, recollect
miñti
menù
meni
mena
miniaũ
minei
minė
to riddle, ask a riddle
giñti
genù
geni
gena
giniau
ginei
ginė
to herd, goad, drive
vìrti
vérdu
verdi
verda
viriaũ
vireĩ
vìrė
to boil (figur. as well); cook (by boiling)
Consonantal non-palatalized stems that have suffix -st- in the present. There are many verbs in this group. When the suffix is preceded by d, t of a stem, these consonants merge with s and s remains, when it is preceded by ž, š of a stem, the remaining are stem-ending consonants ž, š.
sprógti
sprógstu
sprogsti
sprógsta
sprógau
sprogai
sprogo
to explode, burst; eat (get stomach filled)
plýšti
plýštu
plyšti
plyšta
plyšau
plyšai
plyšo
to tear, rip, split; (coll.) get drunk
klysti
klystu
klysti
klysta
klydau
klydai
klydo
to mistake, err, be under misapprehension
linkti
linkstu
linksti
linksta
linkau
linkai
linko
to bend (itself)
rūgti
rūgstu
rūgsti
rūgsta
rūgau
rūgai
rūgo
to sour, become turned
tolti
tolstu
tolsti
tolsta
tolau
tolai
tolo
to become remote, distant, to recede
alkti
alkstu
alksti
alksta
alkau
alkai
alko
to become, be hungry; to be short of food
pažìnti
pažį́stu
pažįsti
pažįsta
pažinaũ
pažinai
pažino
to become familiar, to explore; recognize
pažinoti
pažinojau
pažinojai
pažinojo
to know smb., be acquaintance with smb.
pỹkti
pykstù
pyksti
pỹksta
pykaũ
pykai
pyko
to be angry, annoyed
nykti
nykstu
nyksti
nyksta
nykau
nykai
nyko
to dwindle, wither away, vanish, disappear
rausti
raustu
rausti
rausta
raudau
raudai
raudo
to become red, to redden; to blush
brangti
brangstu
brangsti
brangsta
brangau
brangai
brango
to become expensive
išsigąsti
išsigąstu
išsigąsti
išsigąsta
išsigando
išsigandai
išsigando
to get a scare, fright; to lose courage
vargti
vargstu
vargsti
vargsta
vargau
vargai
vargo
to have difficulties doing; be in hardship
širsti
širstu
širsti
širsta
širdau
širdai
širdo
to be angry (širdis – heart)
dingti
dingstu
dingsti
dingsta
dingau
dingai
dingo
to disappear
klimpti
klimpstu
klimpsti
klimpsta
klimpau
klimpai
klimpo
to sink (to viscous material)
drįsti
drįstu
drįsti
drįsta
drįsau
drįsai
drįso
to dare
grįžti
grįžtu
grįžti
grįžta
grįžau
grįžai
grįžo
to come back, return
A small group of stems ending in ž, š, has to be written with an ogonek in the present.
gesti
gęstu
gęsti
gęsta
gesau
gesai
geso
to be stopping (intransitive) shining, burning, working (for light, fire; life; motor)
težti
tęžtu
tęžti
tęžta
težau
težai
težo
to become squidgy; wimp out
For a few stems that have a pre-desinential syllable ending in ž or š and with a short i or u in it, the vowels lengthen in the present. For tikšti the forms tykšta and tyška are used in the present tense.
dùžti
dū̃žta
dùžo
to smash, chip
gižti
gyžta
gižo
to sour, become turned (figur. as well)
tikšti
tykšta
tiško
to splash on smth., smb.
tižti
tyžta
tižo
to become squidgy; wimp out
ižti
yžta
ižo
to crack (usual for ice)
nižti
nyžta
nižo
to start itching, to itch
Vocalic stems. The consonant n (or j in dialects) is inserted before desinences after a pre-desinential au. The diphthong becomes ov in the past, when start-firm accented. Consonant v is palatalized.
eĩti
einù
eini
eĩna
ėjaũ
ėjai
ė̃jo
to go
aũti
aunù
auni
aũna
aviaũ
avei
ãvė
to boot, shoe
máuti
máunu
máuni
máuna
móviau
movei
movė
to put on, glove, shoe
rauti
raunu
rauni
rauna
roviau
rovei
rovė
to tear up
šauti
šaunu
šauni
šauna
šoviau
šovei
šovė
to shoot
brautis
braunuosi
brauniesi
braunasi
broviausi
broveisi
brovėsi
to intrude; thrust one's way; be breaking in
liautis
liaujuosi
liaujiesi
liaujasi
lioviausi
lioveisi
liovėsi
to cease, desist
griauti
griaunu
griauni
griauna
grioviau
griovei
griovė
to ruin, demolish; unsettle
Consonant v / n is inserted after ū.
griū̃ti
griūvù /-nù
griūni
griū̃va
griuvaũ
griuvai
griùvo
to tumble down, fall down; collapse
žūti
žūnu /-vu
žūni
žūva
žuvau
žuvai
žuvo
to perish
pūti
pūvu /-nu
pūni
pūva
puvau
puvai
puvo
to rot
siūti
siuvu /siūnu
siuvi
siuva
siuvau
siuvai
siuvo
to sew, stitch
gáuti
gáunu
gauni
gauna
gavaũ
gavai
gãvo
to get
The consonant j is inserted before desinences after other pre-desinential vowels or diphthong 'ie'
móti
móju
moji
moja
mójau
mojai
mojo
to motion, wave, sweep
ploti
ploju
ploji
ploja
plojau
plojai
plojo
to clap, applaud; flatten; swat
joti
joju
joji
joja
jojau
jojai
jojo
to ride on horse
goti
goju
goji
goja
gojau
gojai
gojo
(dial.) to go in a hurry
kloti
kloju
kloji
kloja
klojau
klojai
klojo
to lay, pave; to tell, report, retail; to make a bed (lovą);
groti
groju
groji
groja
grojau
grojai
grojo
to play (musical instrument)
sėti
sėju
sėji
sėja
sėjau
sėjai
sėjo
to sow, seed; disseminate
sieti
sieju
sieji
sieja
siejau
siejai
siejo
to tie, associate, bond
lieti
lieju
lieji
lieja
liejau
liejai
liejo
to pour (liquid); water (plants)
lýti
lỹja
lijo
to rain
gýti
gyjù
gyji
gỹja
gijaũ
gijai
gijo
to heal, recover
rýti
ryjù
ryji
ryja
rijau
rijai
rijo
to swallow; guttle
výti
vejù
veji
veja
vijau
vijai
vijo
to strand, twist; chase
Two verbs have d insterted before the desinences in the present forms.
dúoti
dúodu
duodi
dúoda
daviaũ
davei
davė
to give
dė́ti
dedù
dedi
dẽda
dėjau
dė́jai
dėjo
to put, lay, set; place
Palatalized consonantal stems. Maybe the most numerous group of non-suffixed verbs.
siẽkti
siekiù
sieki
siẽkia
siekiaũ
siekei
siekė
to seek, aim (at, for)
griebti
griebiu
griebi
griebia
griebiau
griebei
griebė
to grab; snatch
braukti
braukiu
brauki
braukia
braukiau
braukei
braukė
to wipe, sweep across; line through
lenkti
lenkiu
lenki
lenkia
lenkiau
lenkei
lenkė
to (make it) bend
rausti
rausiu
rausi
rausia
rausiau
rausei
rausė
to trench, burrow
kaupti
kaupiu
kaupi
kaupia
kaupiau
kaupei
kaupė
to save up, gather, amass
mer̃kti
merkiù
merkì
mer̃kia
merkiaũ
merkeĩ
mer̃kė
to soak, dip
dengti
dengiu
dengi
dengia
dengiau
dengei
dengė
to cover
tęsti
tęsiu
tęsi
tęsia
tęsiau
tęsei
tęsė
to continue, proceed; drag, carry
čiulpti
čiulpiu
čiulpi
čiulpia
čiulpiau
čiulpei
čiulpė
to suck
láužti
láužiu
lauži
laužia
láužiau
laužei
laužė
to break (transitive)
grėbti
grėbiu
grėbi
grėbia
grėbiau
grėbei
grėbė
to rake
grobti
grobiu
grobi
grobia
grobiau
grobei
grobė
to plunder; kidnap; usurp, hog
mérkti
mérkiu
mérki
mérkia
mérkiau
mérkei
mérkė
to give a wink; to close eyes
melžti
melžiu
melži
melžia
melžiau
melžei
melžė
to milk
jùngti
jùngiu
jungi
jungia
jungiau
jungei
jungė
to connect, join
keisti
keičiu
keiti
keičia
keičiau
keitei
keitė
to change
švęsti
švenčiu
šventi
švenčia
švenčiau
šventei
šventė
to celebrate
siųsti
siunčiu
siunti
siunčia
siunčiau
siuntei
siuntė
to send
skleisti
skleidžiu
skleidi
skleidžia
skleidžiau
skleidei
skleidė
to spread
skų́sti
skùndžiu
skundi
skundžia
skundžiau
skundei
skundė
to tell on; tattle; appeal (against)
When a pre-desinential syllable having mixed diphthong becomes open in the past, its vowel receives a start-firm accent and lengthens (for a, e, besides lengthening, those vowels are of different quality, o, ė) if stressed.
gérti
geriu
geri
geria
gė́riau
gėrei
gėrė
to drink
bérti
beriu
beri
beria
bė́riau
bėrei
bėrė
to (make it) pour (solid, no liquid matter), (make it) fall apart
pér̃ti
periu
peri
peria
pė́riaũ
pėrei
pėrė
to beat with a leafy, wet birch bunch (in sauna)
kélti
keliu
keli
kelia
kėliau
kėlei
kėlė
to raise
rem̃ti
remiu
remi
remia
rėmiau
rėmei
rėmė
to prop, bear up; support
kùlti
kuliu
kuli
kulia
kū́liau
kūlei
kūlė
to flail
dùrti
duriu
duri
duria
dūriau
dūrei
dūrė
to prick, stick
stùmti
stumiu
stumi
stumia
stūmiau
stūmei
stūmė
to push, move; thrust, shove; (coll.) grudge
ìrti
iriu
iri
iria
ýriau
yrei
yrė
to row, oar
spìrti
spiriu
spiri
spiria
spyriau
spyrei
spyrė
to kick; spring back; press (for), push
kárti
kariù
kari
kãria
kóriau
korei
korė
to hang over; execute
árti
ariù
ari
ãria
ariaũ
areĩ
ãrė
to plough
tar̃ti
tariù
tari
tãria
tariaũ
tarei
tarė
to pronounce; assume
Alternation between u, e, a in the present and respectively ū, ė, o (long vowels, historically: ū, ē, ā) in the past. A vowel u is short both in stressed and unstressed position, e, a lengthen and are end-firm accented in stressed position in stem (not in desinence).
pū̃sti
pučiù
puti
pùčia
pūčiau
pūtei
pū̃tė
to blow; toot
tū̃pti
tupiu
tupi
tupia
tūpiau
tūpei
tūpė
to squat; hunker
drė̃bti
drebiu
drebi
drẽbia
drėbiau
drėbei
drė̃bė
to make fall on (for viscous, thick material); sleet; plonk
krė̃sti
krečiu
kreti
krečia
krėčiau
krėtei
krėtė
to shake down
plė̃sti
plečiu
pleti
plečia
plėčiau
plėtei
plėtė
to expand, widen, amplify
lė̃kti
lekiu
leki
lekia
lėkiau
lėkei
lėkė
to scurry, rip along, fly; fly; fall out, fly away
skė̃sti
skečiu
sketi
skečia
skėčiau
skėtei
skėtė
to spread, open out (e.g. arms, legs, umbrella)
tė̃kšti
teškiu
teški
teškia
tėškiau
tėškei
tėškė
to splash onto; slap; slam
võgti
vagiu
vagi
vãgia
vogiau
vogei
vogė
to steal
Suffixed
-o- suffixed stems. Shorter present tense. The consonant j is inserted between the vocalic stem and the desinence to make pronunciation easier. Historically it is most probably the same type as the full one, there are verbs that are conjugated in both types, for example, saugoti, saugau / saugoju (< saugā(j)u). The a-verb pažinoti – to know (a person), has the same to pažinti – to know, become familiar, -st- suffixed present forms.
žinóti
žinaũ
žinai
žino
žinójau
žinojai
žinojo
to know, be aware (of; that)
šypsótis
šỹpsaũsi
šypsaisi
šỹpsosi
šypsójausi
šypsojaisi
šypsojosi
to smile
sáugoti
sáugau
saugai
saugo
sáugojau
saugojai
saugojo
to protect; keep, save
Full type of -o- suffixed stems (the suffix is kept the same in conjugation)
naudóti
naudóju
naudoji
naudoja
naudójau
naudojai
naudojo
to use
putóti
putoju
putoji
putoja
putojau
putojai
putojo
to foam
býlóti
byloju
byloji
byloja
bylojau
bylojai
byloja
to speak, purport
sáugoti
sáugoju
saugoji
saugoja
saugojau
saugojai
saugojo
to protect; keep, save
šakótis
šakojuosi
šakojiesi
šakojasi
šakojausi
šakojaisi
šakojosi
to spread boughs: ramify; (coll.) conflict, put one's own condition over smb.; fork, divaricate
vilióti
vilioju
vilioji
vilioja
viliojau
viliojai
viliojo
to attract, seduce, bait
galióti
galioja
galiojo
to stand, hold good, be valid
Stems that do not have -o- suffix in the present tense.
miegóti
miegù
miegi
miẽga
miegójau
miegojai
miegojo
to sleep
raudóti
ráudu
raudi
ráuda
raudójau
raudojai
raudojo
to weep, mourn
giedóti
gíedu
giedi
gieda
giedójau
giedojai
giedojo
to chant (religious); warble, crow
-y- suffixed stems. The present is of the -o- suffixed type. The past forms are historically possibly the same to the full -y- suffixed type, there are verbs that are conjugated in both types, for example, pelnyti, (past) pelniau / pelnijau, pelnė (< pelnē < (possibly) pelni(j)ā) / pelnijo (< pelnijā) (an after a soft consonant is e).
sakýti
sakaũ
sakai
sãko
sakiaũ
sakei
sãkė
to say
klausýti
klausau
klausai
klauso
klausiau
klausei
klausė
to listen
darýti
darau
darai
daro
dariau
darei
darė
to do
matýti
matau
matai
mato
mačiau
matei
matė
to see
mė́tyti
mė́tau
mėtai
mė́to
mė́čiau
mėtei
mė́tė
to throw (one-time: mesti, metu, mečiau)
ródyti
rodau
rodai
rodo
rodžiau
rodei
rodė
to show
pelnýti
pelnaũ
pelnai
pel̃no
pelniau
pelnei
pelnė
to earn
gáudyti
gaudau
gaudai
gaudo
gaudžiau
gaudei
gaudė
to catch (one-time: su/pagauti, -gaunu, -gavau)
barstýti
barstau
barstai
barsto
barsčiau
barstei
barstė
to pour (multiple times) (iterative)
lankstýti
lankstau
lankstai
lanksto
lanksčiau
lankstei
lankstė
to bend (multiple times) (iterative)
Full type of -y- suffixed stems. The suffix is shortened in conjugation if not stressed and is long or short (both variants are used) in the present if stressed.
pel̃nyti
pel̃niju
pelniji
pelnija
pelnijau
pelnijai
pelnijo
(obsolete) to earn
mū́ryti
mū́riju
mūriji
mūrija
mūrijau
mūrijai
mūrijo
to lay bricks, set
nuõdyti
nuõdiju
nuodiji
nuodija
nuodijau
nuodijai
nuodijo
to poison
trūnýti
trūnỹja
trūnijo
to rot, putrefy
-ė- suffixed stems. Shorter present tense, palatalized ending consonant of a stem. It is possible that historically it would be the same type as the full one, there are words that are conjugated in both types, for example, ryšė́ti – to wear something tied on oneself (rišti – to tie), ryšiù / ryšė́ju. For the a-verb vertėti the mainly used form is subjunctive, 3p. (present) vertė́tų – it would be worth, for the present tense it is mostly said in a neuter adjective: ver̃ta – it is worth (doing), for the past tense it is said either buvo verta or vertėjo – it was worth (doing).
mylė́ti
mýliu
mýli
mýli
mylė́jau
mylė́jai
mylė́jo
to love
norė́ti
nóriu
nori
nori
norėjau
norėjai
norėjo
to want
blyksė́ti
blýksiu
blyksi
blyksi
blyksėjau
blyksėjai
blyksėjo
to twinkle, blink
švytė́ti
švyčiù
švyti
švyti
švytė́jau
švytėjai
švytėjo
to shine, to glow, light brightly
galė́ti
galiù
galì
gãli
galė́jau
galėjai
galėjo
to be able
girdė́ti
girdžiù
girdi
girdi
girdėjau
girdėjai
girdėjo
to hear
rūpė́ti
rūpiù
rūpi
rūpi
rūpėjau
rūpėjai
rūpėjo
to concern, be interesting to smb.
nyrė́ti
nyriù
nyri
nyri
nyrėjau
nyrėjai
nyrėjo
to be submerged and still
tikė́ti
tikiù
tiki
tiki
tikėjau
tikėjai
tikėjo
to believe
vertė́ti
(verti)
vertėjo
to be worth for being done / to be done
Full type of -ė- suffixed stems (the suffix is kept the same in conjugation)
ryškė́ti
ryškė́ju
ryškėji
ryškėja
ryškė́jau
ryškėjai
ryškėjo
to grow clear, bold, bright, glowing
šviesė́ti
šviesė́ju
šviesėji
šviesėja
šviesė́jau
šviesėjai
šviesėjo
to grow light
tvirtė́ti
tvirtėju
tvirtėji
tvirtėji
tvirtėjau
tvirtėjai
tvirtėjo
to stiffen, strengthen, firm up
raudonė́ti
raudonėju
raudonėji
raudonėja
raudonėjau
raudonėjai
raudonėjo
to grow red, to redden
púoselėti
púoselėju
puoselėji
puoselėja
púoselėjau
puoselėjai
puoselėjo
to foster; cherish
The stems having the suffix -in-ė-, which is used to make iterative or progressive meaning, are of this type. Varaũ į darbą – I am driving / going to work (or "I am going to drive / go to work", if said before the action happens). Varinėju po miestą – I am driving / going in the town / city here and there. Varau per miestą – I am driving / going through a town / city. Atidarinėju tą dėžutę – I am opening / I am trying to open that can (at the moment) ("atidarau" is also possible as "I am opening"). Lengvai atidarau – I open it easily.
varinė́ti
varinė́ju
varinėji
varinėja
varinė́jau
varinėjai
varinėjo
to drive, direct; drive, go (on foot, by train, etc.); propel, power (not repeated: varyti, varau, variau)
pardavinėti
pardavinėju
pardavinėji
pardavinėja
pardavinėjau
pardavinėjai
pardavinėjo
to sell, market (one-time: parduoti, -duodu, -daviau)
klausinėti
klausinėju
klausinėji
klausinėja
klausinėjau
klausinėji
klausinėjo
to ask (not repeated: klausti, klausiu, klausiau)
Stems that have neither -ė- suffix nor palatalization in the present tense.
kalbė́ti
kalbù
kalbi
kal̃ba
kalbė́jau
kalbėjai
kalbėjo
to speak; talk
judė́ti
judu
judi
juda
judėjau
judėjai
judėjo
to move, be in motion
žibė́ti
žibu
žibi
žiba
žibėjau
žibėjai
žibėjo
to glitter, glint, star
bambė́ti
bámbì
bám̃ba
bambėjai
bambėjo
to grouse, be on smb's case
skambė́ti
skamba
skambėjo
to tune; sound
skaudė́ti
skauda
skaudėjo
to hurt, ache
byrė́ti
byra
byrėjo
to crumble; fall (small particles, petals)
-au-, -uo- suffixed stems, the suffix is -av- in the past. Verbs of this group are made from nouns, adjectives, etc. Verbs made from borrowings from other languages receive the suffix -uo-, for example, sportuoti – to go in for sports.
bendráuti
bendráuju
bendrauji
bendrauja
bendravaũ
bendravai
bendravo
to associate (with), communicate (with)
kariáuti
kariauju
kariauji
kariauja
kariavau
kariavai
kariavo
to be at war, wage war
matúoti
matúoju
matuoji
matuoja
matavaũ
matavai
matavo
to measure
dainúoti
dainuoju
dainuoji
dainuoja
dainavau
dainavai
dainavo
to sing
sapnúoti
sapnuoju
sapnuoji
sapnuoja
sapnavau
sapnavai
sapnavo
to dream (sleeping); (coll.) to speak about smth. lacking orientation in it
vėlúoti
vėluoju
vėluoji
vėluoja
vėlavau
vėlavai
vėlavo
to be late, to fall behind schedule
raudonúoti
raudonuoju
raudonuoji
raudonuoja
raudonavau
raudonavai
raudonavo
to blush; to attract attention by being red
sūpúoti
sūpuoju
sūpuoji
sūpuoja
sūpavau
sūpavai
sūpavo
to swing, sway, rock
kopijúoti
kopijuoju
kopijuoji
kopijuoja
kopijavau
kopijavai
kopijavo
to copy
Some other suffixes, for example, transitivity-forming suffix -in-. The suffix -en- can have a meaning of moderate intensity of action. The suffix -in- is usual for making verbs from foreign words, e.g., (coll.) kòpinti – to copy, which is used besides longer standard kopijuoti.
rū́pintis
rū́pinuosi
rūpiniesi
rūpinasi
rū́pinausi
rūpinasi
rūpinosi
to take care
grãžinti
grãžinu
gražini
gražina
grãžinau
gražinai
gražino
to beautify
grąžìnti
grąžinù
grąžini
grąžìna
grąžinaũ
gražinai
grąžino
to give back, return
jùdinti
jùdinu
judini
judina
jùdinau
judinai
judino
to move, make smth. move
lýginti
lýginu
lygini
lygina
lýginau
lyginai
lygino
to compare; to level, make level; make smooth; to iron (clothes); to equate
srovénti
srovẽna
srovẽno
to stream tranquilly, in small ripples
kuténti
kutenù
kuteni
kutẽna
kutenaũ
kutenai
kutẽno
to tickle, titillate
gabenti
gabenu
gabeni
gabena
gabenau
gabenai
gabeno
to convey, carry
kūrenti
kūrenu
kūreni
kūrena
kūrenau
kūrenai
kūreno
to fire a furnace, heater
ridenti
ridenu
rideni
ridena
ridenau
ridenai
rideno
to trundle, wheel, roll, make roll; bowl
Syntax
Word order
Lithuanian has an SVO (subject–verb–object) as the main word order:
At the same time Lithuanian as a highly declined language is often considered to have the free word order. This idea is partially true, and a sentence such as "Today I saw a beautiful girl at the movies" could be said or written in many ways:
Šiandien
Today
kine
at the movies
aš
I
mačiau
saw
gražią
beautiful
mergaitę.
girl
(the main order)
Šiandien kine aš mačiau gražią mergaitę.
Today {at the movies} I saw beautiful girl
Aš mačiau gražią mergaitę kine šiandien.
Šiandien aš mačiau gražią mergaitę kine.
Gražią mergaitę mačiau aš kine šiandien.
Gražią mergaitę aš šiandien mačiau kine.
Kine šiandien aš mačiau gražią mergaitę.
Kine gražią mergaitę aš mačiau šiandien.
However, word order isn't a subject of intonation only. Different word orders often have different meanings in Lithuanian. There are also some strict rules and some tendencies in using different word placing. For example, a word that provides new information (rheme, or comment) has a tendency to be postponed after other words, but not always to the end of the sentence. Adjectives precede nouns like they do in English, but order of adjectives in an adjective group is different from English. If the main word order is followed, a temporal, locative or causal adjunct is put at the beginning of the sentence, while adjuncts of other types go directly before the verb and its objects (see the SVO rule above).
The word order in Lithuanian can also be described using concepts of theme and rheme. Looking from this point of view, the structure of a sentence is following:
Initial complementary words or clauses + theme + middle words or clauses + rheme + final complementary words or clauses
The middle words or clauses are more significant words or word groups other than the theme or the rheme, but complementary words or clauses (both the initial and the final) are less significant or secondary. Local, causal or temporal adjuncts are typical parts of the initial complementary words group, while other complementary words are put in the final group. If an adjunct is more significant in a sentence, it should be put in the middle group or even used as theme or as rheme. The same is true considering any other part of sentence, but the Subject and the Verb aren't complementary words typically, and they often serve as the theme and as the rheme respectively. Note that a sentence can lack any part of the structure, except the rheme.
Prepositions
Prepositions tell us where an object is or what direction it is going. Some cases of nouns, such as the genitive, accusative and instrumental, take prepositions. Some cases never take prepositions (such as locative and nominative). Certain prepositions are used with certain cases. Below is a list of some common prepositions used in Lithuanian.
Used with genitive form of noun
iš – from, out of
ant – on
iki – until
po – after, past, succeeding
prie – near, at
už – behind
Used with instrumental form of noun
po – under
su – with
sulig – up to
ties – by, over
Used with accusative form of noun
į – in
pas – to, at
per – across, by, over, through, during, via
pro – through, past, by
apie – about
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to link together clauses in a sentence, for example "I thought it would be a nice day but it was raining." Some common conjunctions in Lithuanian are:
ir – and
bet – but
ar – used to start a question, but can also mean "or"
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