Lithuanian grammar

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, and is consequently very complex.

Properties and morphological categories

Grammatical terminology

The following is a list of Lithuanian terms for properties and morphological categories, with their English translations or equivalents:

There are seven main cases – liñksniai:
vardininkas kilmininkas naudininkas galininkas įnagininkas     vietininkas šauksmininkas	nominative genitive dative accusative instrumental locative (inessive) vocative
the additional locative cases are:
iliatyvas aliatyvas adesyvas	illative allative adessive
Numbers – skaĩčiai:
vienaskaita     daugiskaita	singular plural
Degrees of comparison – láipsniai:
nelyginamasis aukštesnysis aukščiausiasis	absolute comparative superlative
Genders – gìminės:
vyriškoji moteriškoji bevardė	masculine feminine neuter

Tenses – laikaĩ:
esamasis būtasis kartinis būtasis dažninis būsimasis	present past past iterative future
Moods – núosakos:
tiesioginė netiesioginė tariamoji liepiamoji	indicative     indirect subjunctive imperative
Voices – rū́šys:
veikiamoji neveikiamoji	active passive
Aspects – veikslaĩ:
įvykio eigos	perfective continuous, progressive

Parts of speech – kalbõs dãlys:

Daiktavardis	Noun	Dalelytė	Particle
Būdvardis	Adjective	Prielinksnis	Preposition
Veiksmažodis	Verb	Jungtukas	Conjunction
Skaitvardis	Numeral	Jaustukas	Interjection
Įvardis	Pronoun	Ištiktukas	Verbal interjection
Prieveiksmis	Adverb

Gender

Lithuanian nouns are classified into one of two genders:

• masculine
• feminine

Lithuanian adjectives, numerals, pronouns and participles are classified into one of three genders:

• masculine
• feminine
• neuter

Since no noun can have a neutral gender, it’s used with subjects of neutral or undefined gender:

Ji (fem.) yra graži (fem.) – She is beautiful. Mokytojas (masc.) bus pasirengęs (masc.) – The teacher will be ready. Skaityti (undefined) buvo įdomu (neuter) – Reading was interesting.

The gender of a pronoun kas – 'who? what?', personal pronouns aš / mes – 'I' / 'we', tu / jūs – 'you (singular) / you (plural)' and a reflexive 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 many other Indo-European languages. This means that for an entire mixed group of objects belonging to masculine and feminine genders, the masculine gender is used. The masculine as the indeterminate gender differs from the indefinite gender, which allows treatment of the word in two ways.

Note that there are many nouns that use masculine or feminine genders without any reason of biological gender, for instance, words that denote inanimate objects. The masculine or feminine usage of these words is stable (with few exceptions) and doesn't depend on the will of a speaker.

Lithuanian grammatical genders are similar to, for instance, Latin:

nominative    genitive	vilkas wolf vilko	kalba language kalbos	prekė commodity prekės	pilis castle pilies	viršus top viršaus	akmuo stone akmens	girdė́tas, girdė́ta, girdė́ta heard; gender sequence: m, f, n girdė́to, girdė́tos from girdė́ti – to hear (continuing, imperfective action)	ìšgirstas, išgirstà, ìšgirsta heard ìšgirsto, išgirstõs from išgir̃sti – to hear (one-time, perfective action)
nominative    genitive	lupus wolf lupī	lingua language linguae	rēs thing reī	turris tower turris	frūctus fruit frūctūs	acūmen n sharp point acūminis	audītus, audīta, audītum heard, listened; from audīre [1] – to hear, listen audītī, audītae, audīta

Grammatical number

The Lithuanian language has two main numbers, 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).

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 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

Main article: Lithuanian declension

• Nominative – vardininkas
• Genitive – kilmininkas; it also functions similarly to the ablative case in other languages.
• Dative – naudininkas
• Accusative – galininkas
• Instrumental – įnagininkas
• Locative cases:
  • 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, vyruose - in men. It is also used for a temporal meaning in some words: vakarè [vɐkɐrʲˈɛ] – in the evening (vãkaras [ˈväːkɐrɐs̪] nom. 'an evening'). But more 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 [ˈtʲrʲæːt͡ʃʲæː ˈdʲiən̪äː ˈkʲæːpʲɪn̪ɐ] (kepina is idiomatic or slang in such meaning) – it is 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, namíe-p sg.. It is a historical or dialectal case, extinct in modern standard Lithuanian.

The later three locatives are adverb-forming cases.

Nouns

See also: Lithuanian declension

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 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 singular and plural numbers. There are some words that have only singular (e.g., pienas – milk, auksas – gold, gripas – flu, laimė – happiness) or only plural (e.g., lubos – ceiling, miltai – flour, kelnės – trousers) forms. Most such words are abstract (i.e., represent concepts like luck or love and not tangible things such as table or house), describe material or name a disease. However, in some instances, for example poetic language, it is possible to use singular nouns in plural form.

Noun modification by numeral

In Lithuanian, unlike in Romance / Germanic languages, the form of a count noun depends on final digits of the number.

Number ends with	Form	Example
1 (excluding 11)	Singular	31 litas
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

Main article: Lithuanian declension

Nouns in Lithuanian language have 12 declension paradigms, in scholar grammar corresponding to five declensions which are defined by the inflection in singular nominative and genitive cases. Only few borrowed words, like taksì – taxi, kupė – compartment (in a train), coupe, are not subject to declension rules.

	Inflection in singular cases		Examples			Notes
	Nominative	Genitive	Nominative	Genitive	Meaning
I	-as, -is, -ys	-o	výras mẽdis traukinỹs kẽlias	výro mẽdžio tráukinio kẽlio	man, male; husband tree train road	Main pattern for masculine nouns
II	-a, -i¹, -ė	-os, -ės	žmonà šviesà várna pradžià sáulė	žmonõs šviesõs várnos pradžiõs sáulės	wife light crow beginning sun	Main pattern for feminine nouns; few masculine exceptions
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.

1. There are only two nouns ending in -i: pati 'wife' and marti 'daughter-in-law'. Their declension is the same to the second adjective feminine declension and similar to a second feminine noun palatalized declension. The noun pati is the same to a pronoun pati 'herself; myself f; itself (for feminine nouns)'
2. Exception: petys m – shoulder, peties, etc., after this declensional pattern. The third declension is very similar to the fifth declension.
3. Duktė 'daughter' is the only word of the fifth declension, not having an ending uo. A word moteris 'woman, female' often has a genitive móters; the plural genitive of moteris is moterų (not palatalized -ių); it is the only normal form for the fifth declension and one of the two (the main is -ių) for the third. The more two words, obelis f – apple tree and dieveris m – (older) brother-in-law, are the same declensional case as moteris, but dieveris, being masculine possibly has a sg. inst. -iu. Dieveris is also the only -er- masculine case.

Typology

In the table below the numbers of nouns, received by the statistical analysis of the data in the Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian language (Dabartinės Lietuvių kalbos žodynas; the fourth issue, 2000), are given grouped by the patterns of declension and accentuation. 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 any verb. There may be some inaccuracies due to some specific features, for instance, there are homonyms, which differ only in an accent: síetas 1 – sieve (related to sijóti – to sieve), siẽtas 2 – tether, leash (related to siẽti – to tie, bond; saĩtas – bond; leash), and the possibility exists that in some of such cases the two words were taken as one.

Words with a suffix -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.

		1	2	3	3a	3b	34a	34b	4	alt.	all
-as		1907	3499	90	35	393	48	5	340	94	6411
-j-as		921	16						4		944
-ias				1					2
-is		3085	2188							22	5295
-ys				16	192	581	48	25	282	102	1246
-a	f	1571	635	19	58	369	16	1	405	26	3100
	m	1	11								12
	c	207	32	3	1	6			16	1	266
-j-a		1821	114			22			43	5	2005
-ia
-ė	f	2668	2895	14	30	125	14	1	202	59	6008
	m		4								4
	c	2	6			7			4		19
-is	f	50	2	7	10	76	1		99	10	255
	m	1	1	2	6	10		1	3	3	27
	c					3		1	1	3	8
-us			7	2					10		19
-j-us		184	314							1	504
-ius		2
-uo					23	38	1			1	63

The numbers in the upper row mean accentuation types. For the third type the additional information is given in dictionaries. The mark 3 without the letter added, is for words, stressed in the next-to-last syllable. The letter written by is for polysyllabic words and says what type of stress the syllable has in those cases where the stress falls on the stem (other cases receive it on the ending) and how distant from the ending the syllable stressed is. The letter a is for a start-firm (tvirtapradė priegaidė) accent and the letter b – for an end-firm (tvirtagalė priegaidė) and short stressed vowel. The single digit with a letter means that the stress falls on the third syllable from the ending; if the stress falls on the fourth syllable from the ending, the mark is 34a or 34b, there are also nouns having stress in the fifth (35a, 35b) and sixth (36b) syllable from the ending. Here are a few examples of the nouns of the third accentuation pattern, the singular nominative and the plural dative and accusative cases: akmuõ, akmenìms, ãkmenis; áugalas, augaláms, áugalus; žándas, žandáms, žándus. The first declension also include nouns stressed in the more distant from the ending syllable than the next-to-last, but their stress is steady through the cases and is always clear from the nominative singular.

In the left column the nominative singular endings of words, grouped by declensional paradigms, are 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)
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)
			rūgštìs (1) - acid (rūšìs) 1 - sort; species
			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
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
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
			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
			alùs - beer	medùs - honey	vidùs - inside midùs - mead (drink)

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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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)
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
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
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)
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
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 print				pìntis - amadou
	dul̃ksmas 4 - dust rise		stum̃bras - wisent dum̃blas 4 - silt	iñdas - dishware, utensil tiñklas - net giñklas - weapon
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

Adjectives

Declension

Main article: Lithuanian 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.

• Most of the first type adjectives of the third declension are with the suffix -in-. These are easily made from other parts of speech by adding the suffix -in-. When made from verbs, they are mostly made from a past passive participle: vìrti – to boil, vìrtas – boiled, virtìnis – which is boiled, made by boiling. Consequently the suffix is -t-in- for such adjectives. Such variants of verbal derivation easily become nouns (declined in noun declension paradigm), in this case it is a noun virtìnis – dumpling (with mushrooms; curd; etc.; but dumplings with meat are called koldūnai).
• Adjectives, except -inis type and a form didelis – big, can have pronominal (definite) forms
• Two adjectives of the third declension have long -ys: dešinỹs – right, kairỹs – left; plural nominative is dešinì, kairì; plural dative: dešiníems, kairíems. A short form of dìdelis, dìdelė is dìdis, didì (similar to pats, pati). Dešinys, kairys, didis have neuter gender of the u pattern: dešinu, kairu, didu. Pronominal forms: didỹsis, didžióji, dešinỹsis, dešinióji. An adjective didelis, didelė hasn't pronominal forms. The word didis has more mingled forms: nominative is sometimes didus; genitive masc.: didžio / didaus; accusative: didį (/ didų); plural masc. nom. didūs; other forms are of the regular pattern.
• Some other forms having variations in a standard language: pė́sčias, pėsčià, pė́sčia – pedestrian, afoot; pėsčiàsis, pėsčióji and pėstỹsis, pėsčióji (adjectival and substantival meanings).

In the following examples of noun and adjective matching, gatvė – street and kelias – road are matched with tiesus – straight:

• Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesios gatvės (singular vs. plural)
• Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesus kelias (feminine vs. masculine)
• Tiesi gatvė vs. tiesią gatvę (nominative vs. accusative case)

This does not apply in case of the neuter gender adjectives because nouns do not have neuter gender. Such adjectives are used 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 is mostly used for predicatives. Usage in the role of object (like in "jis matė šilta ir šalta") is rare.

Degrees of comparison

The Lithuanian language has five degrees of comparison. The three main degrees are the same as in English language. Note that there are no irregular adjectives and all adjectives have the same suffixes. All such adjectives still need to match the nouns in terms of case, number, and gender. Neuter gender comparative degree is the same as adjective comparative degree.

Language	Gender	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 also have a pronominal form that is formed by merging adjectives with third person personal pronouns.

Pronouns

See also: Lithuanian declension § Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns aš (I), tu (you) jis (he, it), ji (she, it) are declined as follows:

			Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	1st person		aš	manęs	man	mane	manimi	manyje
	2nd person		tu	tavęs	tau	tave	tavimi	tavyje
	3rd person	Masculine	jis	jo	jam	jį	juo	jame
		Feminine	ji	jos	jai	ją	ja	joje
	Reflexive pronoun		–	savęs	sau	save	savimi	savyje
Plural	1st person		mes	mūsų	mums	mus	mumis	mumyse
	2nd person		jūs	jūsų	jums	jus	jumis	jumyse
	3rd person	Masculine	jie	jų	jiems	juos	jais	juose
		Feminine	jos	jų	joms	jas	jomis	jose

Reflexive pronoun

The reflexive pronoun savęs is declined like tu (savęs - sau - save ...), but it doesn't have the singular nominative and plural cases.

Verbs

Every Lithuanian verb belongs to one of three different conjugations:

• The first conjugation is the most commonly found in Lithuanian, encompassing those verbs whose infinite form ends in -ati, -oti, -auti, -uoti or a consonant followed by -ti (e.g. dirbti). This conjugation also has the highest occurrence of irregularity of all the Lithuanian verb cases.

• The second conjugation refers to those verbs whose infinitive form ends in -ėti. There are hardly any instances of irregularity for this conjugation. An exception: verbs that have -ėja in the Present Tense (like didėti / didėja / didėjo 'to increase') belong to the first conjugation.

• The third conjugation consists of those verbs whose infinitive form ends in -yti. An exception: verbs that have -ija in the Present Tense (like rūdyti / rūdija / rūdijo 'to rust') belong to the first conjugation.

As is many other indoeuropean languages (e. g. English, Latvian), every single verbal form can be derived from three stems: infinitive, 3rd person present tense and 3rd person past tense.

Lithuanian verbs belong to one of the following stem types:

• primary (verbs without suffixes: pykti, pyksta, pyko ʽto be angry’). This group encompasses most of the verbs with irregular or unpredictable forms;

• mixed (verbs with suffixes in certain forms: mylėti, myli, mylėjo ʽto love’);

• suffixal (verbs with suffixes in all forms: didėti, didėja, didėjo ʽto increase’).

Active voice

Indicative mood

In the active voice, the indicative mood contains 4 simple and 8 compound tenses.

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)

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)

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'

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 shall work', norėsi = 'You will want', skaitysime = 'We shall 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").

Adjectival participles decline as adjectives, while adverbial participles are not declined.[2] The forms of adjectival participles are given in masculine and feminine forms respectively:

	Active	Passive
Present/imperfective	valgąs (valgantis), valganti ("that is eating", adjectival) valgant ("while eating", adverbial)	valgomas, valgoma ("that is being eaten", adjectival)
Past/perfective	valgęs, valgiusi ("that has eaten", adjectival) valgius ("(after) having eaten", adverbial)	valgytas, valgyta ("that has been eaten", adjectival)
Habitual/frequentative past	valgydavęs, valgydavusi ("that used to eat", adjectival) valgydavus ("(after) having eaten repeatedly", adverbial)	—
Future	valgysiąs (valgysiantis), valgysianti ("that will eat"/"that will be eating", adjectival) valgysiant ("having to eat", adverbial)	valgysimas, valgysima ("that will be eaten", adjectival)
Future necessity	—	valgytinas, valgytina ("to be eaten"/"that must be eaten", adjectival)

The so-called "half participle" (pusdalyvis) describes secondary actions performed alongside primary actions. It is adverbial, but is declined for gender and number (not for case). Example: valgydamas, valgydama ("eating").

Verb prefixes

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 action 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.

• 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 reflexion -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

Verb categories

Tenses and aspects

• The present tense
• The past tense
• The past iterative
• The future tense
• (The four perfect constructions, periphrastic)
• (The four inchoative constructions, periphrastic)

Moods

• The indicative mood (with all tenses)
• The indirect mood (with all tenses, non-conjugated)
• The imperative mood (without distinction of tenses)
• The optative mood (without distinction of tenses, having the 3rd person only, sometimes treated as the 3rd person of the imperative mood)
• The conditional mood (without distinction of tenses)
• (The optative mood II, periphrastic, based on the conditional mood)
• The negative form
• The indeterminate form (for true action with uncertain aspect)
• (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 of perfection could be expressed.

Voices

• The Active voice
• The reflexive form (voice-like form, which can be sometimes in passive voice too)
• The Passive voice
  • in a case of a participle it is a different grammatic form with 3 main tenses (it does not have the past iterative tense).
  • in a case of conjugated verbs it is periphrastic, based on the passive participles (3 main tenses).

Conjugative verbal forms

• The present tense
• The past tense
• The past iterative tense
• The future tense
• The imperative mood
• The optative mood (having the 3rd person only, sometimes treated as the 3rd person of the imperative mood)
• The conditional mood

Non-conjugative verbal forms

The non-conjugative verbal forms are close to other non-conjugated grammatical categories, e. g. the participles 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 adjuncts.

• The infinitive
• The indirect mood
• The gerund, or the verbal noun, is a masculine noun, regularly made from any verb, not having distinction of tenses and not used in the plural number in its direct sense. The gerund has its own specific order, to put its objects.
• The sub-participles are verbal adverbs, not declined, being of four tenses (the present, the past, the past iterative and the future) of the active voice. The sub-participle has its own specific order, to put its subject.
• 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 number and gender, and they should be used in concord with the subject of the main verb in the sentence (whereas semi-participle couldn't have its own subject).
• The verbal intensifier is a verbal particle, 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 objects or adjuncts.
• The verbal interjection could be formed from verbs of certain categories. It is used like a simple interjection, but could have its own subject, objects and (not often) adjuncts. The verbal interjection is considered a separate part of speech in most of grammars of Lithuanian.

Stem classes

The below given tables are not a full collection of types of conjugation, there can be types in language not included here.

Consonants d, t become s before t in any case in language. In verbs this occurs before a desinence -ti of the infinitive, desinence with -t- of the past passive participle.

Non-suffixed

infinitive	present tense			past tense			meaning
	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	kándau	kándai	kándo	to bite
galą́sti	galándu	galandi	galánda	galándau	galandai	galándo	to sharpen, hone
lìpti	lipù	lipì	lìpa	lipaũ	lipaĩ	lìpo	to mount; tread (on); scale, climb
kìšti	kišù	kišì	kìša	kišaũ	kišaĩ	kìšo	to put, slip, poke, stick in
rìsti	ritù	ritì	rìta	ritaũ	ritaĩ	rìto	to roll, bowl
sukti	suku	suki	suka	sukau	sukai	suko	to turn; bear (to); spin; wrap
supti	supu	supi	supa	supau	supai	supo	to swing, sway, rock
lupti	lupu	lupi	lupa	lupau	lupai	lupo	to peel; flay; swinge, thrash
skùsti	skutù	skutì	skùta	skutaũ	skutaĩ	skùto	to shave; scale, peel, scrape; run fast
There is a frequent verb with a consonant 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 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 dare
grįžti	grįžtu	grįžti	grįžta	grįžau	grįžai	grįžo	to come back, return
A small group of stems ending in ž, š, has to be written with an ogonek in the present.
gesti	gęstu	gęsti	gęsta	gesau	gesai	geso	to be stopping (intransitive) shining, burning, working (for light, fire; life; motor)
težti	tęžtu	tęžti	tęžta	težau	težai	težo	to become squidgy; wimp out
For a few stems that have 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

Syntax

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, 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 adjuncts 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
• (Lithuanian) 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
• Lithuanian verbs training
• Lithuanian verbs test