Lithuanian grammar
Encyclopedia
Lithuanian grammar is the study of rules governing the use of the Lithuanian language
. Lithuanian grammar retains many archaic features from Proto-Indo European that have been lost in other Indo-European languages. It has a complex morphology, words have many different forms with subtle differences and nuances in usage.
Parts of speech
– kalbõs dãlys:
For a part of the adjectival words, there is also a neuter gender, but it has a single grammatical form without declension and a limited usage. It is obtained by the part of the adjectives, present and past passive participles and the part of numerals and is used to express the state or condition of the surroundings, like 'It's cold' – Šálta. That's the neuter gender of a word šáltas m, šaltà f – 'cold'.
The gender of a pronoun kas – 'who? what?', personal pronouns aš / mes – 'I' / 'we', tu / jūs – 'you (singular) / you (plural)' and a reflexive pronoun
savęs 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 other Indo-European languages. This means that if you have a mixed group of things some masculine and some feminine, the masculine gender is used for the whole group. 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 things. 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:
, singular and plural. It has also a dual
, which is almost unused, except few words, that retain their dual forms (for example, du – two, abu – both), an indefinite number and super-plural words (dauginiai žodžiai in Lithuanian).
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, 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 dual – we two (mẽs pl. – we) and tu sg. – you, jùdu dual – you two (jū̃s pl. – you).
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 pronoun
savęs. 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.
Examples of the locative cases:
The later three locatives are adverb-forming cases.
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.
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 of 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.
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.
s 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.
Words with a suffix -m-en-, 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.
In the left column the nominative singular endings of words, grouped by declensional paradigms, are written: -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.
The first declension, -as, -is, -ys, -ias.
The second, -a (-ia), -ė
The third, -is
The fourth, -us, -ius
The fifth, -uo
About 45% of all nouns are feminine, 55% – masculine.
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:
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.
The numbers are written after some of the words in the tables. They mean an alternative existent accentuation pattern and are given only for some of the words, which 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 (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 a 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 an accent. But there are also different cases, for example, rýkštė 1 and rykštė̃ 4. The fourth accentuation paradigm can be result of a shift of the third paradigm. The shift can happen following nivellation of the two accents, a loss of accentual contrast. In a 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 following examples of noun and adjective matching, gatvė – street and kelias – road are matched with tiesus – straight:
This does not apply in case of the neuter gender adjectives because nouns do not have neuter gender. Such adjectives are used to describe a feature detached from a clear thing or concept. For example, rūsyje buvo vėsu – it was cool in the cellar; gera tave matyti – it's good to see you; jis matė šilta ir šalta – he saw 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's mostly used for predicatives
. Usage in the role of object (like in "jis matė šilta ir šalta") is rare.
. The three main degrees are the same as in English language. Note that there are no irregular adjectives and all adjectives have the same suffix
es. 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.
Adjectives have also pronominal form that is formed by merging adjectives with third person personal pronouns.
savęs is declined as a personal pronoun tu (savęs - sau - save ...), but it hasn't the singular nominative and the plural cases.
e.g. dirbu = 'I work', (tu) nori = 'You want', skaitome = 'We read' (present tense)
e.g. dirbau = 'I worked', norėjai = 'You wanted', skaitėme = 'We read' (past tense)
e.g. dirbdavau = 'I used to work', norėdavai = 'You used to want', skaitydavome = 'We used to read'
e.g. dirbsiu = 'I will work', norėsi = 'You will want', skaitysime = 'We will read'
The Lithuanian participles are as follows, complete with masculine and feminine forms respectively (where applicable):
1. Present active - valgąs/valganti ("the one who is eating")
2. Past active - valgęs/valgiusi ("the one who has eaten")
3. Frequentative past active - valgydavęs/valgydavusi ("the one who used to eat")
4. Future active - valgysiąs/valgysianti ("the one who will eat"/"the one who will be eating")
5. Present passive - valgomas/valgoma ("something that is being eaten")
6. Past passive - valgytas/valgyta ("something that has been eaten")
7. Future passive - valgysimas/valgysima ("something that will be eaten")
8. Adverbial present active - valgant ("while eating")
9. Adverbial past active - valgius ("after having eaten")
10. Adverbial frequentative past - valgydavus ("after having eaten repeatedly")
11. Adverbial future active - valgysiant ("having to eat")
12. Special adverbial present active - valgydamas/valgydama ("eating")
13. Participle of necessity - valgytinas/valgytina ("something to be eaten")
The adverbial participles (8-11) are not declined.http://www.lituanus.org/1984_3/84_3_05.htm
when a prefix added. So a prefix is a good indicator of perfective
verb, but the perfective aspect never depends on just a prefix. In fact, some verbs without prefixes may be used as perfective and at the same time many verbs with prefixes may be understood as imperfective.
Some rules may be useful, using prefixes for verbs:
nešasi but nusineša, atsineša
laikytis but susilaikyti, pasilaikyti
teirautis but pasiteirauti
nešasi but nesineša, nebesineša, also nenusineša, neatsineša
laikytis, but nesilaikyti, also nesusilaikyti, nepasilaikyti
teirautis but nesiteirauti, also nepasiteirauti
The three moods without distinction of tenses have periphrastic perfect along with their main form, and the aspect
of perfection could be expressed.
s are close to adjectives. But they also retain (except the verbal intensifier) verbal specifics to have their own subject
(except the infinitive
, the gerund
and the semi-participle) objects
and adjunct
s.
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.
Adjunct(s)(temporal, locative, causal) + Subject + Adjunct(s)(other)
+ Verb + Object(s) + Infinitive + other parts.
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 kine aš mačiau gražią mergaitę. (the main order)
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 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 in 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 adjunct
s are typical parts of the initial complementary words group, while other complementary words are put to the final group. If an adjunct is more significant in a sentence, it should be put to 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.
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
. Lithuanian grammar retains many archaic features from Proto-Indo European that have been lost in other Indo-European languages. It has a complex morphology, words have many different forms with subtle differences and nuances in usage.
Properties and morphological categories
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Parts of speech
Lexical category
In grammar, a part of speech is a linguistic category of words , which is generally defined by the syntactic or morphological behaviour of the lexical item in question. Common linguistic categories include noun and verb, among others...
– kalbõs dãlys:
| Daiktavardis | Noun Noun In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of... |
Dalelytė | Particle Grammatical particle In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition... |
| Būdvardis | Adjective Adjective In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified.... |
Prielinksnis | Preposition |
| Veiksmažodis | Verb Verb A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive... |
Jungtukas | Conjunction Grammatical conjunction In grammar, a conjunction is a part of speech that connects two words, sentences, phrases or clauses together. A discourse connective is a conjunction joining sentences. This definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech, so what constitutes a "conjunction" must be defined for each... |
| Skaitvardis | Numeral Number names In linguistics, number names are specific words in a natural language that represent numbers.In writing, numerals are symbols also representing numbers... |
Jaustukas | Interjection Interjection In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections... |
| Įvardis | Pronoun Pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he... |
Ištiktukas | Verbal interjection |
| Prieveiksmis | Adverb Adverb An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs.... |
Gender
Lithuanian declinable words are classified in one gender of two:- masculine
- feminine
For a part of the adjectival words, there is also a neuter gender, but it has a single grammatical form without declension and a limited usage. It is obtained by the part of the adjectives, present and past passive participles and the part of numerals and is used to express the state or condition of the surroundings, like 'It's cold' – Šálta. That's the neuter gender of a word šáltas m, šaltà f – 'cold'.
The gender of a pronoun kas – 'who? what?', personal pronouns aš / mes – 'I' / 'we', tu / jūs – 'you (singular) / you (plural)' and a reflexive pronoun
Reflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. In generative grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent...
savęs 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 other Indo-European languages. This means that if you have a mixed group of things some masculine and some feminine, the masculine gender is used for the whole group. 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
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, for instance, words that denote inanimate things. 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 http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/audio#Latin – to hear, listen audītī, audītae, audīta |
Grammatical number
The Lithuanian language has two main numbersGrammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
, singular and plural. It has also a dual
Dual (grammatical number)
Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...
, which is almost unused, except few words, that retain their dual forms (for example, du – two, abu – both), an indefinite number and super-plural words (dauginiai žodžiai in Lithuanian).
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
Plurale tantum
A plurale tantum is a noun that appears only in the plural form and does not have a singular variant for referring to a single object...
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, 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 dual – we two (mẽs pl. – we) and tu sg. – you, jùdu dual – 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 pronoun
Reflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. In generative grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent...
savęs. 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.
Cases of declined words
- Nominative – vardininkas
- Genitive – kilmininkas; it also functions similarly to the ablative case in other languages.
- DativeDative caseThe dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
– naudininkas - AccusativeAccusative caseThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
– galininkas - InstrumentalInstrumental caseThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
– įnagininkas - Locative cases:Locative caseLocative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
- Locative (inessive) – vietininkas
- Illative – (iliatyvas, sometimes referred as kryptininkas); dialectic, without clear status in the standard Lithuanian
- Allative; obsolete, the singular is reduced to adverbs
- Adessive; extinct
- Vocative – šauksmininkas
Examples of the locative cases:
- inessive is fully used locative case. An example: nãmas – a house, namè – in a house. It is also used for a temporal meaning in some words: vakarè [ʋɐkɐrˈɛ] – in the evening (vãkaras [ˈʋaːkɐrɐs] nom. 'an evening'). But more verbs 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 [ˈtræːtʃæː ˈdɨenaː ˈkæːpɪnɐ] (kepina is idiomatic or slang in such meaning) – it's the third day when it (sun) sizzles (it's heat). Plural forms for temporal "locatives" are expressed by instrumental: vakaraĩs – in / by the 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;
- adessive. Examples: laukíe-p sg. – beside the field, at the field, dvarúose-mp pl., namíe-p sg.. It is a historical or dialectal case, extinct in modern standard Lithuanian.
The later three locatives are adverb-forming cases.
Nouns
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.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
It (pronoun)
"It" is a third-person, singular neuter pronoun in Modern English.-Usage:In English, words such as it and its genitive form its have been used to refer to human babies and pets, although with the passage of time this usage has come to be considered too impersonal in the case of babies, with many...
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.
Number
Most nouns have singularGrammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
and plural numbers
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
. 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 of 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, the form of a count nounCount noun
In linguistics, a count noun is a common noun that can be modified by a numeral and that occurs in both singular and plural form, as well as co-occurring with quantificational determiners like every, each, several, etc. A mass noun has none of these properties...
depends on final digits of the number.
| Number ends with | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (excluding 11) | Singular | 31 litas Lithuanian litas The Lithuanian litas is the currency of Lithuania. It is divided into 100 centų... |
| 2–9 (excluding 12–19) | Plural | 25 litai |
| 0 or 11–19 | Special case: Singular + noun in plural genitive |
110 litų 111 litų |
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.
Declension
Nouns in Lithuanian language have five declensionDeclension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
s which are defined by the inflection
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
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 |
| III | -is² | -ies | móteris³ f pilìs f avìs f dantìs m |
móteries piliẽs aviẽs dantiẽs |
woman, female castle sheep tooth |
Rarer, feminine nouns, fewer masculine |
| IV | -us | -aus | žmogùs sūnùs medùs skaĩčius |
žmogaũs sūnaũs medaũs skaĩčiaus |
man (human being) son honey number |
Rare, masculine nouns |
| V | -uo, -ė³ | -en-s, -er-s f | vanduõ akmuõ skaitmuõ sesuõ duktė̃ |
vandeñs akmeñs skaitmeñs seser̃s dukter̃s |
water stone digit sister daughter |
Rare, masculine nouns, four³ feminine; suffixed by -en- m and -er- f. |
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. The data does not include verbal abstracts ending in -imas, -ymas, -umas (for instance, metimas 'a throwing; a throw' from mesti 'to throw'), 18,7 thousand in numbers (12 thousand of the first accentuation paradigm, 6 thousand – of the second), because they can be made from an any verb. There can 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 -m-en-, 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.
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In the left column the nominative singular endings of words, grouped by declensional paradigms, are written: -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.
| -as | -j-as | -is | -ys | -ias | |
| 1. | výras - man, male, pienas - milk, skruostas - cheek | vė́jas - wind, šilójas - heather, ling; veikė́jas - agent, actor, vartótojas - consumer | brólis - brother, sotis - satiety, gruodis - December, kūjis - hammer, dilbis - forearm, jautis - bull, ox, pojūtis - sense, sensation | – | élnias - deer (also accented el̃nias 2) |
| 2. | sõdas - garden, metas - specific time (to do smth, for smth), padas - sole, metatarsus, ginklas - weapon, varžtas - screw, kuras - fuel | galvijas - cow (cattle); yahoo, šalavijas - salvia, sage | žõdis - word, skonis - taste, lygis - level, kelis - knee, medis - tree, valgis - dish, meal, karštis - heat | – | |
| 3. | stógas - roof, óras - weather, žándas - face part down from cheekbone, kalnas - mountain, beržas - birch, aidas - echo, augalas - plant | – | – | arklỹs - horse, pavyzdỹs - example, obuolỹs - apple | (1) vélnias - devil |
| 4. | krãštas - region; edge, strazdas - trush, ledas - ice, penas - food, pabulum, sniegas - snow, vardas - name, kulnas - heel, laikas - time, dugnas - bottom | (4) kraũjas - blood, pelėjaĩ pl. - molds (fungi), kapojaĩ pl. - chaffed fodder, klijaĩ pl. - glue | – | kepsnỹs - roast, fry, genỹs - woodpecker, vabzdỹs - insect | (2) kẽlias - road, svẽčias - guest |
| -a (-ia) | -ė | |
| 1. | vė́tra - windstorm, scud, pė́da 3 - foot, lova - bed, lūpa - lip, líepa - linden, July; duona - bread, spurga - doughnut, kaina - price, koja - leg, pérėja - crosswalk, vartótoja - user | dróbė - linen, dìldė - rasp, kárvė - cow, pagálvė - pillow, vaivórykštė - rainbow, daržóvė - vegetable |
| 2. | rankà - hand, arm, putà - froth, vietà - place, valià - will, galià - power | brãškė - strawberry, žẽmė - earth, prẽkė - commodity, piẽnė - sowthistle, vìrvė - rope, raidė (3, 4) - letter, ùpė - river, bìtė - bee, pùsė - side, half, striùkė - jacket |
| 3. | galvà - head, burnà - mouth, pėdà 1 - foot, apačià - bottom, underpart | versmė̃ - fount, spring, varškė̃ - curd, aikštė̃ - square, plaza |
| 4. | vėsà - chill, dienà - day, lentà - board, wood cut, dainà - song, pradžià - beginning | srovė̃ - stream, kėdė̃ - chair, dėžė̃ - box, vertė̃ - value, erdvė̃ - space, eilė̃ - queue, row |
| -is | -uo | -us | -ius | -j-us | |
| 1. | nósis - nose, krósnis; masculine: (1) gẽležuonys pl. - adenitis equorum, strangle | rė́muo 1 (also rėmuo 3a) - waterbrash | there is one proper word: Jė́zus - Jesus | (2) ámžius - age, stálčius - drawer (furniture); there is also one proper word: Vìlnius | rytójus - tomorrow, kritèrijus - criterion |
| 2. | dùrys pl. - door, gaĩštis - dallying; masculine: (1) pirmuõnys pl. (also deguõnis - oxygen; deguonis 3b is a rarer variant) | – | (7) Tur̃gus - market place, cùkrus - sugar | sõdžius - village, vaĩsius - fruit, bal̃džius - furniture maker | pavõjus - danger |
| 3. | širdìs - heart, obelìs - apple tree, smegenys pl. - brain; masculine: (19) debesìs - cloud, žvėrìs - beast | akmuõ - stone 3b, vanduõ - water 3a | (2) sūnùs - son, lietùs - rain | – | – |
| 4. | naktìs - night, žuvìs - fish, sritìs - area, district, vinìs - nail, spike, pirtìs - , šalìs, griñdys - floor, flooring; masculine: (3) dantìs - tooth, petỹs - shoulder, ropuonìs - reptile (used word is roplỹs 4) | (1) šuõ - dog | (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 to 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, that -is words (with the short i sound) are stressed on the stem (I, II accentuation patterns) and -ys words (with the same, but long sound) are stressed on the ending (III, IV accentuation patterns). In -is type almost half of the nouns has consonants t, d in the ending of a stem (these consonants change when palatalized: mẽdis nom. - mẽdžio gen. etc.; in -as type paradigm, for example, there are no cases with palatalization: vardas - vardo etc.). In -ys type about 12% of nouns have t, d ending stem.
The second, -a (-ia), -ė
- 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 nivelation 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) 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 -m-en-, 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
- 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, or maybe even some more, word 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.
The numbers are written after some of the words in the tables. They mean an alternative existent accentuation pattern and are given only for some of the words, which 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 (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 a 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 an accent. But there are also different cases, for example, rýkštė 1 and rykštė̃ 4. The fourth accentuation paradigm can be result of a shift of the third paradigm. The shift can happen following nivellation of the two accents, a loss of accentual contrast. In a 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.
| o | ė | y | ū | i.e. | uo |
| nóras - wish plótas - area, stretch sóstas - throne, stool |
vė́jas - wind | výras - man, male týrai pl. - large empty stretches sývai pl. - liquid part of smth. |
kū́nas - body liū́nas - bog |
píenas (pl 1, 3) - milk svíestas (3) - butter |
púodas - pot šúoras - gust, air-blast skrúostas - cheek |
| brólis - brother sótis - satiety klónis - dene, hollow mólis - clay |
pavė́sis - cooler place in a shade |
blýksnis - flash nýkštis 3 - thumb |
sū́ris - cheese kū́jis - hammer kū́gis - cone (geometry) |
kíetis - artemisia (plants) | šúolis - jump slúoksnis - layer súopis - buzzard rúonis - seal (animal) úošvis - father-in-law |
| kója - leg lóva - bed |
vė́tra - windstorm, scud lė́šos pl - fund, means pė́da 3 - foot |
gýsla - thread, vas ýda - defect, vice |
lū́pa - lip kū́dra - pond, mere |
líepa - linden píeva - meadow síena - wall |
úoga - berry dúona - bread kúosa - jackdaw |
| dróbė - linen, cloth rópė - turnip |
zýlė - tit (birds) rýkštė (4) - rod, switch lýsvė - bed (agriculture) |
kíelė (3) - wagtail | úošvė - mother-in-law | ||
| nósis - nose krósnis - stove, furnace tóšis - upper layer of birch bark |
klė́tis - barn, granary | nýtys pl. - harness for warp |
lū́šis - lynx rū́šis (3) - sort; species kliū́tis (4) - obstacle; hurdle |
íetis - spear, javelin | |
| sõdas - garden skrõblas - hornbeam |
dė̃klas - encasement kė̃nis - fir (abies) |
sklỹpas 4 - plot, parcel vỹnas - wine blỹnas - pancake |
bū̃das - mode; nature | luõtas (1) - dugout, cockleshell | |
| žõdis - word skõnis - taste lõbis - treasure |
vė̃sis - cool bė̃giai - metal, railing smė̃lis - sand |
lỹgis - level skỹstis - liquid, fluid; liquidity |
bū̃vis - state, existence dū̃ris - prick smū̃gis - punch; thwack rū̃gštis - sourness |
kiẽtis - hardness viẽnis - oneness miẽžis - barley sriẽgis - screw thread |
guõlis - lying place; bearing (mechanical) |
| kopà - dune | vyšnià - cherry slyvà - plum |
rūtà - rue (plant) | vietà - place | ||
| rõžė - rose | nė̃gė - lamprey (fish) | lū̃gnė - nuphar | piẽnė - sowthistle | ||
| (krū̃tis) 4 - breast (womans') | |||||
| sõdžius - village rõjus - paradise |
skỹrius - departament; chapter | spiẽčius - close cluster, swarm (often for insects) |
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| stógas - roof kótas - shaft, handle óras - air; weather |
krė́slas 1 - easy chair pė́das - sheaf |
rýtas - morning | grū́das - grain | stíebas - stipe dríežas - lizzard |
lúobas - thick peel úodas - mosquito |
| lokỹs - bear | vėžỹs (4) - crayfish | nykštỹs (1) - thumb | |||
| pėdà 1 - foot | skiedrà (4) - sliver, shingle | (kuopà) 1 - company (military) | |||
| brėkšmė̃ - dusk, break (around suset or before sunrise) |
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| rūgštìs (1) - acid (rūšìs) 1 - sort; species |
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| sūnùs - son | lietùs - rain | ||||
| lõpas - patch | rū̃kas - fog | sniẽgas - snow kiẽmas - yard šiẽnas - hay |
kuõlas - stake, picket | ||
| lovỹs - trough, chamfer korỹs - honeycomb |
vėžlỹs - turtle | ryšỹs - link, bond plyšỹs - interstice, opening |
būrỹs - squad; huddle rūsỹs - cellar, vault |
kvietỹs 3 - wheat | |
| žmonà - wife tvorà - fence vorà - queue, file |
vėsà - cool bėdà - trouble, grief mėsà - meat |
bylà - lawsuit, cause tylà - silence |
pūgà - blizzard stūmà - repulsion (physics) |
dienà - day šviesà - light liepsnà - flame |
puotà - feast; beanfeast uolà - rock |
| srovė̃ - current, stream | gėlė̃ - flower kėdė̃ - chair dėžė̃ - box |
skylė̃ - hole, slot | žūklė̃ - fishing | miẽlės pl - yeast rievė̃ - notch, groove |
duobė̃ (3) - pit, hollow uoslė̃ - smell; scent |
| lytìs - sex, gender vytìs - switch, rod |
krūtìs (2) - breast (womans') griūtìs - avalanche, fall |
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| žmogùs - man (human) | piẽtūs pl. - dinner; south |
| au | ai | ei | a | e | i | u |
| šáukštas - spoon | káimas - village, countryside | véidas - face | ||||
| jáutis - bull, ox | stáibis 2 - dial. shin; forearm for birds: tarsus |
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| sáuja - palmfull | káina - price | |||||
| sáulė - sun kriáušė - pear |
váišė - regale láimė - luck, happines báimė - fear |
méilė - love | ||||
| gaũbtas - hood skliaũtas 4 - vault (architecture) aũlas 4 - bootleg; sheatheable thing |
saĩtas 4 - bond; leash žaĩzdras 4 - forge, hearth |
pleĩštas 1 - wedge, shim reĩdas - raid |
pãdas - sole, metatarsus žãbas - switch, stick lãbas - good, welfare |
mẽtas - specific time (to do smth.; of smth.) |
sprìgtas - flip, flick | bùtas - flat kùras - fuel |
| paũkštis - bird plaũtis - lung kriaũšis (4m, 4f) - steep slope |
raĩštis - band, tie kaĩštis - spile, plug |
peĩlis - knife | vãris - copper | kẽlis - knee mẽdis - tree sẽnis - old |
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| balà - puddle | girià - forest (large) | putà - froth | ||||
| raũdė - rudd kiaũlė - pig (kriaũšė) - steep slope |
raĩdė 4 - letter skaĩdrė (4) - slide, transparency |
kreĩvė (4) - curve, graph | brãškė - strawberry | žẽmė - earth, ground prẽkė - commodity, item kẽkė - raceme, cluster |
bìtė - bee | ùpė - river pùsė - half, side striùkė - jacket |
| gaĩštis 4 - dallying, waste of time | slìstis (4) - simulation | dùrys pl - door | ||||
| vaĩsius - fruit; growth skaĩčius - number; digit |
cùkrus - sugar | |||||
| šiáudas - straw máuras - slime, algae |
dáiktas - thing (material) láiškas - letter (message) áidas - echo |
méistras - master (artist); craftsman | ||||
| aikštė̃ - square, field | ||||||
| sraũtas - flow, torrent laukas - field; outside džiaugsmas - joy kraũjas - blood |
maĩstas - food žaĩbas - thunder žaĩslas - toy laĩkas - time laĩdas - cable, lead |
veĩksmas - act, action | krãštas - edge; country smãkras - chin kãras - war |
lẽdas - ice pẽnas - pabulum kẽras - plant sinuous ramification |
klijaĩ pl. - glue | dùgnas - floor, bottom |
| šaulỹs - rifleman, shooter straublỹs - trunk, proboscis (kriaušỹs 2m 4f) - steep slope |
gaidỹs - rooster | dagỹs - thistle vabzdỹs - insect |
kepsnỹs - roast, fry krepšỹs - basket, bag genỹs - woodpecker kẽlias - road svẽčias - guest |
drugỹs - butterfly, moth; shake, shiver | ||
| briaunà - edge, brow klausà - hearing (sense) |
dainà - song gaivà - fresh |
šeimà - family | girà - kvass | |||
| šaulė̃ - shooter raukšlė̃ - pucker |
raidė̃ 2 - slide, transparency | eilė̃ - row | katė̃ - cat | skruzdė̃ - ant | ||
| ausìs - ear šlaunìs - thigh (kriaušìs 2m 4m) - steep slope |
gaištìs 2 - dallying, waste of time | naktìs - night šalìs - country |
sritìs - area vinìs - nail, spike |
ugnìs - fire pusnìs - snowdrift žuvìs - fish |
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| alùs - beer | medùs - honey | vidùs - inside midùs - mead (drink) |
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| al | el | am | em | an | en |
| káltas - chisel, boaster | kéltas - ferryboat méldas - bulrush |
bánkas - bank tánkas - tank |
lénkas - Pole | ||
| sámtis - ladle (spoon) | |||||
| málka - firewood billet dálba - pole, stick |
gélda - trough, tub | bámba - navel támsta - address to a person (formal) |
lémpa - lamp | ||
| kálvė - smithery, forge | kélnės pl. - trousers pélkė - swamp |
pémpė - lapwing | néndrė - reed ménkė - cod |
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| váltis - boat | pántis - tether ántis - duck ánkštis - pod, pulse |
péntis - thick side of a sharp implement | |||
| stálčius - drawer (furniture) | ámžius - age | ||||
| bal̃dai pl. - furniture | gañdras 4 - stork | beñdras - confederate, companion; accomplice |
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| val̃gis - meal, dish, food al̃ksnis - alder dal̃gis - scythe |
kam̃štis - plug, cork sam̃tis - ladling (action) |
skrañdis - stomach añtis - slash of garment at the bosom; place inside it to the girdle añkštis - lack of space |
sleñkstis - threshold | ||
| valkà - draught (air) | rankà - hand; arm | ||||
| pal̃vė - flat place in terrene side behind shore dunes | šveñtė - feast, celebration skleñdė 4 - latch beñdrė - see bendras |
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| bal̃džius - furniture maker (person) | |||||
| kálnas - mountain šálmas 4 - helmet |
délnas - palm, flat of a hand kélmas - stump, stool |
kémsas - hassock | žándas - face side below a cheekbone lángas - window |
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| galvà - head | |||||
| bal̃nas - saddle val̃ksmas - haul of a fishing net; track of lumber dragging |
pel̃nas - profit | kam̃pas - angle; corner | lañkas - bow (weapon) gañdas - hearsay, rumour krañtas (dial. 2, 1) - waterside, shore |
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| žaltỹs (3) - grass snake; colubrid | kamblỹs - stipe; squat ending dramblys - elephant |
kremblỹs - gnarly tree | |||
| kalbà - language spalvà - colour algà - salary valkà - puddle |
lankà - meadow, hollow dangà - covering bandà - herd; loaf (food) |
lentà - board; wood cut | |||
| kaltė̃ - guilt; fault | templė̃ - elastic string (of a bow etc.) | tankmė̃ - thicket | sklendė̃ (2) - valve; latch | ||
| dantìs - tooth | |||||
| dangùs - sky |
| ar | er | ir | ur |
| tárpas - gap tvártas - cattle-shed žárdas (3 2) - rack from poles |
ìrklas - oar, paddle | dùrklas - dagger | |
| žvìrblis - sparrow vìržis - heather, ling žìrnis - pea |
gùrkšnis - swallow, gulp kùrmis - mole (animal) |
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| várna - crow žárna 3 - bowel; hose |
stìrna - roe, hind gìrna - millstone |
spùrga - doughnut | |
| kárvė - cow | šnérvė 4 - nostril kérpė - lichen šérpė - burr, tear off |
dùrpės - peat | |
| kártis - long slender pole | kìrkšnis 3 (4) - groin svìrtis (4, 3, 2) - lever; shaduf |
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| var̃žtas - screw var̃tai pl. - gate kar̃tas - time (instance or occurrence) |
ner̃štas - spawning sver̃tas - lever; fig. leverage |
skir̃pstas - field elm | Tur̃tas - wealth, property pur̃slas 4 (1) - spatter, spray |
| kar̃štis - heat kar̃šis - bream |
ver̃šis - calf | tvir̃tis - strength of material, toughness | |
| virkščià - stem of some gramineous plants (pea, potato) pirkià (4) - dial. house, cottage (traditional) |
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| gar̃dė - barrier wood cut in a side of a horse carriage |
ver̃pstė - distaff | vir̃vė - rope | |
| der̃lius - yield, harvest sker̃džius - chief cowherd; butcher |
Tur̃gus - market, mart | ||
| dárbas - work | bérnas - boy, lad; (older) hind, hired hand béržas - birch šérnas (4) - wild boar |
spìrgas - crackling (food) žìrgas (4) - riding horse |
spùrgas - hop cone; bud; catkin ùrvas - cave; burrow |
| arklỹs - horse | |||
| burnà - mouth | |||
| varškė̃ - curd | versmė̃ - fount, spring | ||
| širdìs - heart kirkšnìs 1 (4) - groin |
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| var̃das - name gar̃sas - sound kar̃klas 2 - willow, osier gar̃das - animal stall |
šer̃kšnas - hoarfrost, rime ver̃slas - trade, enterprice, business ver̃ksmas - cry |
vir̃bas - rod, switch dir̃žas - belt (clothing); strap pir̃štas - finger |
pur̃vas - mud, dirt |
| siurblỹs - pump; (dulkių siurblys) vacuum cleaner čiurlỹs - swift |
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| varžà - resistance; impedance (physics) barzdà - beard |
skerlà - sliver, shiver | purkšnà - mizzle, spraying | |
| tarmė̃ - dialect dermė̃ - tone, fitness varlė̃ - frog |
vertė̃ - value erdvė̃ - space veržlė̃ - nut (hardware) |
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| tartìs - pronunciation, utterance | šerdìs (3 1) - core | pirtìs - steambath | |
| viršùs - top |
| il | ul | im | um | in | un |
| tìltas - bridge miltai pl. - flour |
tùntas 4 - swarm, flock | ||||
| dìlbis - forearm ìltis - fang |
mùlkis - ninny, gull, noodle stùlgis - (older) dagger kùlšis - haunch, thigh (mostly used for chicken meat) |
kùmštis - fist | vìngis (2) - winding, curve lìnkis - bend, curvature |
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| smìlga - bentgrass vìlna - wool |
tìmpa - elastic string drìmba 2 - ponderous person (derisive) |
vìnkšna - elm (ulmus laevis) spìnta - cabinet (furniture) kìnka - rare side of a leg about a knee level |
plùnksna - feather | ||
| dìldė - rasp | tùlpė - tulip dùlkė - particle of dust, mote bùlvė - potato |
dùmplės pl. - bellows | pìnklės pl. (2) - trap, gin | ||
| skìltis (3) - segment of a fruit, vegetable; section in a recurring |
pìntis - amadou | ||||
| dul̃ksmas 4 - dust rise | stum̃bras - wisent dum̃blas 4 - silt |
iñdas - dishware, utensil tiñklas - net giñklas - weapon |
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| skil̃vis - gizzard | kum̃pis - ham | skliñdis - pancake liñksnis - (case) inflection, case (grammar) |
suñkis - gravitation | ||
| rinkà - market | sunkà - strained juice | ||||
| gul̃bė - swan | drum̃zlė 4 - sediment | bliñdė (4) - great willow | |||
| vil̃nis 4 - wave | |||||
| skiltìs 1 - (see 1) | |||||
| vil̃kas - wolf pil̃vas - belly |
stul̃pas - pole, shaft, pillar kul̃nas - heel pul̃kas - regiment; swarm |
rim̃bas - knout; whip | gum̃bas - knag; lumb | tuñtas 1 - swarm, flock | |
| skilvỹs 2 - gizzard | stulgỹs - great snipe | krumplỹs (2) - knuckle; cog | |||
| dulksnà - drizzle | sunkà 2 - strained juice | ||||
| drumzlė̃ 2 - sediment | |||||
| vilnìs 2 - wave | kulkšnìs (1) - ankle |
Declension
In Lithuanian language adjectives have three declensions determined by the singular and plural nominative case inflections. Adjectives are matched with nouns in terms of numbers, genders, and cases. 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, are not inflected.| Declension | Singular nom. inflection | Plural nom. inflection | Examples | ||
| Masculine | Feminine | Masculine | Feminine | ||
| I | -(i)as | -(i)a | -i | -(i)os | šáltas, šaltà, (šálta) – cold; šlápias, šlapià, (šlápia) – wet, soppy; |
| II | -us | -i | -ūs | -ios | gražùs, gražì, (gražù) – pretty, beautiful; malonùs, malonì, (malonù) – pleasant; |
| III | -is | -ė | -iai | -ės | varìnis, varìnė – copper; laukìnis, laukìnė – wild; |
| -is | -ė | -i | -ės | dìdelis, dìdelė – big; dešinỹs, dešinė̃ – right; kairỹs, kairė̃ – left. | |
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 to describe a feature detached from a clear thing or concept. For example, rūsyje buvo vėsu – it was cool in the cellar; gera tave matyti – it's good to see you; jis matė šilta ir šalta – he saw 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
Stress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
. Also neuter gender does not have any numbers or cases, and it's mostly used for predicatives
Predicative (adjectival or nominal)
In grammar, a predicative is an element of the predicate of a sentence that supplements the subject or object by means of the verb. A predicative may be nominal or adjectival . If the complement after a linking verb is a noun or a pronoun, it is called a predicate nominative...
. 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 comparisonThree degrees of comparison
In English grammar, the degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb describes the relational value of one thing with something in another clause of a sentence...
. The three main degrees are the same as in English language. Note that there are no irregular adjectives and all adjectives have the same suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
es. 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 | absolute | comparative | superlative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuanian | Masculine | Geras | Gerėlesnis | Geresnis | Geriausias | Pats/visų geriausias |
| Feminine | Gera | Gerėlesnė | Geresnė | Geriausia | Pati/visų geriausia | |
| Neuter | Gera | Gerėliau | Geriau | Geriausia | Visų geriausia | |
| English | Good | A tiny bit better | Better | Best | The very best | |
| Lithuanian | Masculine | Gražus | Gražėlesnis | Gražesnis | Gražiausias | Pats/visų gražiausias |
| Feminine | Graži | Gražėlesnė | Gražesnė | Gražiausia | Pati/visų gražiausia | |
| Neuter | Gražu | Gražėliau | Gražiau | Gražiausia | Visų gražiausia | |
| English | Beautiful | A tiny bit more beautiful | More beautiful | Most beautiful | The most beautiful |
Adjectives have also pronominal form that is formed by merging adjectives with third person personal pronouns.
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns aš (I), tu (you) jis (he, it), ji (she, it) are declined as follows:Reflexive pronoun
The reflexive pronounReflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that is preceded by the noun, adjective, adverb or pronoun to which it refers within the same clause. In generative grammar, a reflexive pronoun is an anaphor that must be bound by its antecedent...
savęs is declined as a personal pronoun tu (savęs - sau - save ...), but it hasn't the singular nominative and the plural cases.
The Verb
Each 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.
The Present Tense
This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes present or ongoing actions or, sometimes, actions without definite tense.| dirbti = to work | norėti = to want | skaityti = to read | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | dirbu | noriu | skaitau |
| You (singular) | dirbi | nori | skaitai |
| He/She/It | dirba | nori | skaito |
| We | dirbame | norime | skaitome |
| You (plural) | dirbate | norite | skaitote |
| They | dirba | nori | skaito |
e.g. dirbu = 'I work', (tu) nori = 'You want', skaitome = 'We read' (present tense)
The Past Tense
This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes past actions, particularly if they are finished.| dirbti = to work | norėti = to want | skaityti = to read | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | dirbau | norėjau | skaičiau |
| You (singular) | dirbai | norėjai | skaitei |
| He/She/It | dirbo | norėjo | skaitė |
| We | dirbome | norėjome | skaitėme |
| You (plural) | dirbote | norėjote | skaitėte |
| They | dirbo | norėjo | skaitė |
e.g. dirbau = 'I worked', norėjai = 'You wanted', skaitėme = 'We read' (past tense)
The Past Iterative Tense (Frequentative)
The basic meaning of this tense translates as "used to" in English. Its construction is simple:- Remove the infinitive ending -ti.
- Add the suffix -dav- to the stem.
- Finally, add the corresponding ending of the past tense for the first conjugation.
| dirbti = to work | norėti = to want | skaityti = to read | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | dirbdavau | norėdavau | skaitydavau |
| You (singular) | dirbdavai | norėdavai | skaitydavai |
| He/She/It | dirbdavo | norėdavo | skaitydavo |
| We | dirbdavome | norėdavome | skaitydavome |
| You (plural) | dirbdavote | norėdavote | skaitydavote |
| They | dirbdavo | norėdavo | skaitydavo |
e.g. dirbdavau = 'I used to work', norėdavai = 'You used to want', skaitydavome = 'We used to read'
The 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).
- Add the appropriate ending.
| dirbti = to work | norėti = to want | skaityti = to read | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | dirbsiu | norėsiu | skaitysiu |
| You (singular) | dirbsi | norėsi | skaitysi |
| He/She/It | dirbs | norės | skaitys |
| We | dirbsime | norėsime | skaitysime |
| You (plural) | dirbsite | norėsite | skaitysite |
| They | dirbs | norės | skaitys |
e.g. dirbsiu = 'I will work', norėsi = 'You will want', skaitysime = 'We will read'
Participles
Lithuanian retains a rich system of participles, thirteen in total. In contrast English contains just two: the present participle ("the eating cow") and the past participle ("the eaten cow").The Lithuanian participles are as follows, complete with masculine and feminine forms respectively (where applicable):
1. Present active - valgąs/valganti ("the one who is eating")
2. Past active - valgęs/valgiusi ("the one who has eaten")
3. Frequentative past active - valgydavęs/valgydavusi ("the one who used to eat")
4. Future active - valgysiąs/valgysianti ("the one who will eat"/"the one who will be eating")
5. Present passive - valgomas/valgoma ("something that is being eaten")
6. Past passive - valgytas/valgyta ("something that has been eaten")
7. Future passive - valgysimas/valgysima ("something that will be eaten")
8. Adverbial present active - valgant ("while eating")
9. Adverbial past active - valgius ("after having eaten")
10. Adverbial frequentative past - valgydavus ("after having eaten repeatedly")
11. Adverbial future active - valgysiant ("having to eat")
12. Special adverbial present active - valgydamas/valgydama ("eating")
13. Participle of necessity - valgytinas/valgytina ("something to be eaten")
The adverbial participles (8-11) are not declined.http://www.lituanus.org/1984_3/84_3_05.htm
The prefixes of verbs
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 very close, often showing similarity to being forms of a single 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. In addition verbs often take meaning of more perfect actionPerfective aspect
The perfective aspect , sometimes called the aoristic aspect, is a grammatical aspect used to describe a situation viewed as a simple whole, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. The perfective aspect is equivalent to the aspectual component of past perfective forms...
when a prefix added. So a prefix is a good indicator of perfective
Perfective aspect
The perfective aspect , sometimes called the aoristic aspect, is a grammatical aspect used to describe a situation viewed as a simple whole, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. The perfective aspect is equivalent to the aspectual component of past perfective forms...
verb, but the perfective aspect never depends on just a prefix. In fact, some verbs without prefixes may be used as perfective and at the same time many verbs with prefixes may be understood as imperfective.
- ap- round (direction, perfective)
- api- is a variant of ap- before b or p
- at- from, from somewhere (direction; place, perfective)
- ati- is a variant of at- before d or t
- į- in (direction, perfective), be able to (imperfective)
- iš- out (direction, sometimes perfective)
- nu- away (direction), from the start place (action with some direction, perfective)
- pa- a bit, slightly, some time (time or amount, imperfective), till end (for single actions, cf su-, time or amount, perfective), under (direction, perfective)
- par- similar to English (Latin) re- (with some differences; perfective)
- per- through (place, perfective), thoroughly, completely (perfective)
- pra- by (direction, perfective), starting (time, perfective rarely)
- pri- up, to (direction or place, perfective), to the place (of the action) (place, perfective), much, many (amount, sometimes perfective)
- su- from everywhere (direction), together (place, perfective), till end (time, perfective), completely (long or complex action, perfective)
- už- behind (direction, perfective), in (for limited time, cf į-) (direction and time, perfective), suddenly, unexpectedly (time, perfective)
- už- on, over (direction or place), completely (short action, cf. su-, perfective)
Some rules may be useful, using prefixes for verbs:
- ne- and be- formally are prefixes of verbs too. But they are rule based and define different forms of the same verb, rather than a new verb. ne- is a prefix, that makes negative form of a verb, but be- says that action of a verb may be interrupted. Both ne- and be- are used before any other prefixes of a verb. Also ne- precedes be- making a complex prefix nebe-. be- is mostly used in participles, semi-participles or sub-participles, for pointing that synchronization of the main action of a sentence with the action of the participle isn't very strict.
- There is no more than one prefix in a verb, if we do not count prefixes ne-, be- or nebe-. Only few words are exception from this.
- The indicator of reflexionReflexive verbIn grammar, a reflexive verb is a verb whose semantic agent and patient are the same. For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself...
-si is used between the prefix and the root if the verb is prefixed, e. g.
nešasi but nusineša, atsineša
laikytis but susilaikyti, pasilaikyti
teirautis but pasiteirauti
- The same rule is applied, when ne-, be-, or nebe- is added:
nešasi but nesineša, nebesineša, also nenusineša, neatsineša
laikytis, but nesilaikyti, also nesusilaikyti, nepasilaikyti
teirautis but nesiteirauti, also nepasiteirauti
Tenses and aspects
- The present tensePresent tenseThe present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
- The past tensePast tenseThe past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
- The past iterative
- The future tenseFuture tenseIn grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
- (The four perfect constructions, periphrasticPeriphrasisIn linguistics, periphrasis is a device by which a grammatical category or grammatical relationship is expressed by a free morpheme , instead of being shown by inflection or derivation...
) - (The four inchoativeInchoativeInchoative aspect is a grammatical aspect, referring to the beginning of an action or state. It can be found in conservative Indo-European languages such as Latin and Lithuanian, and also in Finnic languages. It should not be confused with the prospective, which denotes actions that are about to...
constructions, periphrastic)
Moods
- The indicative mood (with all tenses)
- The relative mood (with all tenses, non-conjugated)
- The imperative moodImperative moodThe imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
(without distinction of tenses) - The optative moodOptative moodThe optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
(without distinction of tenses, having the 3rd personGrammatical personGrammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
only, sometimes treated as the 3rd person of the imperative mood) - The conditional moodConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
(without distinction of tenses) - (The optative moodOptative moodThe optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
II, periphrastic, based on the conditional moodConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
) - The negative form
- The indeterminate form (for true action with uncertain aspectGrammatical aspectIn linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
) - (The intensified periphrasis, based on the verbal intensifier)
The three moods without distinction of tenses have periphrastic perfect along with their main form, and the aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
of perfection could be expressed.
Voices
- The Active voiceActive voiceActive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. It is the unmarked voice for clauses featuring a transitive verb in nominative–accusative languages, including English and most other Indo-European languages....
- The reflexive formReflexive verbIn grammar, a reflexive verb is a verb whose semantic agent and patient are the same. For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself...
(voice-like form, which can be sometimes in passive voice too) - The Passive voicePassive voicePassive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
- in a case of a participle it's a different grammatic form with 3 main tenses (it doesn't have the past iterative tense).
- in a case of conjugated verbs it's periphrastic, based on the passive participles (3 main tenses).
Conjugative verbal forms
- The present tensePresent tenseThe present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
- The past tensePast tenseThe past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
- The past iterative tense
- The future tenseFuture tenseIn grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...
- The imperative moodImperative moodThe imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
- The optative moodOptative moodThe optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
(having the 3rd personGrammatical personGrammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
only, sometimes treated as the 3rd person of the imperative mood) - The conditional moodConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
Non-conjugative verbal forms
The non-conjugative verbal forms are close to other non-conjugated grammatical categories, e. g. the participleParticiple
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
s are close to adjectives. But they also retain (except the verbal intensifier) verbal specifics to have their own subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
(except the infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
, the gerund
Gerund
In linguistics* As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb as a noun ....
and the semi-participle) objects
Object (grammar)
An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
and adjunct
Adjunct
Adjunct may refer to:* Adjunct , words used as modifiers* Adjunct professor, a professor who does not hold a permanent position at a particular academic institution* Adjuncts, sources of sugar used in brewing...
s.
- The infinitiveInfinitiveIn grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
- The relative mood
- The gerundGerundIn linguistics* As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb as a noun ....
, or the verbal nounNounIn linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
, is masculine masculineGrammatical genderGrammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
noun, regularly made from any verb, not having distinction of tenses and not used in the plural numberPluralIn linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
in its direct sense. The gerundGerundIn linguistics* As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb as a noun ....
has its own specific order, to put its objectsObject (grammar)An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
. - The sub-participles are verbal adverbAdverbAn adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
s, not declined, being of four tenses (the present, the past, the past iterative and the future) of the active voiceActive voiceActive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. It is the unmarked voice for clauses featuring a transitive verb in nominative–accusative languages, including English and most other Indo-European languages....
. The sub-participle has its own specific order, to put its subjectSubject (grammar)The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
. - The semi-participle is a verbal adverb, closer to the main verb in the sentence than the sub-participle, not having distinction of tenses. The semi-participle isn't declined, but it has forms of numberGrammatical numberIn linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
and genderGrammatical genderGrammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, and they should be used in concord with the subjectSubject (grammar)The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
of the main verb in the sentence (whereas semi-participle couldn't have its own subject). - The verbal intensifier is a verbal particleGrammatical particleIn grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition...
, used to mark more intensive action, than one of the single verb. It is quite always used with a verb of the same stem and never has its separate objectsObject (grammar)An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
or adjunctAdjunctAdjunct may refer to:* Adjunct , words used as modifiers* Adjunct professor, a professor who does not hold a permanent position at a particular academic institution* Adjuncts, sources of sugar used in brewing...
s. - The verbal interjection could be formed from verbs of certain categories. It's used like a simple interjectionInterjectionIn grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
, but could have its own subject, objects and (not often) adjuncts. The verbal interjection is considered a separate part of speechLexical categoryIn grammar, a part of speech is a linguistic category of words , which is generally defined by the syntactic or morphological behaviour of the lexical item in question. Common linguistic categories include noun and verb, among others...
in most of grammars of Lithuanian.
Stem classes
The below given tables are not a full collection of types of conjugtion, 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 | ||||||
| I p. sg. | II p. sg. | III p. sg., pl. | I p. sg. | II p. sg. | III p. sg., pl. | ||||
| Consonantal non-palatalized stems (it is palatalized in the form of the present II p., but not in the remaining forms). Sounds of a stem do not change in conjugation, except 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 | kándo | 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 a constonant of an end of a stem 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. Maybe only when the syllable contains a mixed diphthong (a, e, i, u + sonorant) and it 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 of a 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 Ogonek The ogonek is a diacritic hook placed under the lower right corner of a vowel in the Latin alphabet used in several European and Native American languages.-Use:... 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 syllabe 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 crumble; fall down (for particles) | ||
| 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. A word likti has i.e. / i alternation. A word kristi can be conjugated both with -en- / -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 a word 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 | ||
| 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. 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 | ||
| 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 smth.; 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 dear | ||
| 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 short i, u in a pre-desinential syllable, maybe only when it ends in ž, š, 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. A 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 | ||
| A consonant j is inserted before desinences after other pre-desinential vowels, diphthong i.e. | |||||||||
| 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 | ||
| keisti | keičiu | keiti | keičia | keičiau | keitei | keitė | to change | ||
| braukti | braukiu | brauki | braukia | braukiau | braukei | braukė | to wipe, sweep across; line through | ||
| 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 | ||
| švęsti | švenčiu | šventi | švenčia | švenčiau | šventei | šventė | to celebrate | ||
| tęsti | tęsiu | tęsi | tęsia | tęsiau | tęsei | tęsė | to continue, proceed; drag, carry | ||
| čiulpti | čiulpiu | čiulpi | čiulpia | čiulpiau | čiulpei | čiulpė | to suck | ||
| siųsti | siunčiu | siunti | siunčia | siunčiau | siuntei | siuntė | to send | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 receive 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 | ||
| 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 smth. fall on smth., smb. (for viscous, thick material); sleet; plonk | ||
| krė̃sti | krečiu | kreti | krečia | krėčiau | krėtei | krėtė | to shake smth. 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 on smth., smb.; slap; slam | ||
| võgti | vagiu | vagi | vãgia | vogiau | vogei | vogė | to steal | ||
Suffixed
| -o- suffixed stems. Shorter present tense. A consonant j is iserted between a vocalic stem and a desinence to make pronunciation easier. Historically it is most probably the same type as the full is, there are verbs that are conjugated in the both types, for example, saugoti, saugau / saugoju (< saugā(j)u). A verb pažinoti – to know (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 the both types, for example, pelnyti, (past) pelniau / pelnijau, pelnė (< pelnē < (possibly) pelni(j)ā) / pelnijo (< pelnijā) (a after a soft consonant is e). | |||||||||
| sakýti | sakaũ | sakai | sãko | sakiaũ | sakei | sãkė | to say | ||
| klausýti | klausau | klausai | klauso | klausiau | klausė | klausei | 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) | ||
| gáudyti | gaudau | gaudai | gaudo | gaudžiau | gaudei | gaudė | to catch (one-time: su/pagauti, -gaunu, -gavau) | ||
| ródyti | rodau | rodai | rodo | rodžiau | rodei | rodė | to show | ||
| pelnýti | pelnaũ | pelnai | pel̃no | pelniau | pelnei | pelnė | to earn | ||
| Full type of -y- suffixed stems. The suffix is shortened in conjugation if not stressed and is long or short (both variants are apt) 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 the both of the types, for example, ryšė́ti – to wear smth. tied on oneself (rišti – to tie), ryšiù / ryšė́ju. For a verb vertėti the mainly used form is subjunctive, III p. (present) vertė́tų – it would be worth, for the present tense it is mostly said in a neuter adjective: ver̃ta – it is worth (to do smth.), for the past tense it is said either buvo verta or vertėjo – it was worth (to do smth.). | |||||||||
| 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 | ||
| 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 become more clear, bold, bright, glowing | ||
| tvirtė́ti | tvirtėju | tvirtėji | tvirtėji | tvirtėjau | tvirtėjai | tvirtėjo | to stiffen, strengthen, firm up | ||
| raudonė́ti | raudonėju | raudonėji | raudonėja | raudonėjau | raudonėjai | raudonėjo | to become 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 | varinėja | 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 a 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-. A 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 ripple | ||||||
| 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 furnace, heater | ||
| ridenti | ridenu | rideni | ridena | ridenau | ridenai | rideno | to trundle, wheel, roll, make roll; bowl | ||
Word order
Lithuanian has an SVO (subject–verb–object) as the main word order:Adjunct(s)(temporal, locative, causal) + Subject + Adjunct(s)(other)
+ Verb + Object(s) + Infinitive + other parts.
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 kine aš mačiau gražią mergaitę. (the main order)
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 tendency to be postponed after other words, but not always to the end of the sentence. Adjectives precede nouns like they do in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, but order of adjectives in an adjective group is different from in English. If the main word order is followed, a temporal, locative or causal adjunct
Adjunct
Adjunct may refer to:* Adjunct , words used as modifiers* Adjunct professor, a professor who does not hold a permanent position at a particular academic institution* Adjuncts, sources of sugar used in brewing...
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 adjunct
Adjunct
Adjunct may refer to:* Adjunct , words used as modifiers* Adjunct professor, a professor who does not hold a permanent position at a particular academic institution* Adjuncts, sources of sugar used in brewing...
s are typical parts of the initial complementary words group, while other complementary words are put to the final group. If an adjunct is more significant in a sentence, it should be put to 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 - through, during
- 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"
- jei - if
- kad - that (not the demonstrative pronoun)
- kol - until
- arba - or/but
- nes - because
- tačiau - however
External links
- Lithuanian grammar: categories, conjugation, declension
- The Historical Grammar of Lithuanian language Web page on Lithuanian grammar; there are accentuation (kirčiavimas) patterns given here.
- Some Unique Features of Lithuanian on Lituanus.org
- Some Unsolved Riddles of Lithuanian Linguistics on Lituanus.org