Lithuanian grammar

Last updated

Lithuanian grammar retains many archaic features from Proto-Balto-Slavic that have been lost in other Balto-Slavic languages.

Contents

Properties and morphological categories

Grammatical terminology

CategoryLanguage
LithuanianEnglish
Parts of speech daiktavardis noun
būdvardis adjective
veiksmažodis verb
skaitvardis numeral
įvardis pronoun
prieveiksmis adverb
dalelytė particle
prielinksnis preposition
jungtukas conjunction
jaustukas interjection
ištiktukas verbal interjection
Main cases (liñksniai)vardininkas nominative
kilmininkas genitive
naudininkas dative
galininkas accusative
įnagininkas instrumental
vietininkas inessive
šauksmininkas vocative
Locative casesiliatyvas, kryptininkas illative
aliatyvas allative
adesyvas adessive
Number (skaĩčiai)vienaskaitasingular
dviskaitadual
daugiskaitaplural
Degrees of comparison (láipsniai)nelyginamasispositive
aukštesnysiscomparative
aukščiausiasissuperlative
Genders (gìminės)vyriškojimasculine
moteriškojifeminine
Tenses (laikaĩ)esamasispresent
būtasis kartinispast
būtasis dažninispast iterative
būsimasisfuture
Moods (núosakos)tiesioginėindicative
netiesioginėindirect
tariamojiconditional (subjunctive)
liepiamojiimperative
Voices (rū́šys)veikiamojiactive
neveikiamojipassive
Aspects (veikslaĩ)įvykioperfective
eigoscontinuous, progressive

Gender

Lithuanian nouns are classified into one of two genders:

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

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

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. [1] The masculine as the indeterminate gender differs from the indefinite gender, which allows treatment of the word in two ways.

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

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

nominative   

genitive		vilkas
wolf
vilko		kalba
language
kalbos		prekė
commodity
prekės
pilis
castle
pilies		viršus
top
viršaus
akmuo
stone
akmens		girdė́tas, girdė́ta, girdė́ta
heard; gender sequence: m., f., n.
girdė́to, girdė́tos
from girdė́ti – to hear (continuing, imperfective action)		ìšgirstas, išgirstà, ìšgirsta
heard
ìšgirsto, išgirstõs
from išgir̃sti – to hear (one-time, perfective action)
nominative   

genitive		lupus
wolf
lupī		lingua
language
linguae		rēs
thing
reī		turris
tower
turris		frūctus
fruit
frūctūs		acūmen n.
sharp point
acūminis
audītus, audīta, audītum
heard, listened; from audīre – to hear, listen
audītī, audītae, audīta

Grammatical number

The Lithuanian language has two main numbers, singular and plural. It has also a dual number, which is used in certain dialects, such as Samogitian. Some words in the standard language retain their dual forms (for example du ("two") and abu ("both"), an indefinite number and super-plural words (dauginiai žodžiai in Lithuanian). Dual forms of pronouns used in the standard language are also optional.

The singular number indicates that the denoted thing is one or indivisible (as in méilė – love, smė̃lis – sand, píenas – milk). The plural number, when it can be in contrast with the singular, indicates that there are many of the things denoted by the word. But sometimes, when a word doesn't have the singular number, being a plurale tantum noun, the plural form doesn't indicate real singularity or plurality of the denoted object(s).

Adjectives and numerals also have the singular-plural distinction. Their number depends on that of the noun they are attributed to.

The dual number indicates a pair of things. Historically, the dual number has been a full grammatical number, participating as the third element in singular-dual – plural distinction. During the last century,[ clarification needed ] the dual was used more or less sporadically in Lithuanian, sometimes reaching the status of a full number for agreement purposes, meaning the dual of noun required dual agreement in its adjectives or the dual of the subject required the dual of the verb. But in many more cases the dual was reduced to a nominal category explicitly indicating a pair of things, but not requiring dual agreement of adjectives or verbs. Presently, the dual is mostly used as a declension paradigm for numbers du – two, abu – both (and a variant abudu – idem) and with personal pronouns aš – I, mùdu du. – we two (mẽs pl. – we) and tu sg. – you, jùdu du. – you two (jū̃s pl. – you).

dualplural
presentpastfutureimperativepresentpastfutureimperative
eĩnava – we two are going; we two goė̃jovaeĩsivaeĩkiva – let us two goeĩnameė̃jomeeĩsimeeĩkime – let us go
eĩnata – you two are going; you two goė̃jotaeĩsitaeĩkita – you two goeĩnateė̃joteeĩsiteeĩkite
singular
einùėjaũeĩsiu
einìėjaĩeĩsieĩk – 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

  • Locative (inessive) – vietininkas
  • Illative – (iliatyvas, sometimes referred as kryptininkas); dialectal, without clear status in the standard Lithuanian
  • Allative; obsolete, the singular is reduced to adverbs
  • Adessive; extinct

Examples of the locative cases:

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. There are no articles in Lithuanian.

The genders of nouns are masculine and feminine. A rough rule of thumb is that almost all masculine nouns in nominative case end in -s and most feminine in -(i)a or -ė. There are no strict rules governing the gender. For example, upė – river, is feminine, but upelis – rivulet, is masculine. There is no neuter gender ("it gender"), but there are a few words that can be applied to both genders equally. They mostly describe people, have negative connotations, and end in -a, for example vė́pla – dummy, el̃geta – beggar, naktìbalda – night-lumberer, a person who does not sleep at night, but mėmė̃ – gawk.

There are no separate declension paradigms for animate and inanimate nouns in Lithuanian.

Number

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

Noun modification by numeral

In Lithuanian, unlike in Romance / Germanic languages, and like Slavic languages but in a different way, the form of a count noun depends on final digits of the number.

Number ends withFormExample
1 (excluding 11)Singular31 litas
2–9 (excluding 12–19)Plural25 litai
0 or 11–19Special 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 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 casesExamplesNotes
NominativeGenitiveNominativeGenitiveMeaning
I-as, -is, -ys-ovýras
mẽdis
traukinỹs
kẽlias		výro
mẽdžio
tráukinio
kẽlio		man, male; husband
tree
train
road		Main pattern for masculine nouns.
II-a, -i1, -ė-os, -ėsžmonà
šviesà
várna
pradžià
sáulė		žmonõs
šviesõs
várnos
pradžiõs
sáulės		wife
light
crow
beginning
sun		Main pattern for feminine nouns; few masculine exceptions.
III-is2-iesmóteris3f.
pilìs f.
avìs f.
dantìs m.		móteries
piliẽs
aviẽs
dantiẽs		woman, female
castle
sheep
tooth		Rarer; feminine nouns; fewer masculine exceptions.
IV-us-ausžmogùs
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		Very rare; masculine nouns; four3 feminine; all are 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. [2] The data does not include verbal abstracts ending in -imas, -ymas, -umas (for instance, metimas 'a throwing; a throw' from mesti 'to throw'), 18,700 in total (12,000 of the first accentuation paradigm, 6,000 of the second), because they can be made from any verb. There may be some inaccuracies due to some specific features, for instance, there are homonyms which differ only in an accent: síetas 1 – sieve (related to sijóti – to sieve), siẽtas 2 – tether, leash (related to siẽti – to tie, bond; saĩtas – bond; leash), and the possibility exists that in some of such cases the two words were taken as one.

Words with a suffix -men-, are attributed to the third declensional pattern in these tables, but they are of the fifth, the singular (can be used for all, but is not usual for all) nom. is -uo: for example, ãšmenys pl. 3b – blade, sė́dmenys pl. 3a – buttocks, nates, sėdmuõ sg., nẽšmenys pl. 3b – silts, sediments carried by a water stream. The singular instrumental is -imi, like in the third declension, while for masculine words of the fifth declension the proper ending is chosen to be -iu; but -imi can also be chosen for the words of the fifth declension.

In the left column the nominative singular endings of words, grouped by declensional paradigms, are given: -as, -is, -ys, -ias (masculine gender) – the first; -a (-ia), -ė (feminine gender; some other) – II; -is (feminine, some other) – III; -us (-ius) (masculine) – IV; -uo (masculine; two feminine) – V. The palatalized variants of -as, -a, -us types, that is, -ias, -ia, -ius, are counted together with those having -j- before the inflectional ending: -j-as, -j-a, -j-us.

The letters f., m., c. mean gender: f. – feminine, m. – masculine, c. – common (is understood as either of the genders). The column under the abbreviation alt. is for alternative forms, for instance, a word grobuonis 2, 3a c. – predator (of the third declension), can be accentuated in two types: (2) grobuõnis, grobuõnies, grobuõniui; (3a) grobuonìs, grobuoniẽs, gróbuoniui.

-as-j-as-is-ys-ias
1.výras – man, male, pienas – milk, skruostas – cheekvė́jas – wind, šilójas – heather, ling; veikė́jas – character, actor, vartótojas – consumerbrólis – 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 – fuelgalvijas – cow (cattle); yahoo, šalavijas – salvia, sagežõdis – 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, pelėsiaĩ 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 – userdróbė – linen, dìldė – rasp, nail file, kárvė – cow, pagálvė – pillow, vaivórykštė – rainbow, daržóvė – vegetable
2.rankà – hand, arm, putà – froth, vietà – place, valià – will, galià – powerbrãškė – 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, underpartversmė̃ – fount, spring, varškė̃ – curd, aikštė̃ – square, plaza
4.vėsà – chill, dienà – day, lentà – board, wood cut, dainà – song, pradžià – beginningsrovė̃ – 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, stranglerė́muo 1 (also rėmuo 3a) – waterbrashthere is one proper word: Jė́zus – Jesus(2) ámžius – age, stálčius – drawer (furniture); there is also one proper word: Vìlniusrytójus – 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 – sugarsõdžius – village, vaĩsius – fruit, bal̃džius – furniture makerpavõjus – danger
3.širdìs – heart, obelìs – apple tree, smegenys pl. – brain; masculine: (19) debesìs – cloud, žvėrìs – beastakmuõ – 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.
The second, -a (-ia), -ė (gen.sg. -ės)
The third, -is
The fourth, -us, -ius
The fifth, -uo, -ė (gen.sg. -ers)

About 45% of all nouns are feminine, 55% – masculine.

Grouping by a syllable nucleus of a pre-desinential syllable

In the tables below the possibilities of syllable nucleus of the next-to-last syllable and their accent is shown. The different sound of a next-to-last syllable makes no grammatical distinction, for example, words nóras – wish and kū́nas – body, are of the same declensional and accentuation patterns. But there are a few certain differences in the accentuation features of the nucleus sounds of the next-to-last syllable. Most of the vocals and diphthongs can have either of the accents: a start-firm or an end-firm. Short a, e sounds, when they are in a stem of a word and stressed, lengthen and have always an end-firm accent; i, u are short and there is no accentual differentiation in their stress. Mixed diphthongs (a, e) + (l, m, n, r) have the first element lengthened when stressed in a start-firm accent, when in (i, u) + (l, m, n, r) and a diphthong ui the first element remains short in the same case. The words having ą, ę in a pre-desinential syllable are not included here because of the lack of declensional types. Some examples: rą̃stas 2 – balk, timber; žąsìs 4 – goose; ąsà 4 – handle; kę́sas 3 – hassock.

The four different accentuation patterns are distinguished by two different colors in the rows of the table, their sequence is from the top to the bottom – I, II, III, IV. The words of each accentuation type are given in the following sequence of the declensional types:

  • The first declension (masculine)
  • -as,
  • -is (I–II accentuational pattern) / -ys (III–IV accentuational patterns) and a few -ias words. Their genitive singular is -io.
  • The second declension (feminine)
  • -a (-ia)
  • -ė
  • The third declension (mostly feminine, few masculine): -is; genitive singular is -ies
  • The fourth declension (masculine): -us (-ius)

Some spaces of the tables are not filled, but this does not mean that there are no words which would fit. The sounds a, e (end-firm when stressed) and i, u (short) can not be start-firm and consequently the word having them in the next-to-last stressed syllable can not be of the first and the third accentuation pattern. Some of the declensional types include few words, for example there are only two words of the third accentuation pattern in the fifth declension: sūnùs and lietùs. The number of words (Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian language / Dabartinės Lietuvių kalbos žodynas; the fourth issue, 2000) of the declensional patterns can be checked in the section above.

After some of the words in the tables, a number is added. It indicates an alternative existent accentuation pattern and is given only for some of the words that have an alternative accentuation in a language. Notice that the type of accentuation of a word is shown by the place in the table and the number added means only an alternative accentuation type, which is not necessarily the main one. Some of the alternative accentuation patterns of a word are used equally often (then they are given not in brackets here), some are known from dialects, not preferred (then they are given in brackets).

Here are some illustrations of the alternative accentuation: a word nykštỹs 3 is also commonly said nýkštis 1; zýlė 1 is also known as zylė̃ 3 in some dialects, but this form is used more narrowly and not shown here. Similarly, a word rýkštė 1 is also known as rykštė̃ 4; this is shown in the table. In the case of šálmas 3 – helmet, the variant šal̃mas 4 is also very common. The alternative forms are most usually present between the 1–3 and 2–4 accentuation patterns, same in the type of accent. But there are also different cases, for example, rýkštė 1 and rykštė̃ 4. The fourth accentuation paradigm can be the result of a shift of the third paradigm. The shift can happen following nivellation of the two accents, a loss of accentual contrast. In the case of nivellation of the start-firm and end-firm accents, the distinction between the 3–4 and 1–2 loses its ground, because in a place of the stress the 1 with the 2, the 3 with the 4 acentuation groups differ only in a few cases.

Among the words given in the table, some are older, for example, ver̃pstė 2 – distaff, sker̃džius 2 – chief cowherd, butcher, and some other. Some words are borrowings: bánkas 1 – bank, tánkas 1 – tank, dùrpės – peat, turf and some other. Old borrowings: vỹnas 2 (4) – wine, blỹnas 2 – pancake, rõžė 2 – rose, rūtà 2 (4) – rue, slyvà 2 (4) – plum, vyšnià 2 (1) – cherry, and some other.

oėyūi.e.uo
nóras – wish
plótas – area, stretch
sóstas – throne, stool		vė́jas – windvýras – 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) – wagtailúošvė – mother-in-law
nósis – nose
krósnis – stove, furnace
tóšis – upper layer
of birch bark		klė́tis – barn, granarynýtys 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; natureluõtas (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 – dunevyšnià – cherry
slyvà – plum		rūtà – rue (plant)vietà – place
rõžė – rosenė̃gė – lamprey (fish)lū̃gnė – nupharpiẽnė – sowthistle
(krū̃tis) 4 - breast (women's)
sõdžius – village
rõjus – paradise		skỹrius – department; chapterspiẽčius – close cluster, swarm
(often for insects)
stógas – roof
kótas – shaft, handle
óras – air; weather		krė́slas 1 – easy chair
pė́das – sheaf		rýtas – morninggrū́das – grainstíebas – stipe
dríežas – lizzard		lúobas – thick peel
úodas – mosquito
lokỹs – bearvėžỹs (4) – crayfishnykštỹs (1) – thumb
pėdà 1 – footskiedrà (4) – sliver, shingle(kuopà) 1 – company (military)
brėkšmė̃ – dusk, break
(around sunset or before sunrise)
rūgštìs (1) – acid
(rūšìs) 1 – sort; species
sūnùs – sonlietùs – rain
lõpas – patchrū̃kas – fogsniẽgas – snow
kiẽmas – yard
šiẽnas – hay		kuõlas – stake, picket
lovỹs – trough, chamfer
korỹs – honeycomb		vėžlỹs – turtleryšỹs – 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, streamgėlė̃ – flower
kėdė̃ – chair
dėžė̃ – box		skylė̃ – hole, slotžūklė̃ – fishingmiẽlės 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
auaieiaeiu
šáukštas – spoonkáimas – village, countrysidevéidas – face
jáutis – bull, oxstáibis 2 – dial. shin; forearm
for birds: tarsus
sáuja – palmfullkáina – 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, flickbùtas – flat
kùras – fuel
paũkštis – bird
plaũtis – lung
kriaũšis (4m, 4f) – steep slope		raĩštis – band, tie
kaĩštis – spile, plug		peĩlis – knifevãris – copperkẽlis – knee
mẽdis – tree
sẽnis – old
balà – puddlegirià – forest (large)putà – froth
raũdė – rudd
kiaũlė – pig
(kriaũšė) – steep slope		raĩdė 4 – letter
skaĩdrė (4) – slide, transparency		kreĩvė (4) – curve, graphbrãškė – strawberryžẽmė – earth, ground
prẽkė – commodity, item
kẽkė – raceme, cluster		bìtė – beeùpė – river
pùsė – half, side
striùkė – jacket
gaĩštis 4 – dallying, waste of timeslìstis (4) – simulationdùrys 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, actionkrãštas – edge; country
smãkras – chin
kãras – war		lẽdas – ice
pẽnas – pabulum
kẽras – plant sinuous
ramification		klijaĩ pl. – gluedùgnas – floor, bottom
šaulỹs – rifleman, shooter
straublỹs – trunk, proboscis
(kriaušỹs 2m 4f) – steep slope		gaidỹs – roosterdagỹs – 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 – familygirà – kvass
šaulė̃ – shooter
raukšlė̃ – pucker		raidė̃ 2 – slide, transparencyeilė̃ – rowkatė̃ – catskruzdė̃ – ant
ausìs – ear
šlaunìs – thigh
(kriaušìs 2m 4m) – steep slope		gaištìs 2 – dallying, waste of timenaktìs – night
šalìs – country		sritìs – area
vinìs – nail, spike		ugnìs – fire
pusnìs – snowdrift
žuvìs – fish
alùs – beermedùs – honeyvidùs – inside
midùs – mead (drink)
alelamemanen
káltas – chisel, boasterkéltas – ferryboat
méldas – bulrush		bánkas – bank
tánkas – tank		lénkas – Pole
sámtis – ladle (spoon)
málka – firewood billet
dálba – pole, stick		gélda – trough, tubbámba – navel
támsta – address to a person (formal)		lémpa – lamp
kálvė – smithery, forgekélnės pl. – trousers
pélkė – swamp		pémpė - lapwingnéndrė – reed
ménkė – cod
váltis – boatpántis – tether
ántis – duck
ánkštis – pod, pulse		péntis – thick side of a sharp implement
stálčius – drawer (furniture)ámžius – age
bal̃dai pl. – furnituregañdras 4 – storkbeñdras – 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 dunesšveñtė – 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 – hassockžándas – face side below a cheekbone
lángas – window
galvà – head
bal̃nas – saddle
val̃ksmas – haul of a fishing net;
track of lumber dragging		pel̃nas – profitkam̃pas – angle; cornerlañkas – bow (weapon)
gañdas – hearsay, rumour
krañtas (dial. 2, 1) – waterside, shore
žaltỹs (3) – grass snake; colubridkamblỹs – 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; faulttemplė̃ – elastic string (of a bow etc.)tankmė̃ – thicketsklendė̃ (2) – valve; latch
dantìs – tooth
dangùs – sky
arerirur
tárpas – gap
tvártas – cattle-shed
žárdas (3 2) – rack from poles		ìrklas – oar, paddledùrklas – 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 – cowšnérvė 4 – nostril
kérpė – lichen
šérpė – burr, tear off		dùrpės – peat
kártis – long slender polekìrkšnis 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 elmTur̃tas – wealth, property
pur̃slas 4 (1) – spatter, spray
kar̃štis – heat
kar̃šis – bream		ver̃šis – calftvir̃tis – 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 – distaffvir̃vė – rope
der̃lius – yield, harvest
sker̃džius – chief cowherd; butcher		Tur̃gus – market, mart
dárbas – workbérnas – 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 – curdversmė̃ – 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, shiverpurkšnà – mizzle, spraying
tarmė̃ – dialect
dermė̃ – tone, fitness
varlė̃ – frog		vertė̃ – value
erdvė̃ – space
veržlė̃ – nut (hardware)
tartìs – pronunciation, utterancešerdìs (3 1) – corepirtìs – steambath
viršùs – top
ilulimuminun
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 – fistvìngis (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 – rasptùlpė – tulip
dùlkė – particle of dust, mote
bùlvė – potato		dùmplės pl. – bellowspìnklės pl. (2) – trap, gin
skìltis (3) – segment
of a fruit, vegetable;
section in a recurring
print		pìntis – amadou
dul̃ksmas 4 – dust risestum̃bras – wisent
dum̃blas 4 – silt		iñdas – dishware, utensil
tiñklas – net
giñklas – weapon
skil̃vis – gizzardkum̃pis – hamskliñdis – pancake
liñksnis – (case) inflection, case (grammar)		suñkis – gravitation
rinkà – marketsunkà – strained juice
gul̃bė – swandrum̃zlė 4 – sedimentbliñdė (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; whipgum̃bas – knag; lumbtuñtas 1 – swarm, flock
skilvỹs 2 – gizzardstulgỹs – great snipekrumplỹs (2) – knuckle; cog
dulksnà – drizzlesunkà 2 – strained juice
drumzlė̃ 2 - sediment
vilnìs 2 – wavekulkšnìs (1) – ankle

Adjectives

Declension

In Lithuanian, adjectives have three declensions determined by the singular and plural nominative case inflections. Adjectives agree with nouns in number, gender, and case. Unlike nouns, which have two genders – masculine and feminine, adjectives have three (except -is, -ė adjectives), but the neuter adjectives (the third example in the table) have only one form and are not inflected. The neuter gender is formed simply by eliminating the last consonant -s from the masculine gender forms.

DeclensionSingular nom. inflectionPlural nom. inflectionExamples
MasculineFeminineMasculineFeminine
I-(i)as-(i)a-i-(i)osšáltas, šaltà, (šálta) – cold; šlápias, šlapià, (šlápia) – wet, soppy;
II-us-i-ūs-iosgražùs, gražì, (gražù) – pretty, beautiful; malonùs, malonì, (malonù) – pleasant;
III-is-ė-iai-ėsvarìnis, varìnė – copper; laukìnis, laukìnė – wild;
-is-ė-i-ėsdìdelis, dìdelė – big; dešinỹs, dešinė̃ – right; kairỹs, kairė̃ – left.

All the adjectives (except most -inis type adjectives) can have pronominal (definite) forms that cannot acquire the neuter form:

DeclensionSingular nom. inflectionPlural nom. inflectionExamples
MasculineFeminineMasculineFeminine
I-(i)asis-(i)oji-ieji-(i)osiosšaltàsis, šaltóji – the cold; šlapiàsis, šlapióji – the wet;
II-usis-ioji-ieji-iosiosgražùsis, gražióji – the pretty, the beautiful; malonùsis, malonióji – the pleasant;
III-is-ė-iai-ės―
-ysis-ioji-ieji-iosiosdidỹsis, didžióji – the big, the great; dešinỹsis, dešinióji – the right; kairỹsis, kairióji – the left.

The pronominal adjectives historically have developed from the combination of the simple adjectives and the respective pronominal forms jis, ji (he, she), that is, gẽras + jìs = geràsis; an example in locative case (feminine gender): gražiosè + josè = gražiósiose. They have their own separate declension paradigms.

Pronominal adjectives have a variety of purposes in modern Lithuanian. One of them is the definitiveness, that is, these adjectives can sometimes act like an equivalent of the definite article in English: Suvalgiau raudoną obuolį – I've eaten a red apple; Suvalgiau raudonąjį obuolį – I've eaten the red apple. But they are rarely used this way, as demonstrative pronouns serve better for this purpose. Pronominal adjectives often indicate something unique, thus they are usually used with proper names: Juodoji jūra, Vytautas Didysis, Naujoji Zelandija. Another use (and a very common) is scientific terminology: kvapusis mairūnas, dėmėtoji pelėda, standusis diskas etc. In almost all of these cases, a simple adjective can be used, but it will mean a completely different thing: juoda jūra (instead of Juodoji jūra) means any sea that is black (not necessarily the particular sea in Eastern Europe); dėmėta pelėda (instead of dėmėtoji pelėda) means any owl that has dots on its plumage (not necessarily an owl of the Strix occidentalis species) etc.

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

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

This does not apply in case of the neuter gender adjectives because nouns do not have neuter gender. Such adjectives are used in combination with other parts of speech having no gender (infinitive, some pronouns) or in zero subject sentences and tend to describe a general environment. For example, rūsyje buvo vėsu (zero subject sentence) – it was cool in the cellar; gera tave matyti (the gender neutral infinitive (matyti) is the subject) – it's good to see you. Moreover, adjectives in neuter can be used as an object (and in some cases – as a subject) as well (a rough equivalent of English "that what is" + adjective): jis matė šilta ir šalta – he saw [that what is] cold and hot (he went through fire and water). Adjectives that end in -is do not have the neuter gender. Most of the time neuter gender adjectives are written just like feminine adjectives. However, vocally, neuter gender is distinct by different stressing. Also neuter gender does not have any numbers or cases, and it is mostly used for predicatives. Usage in the role of object (like in "jis matė šilta ir šalta") is rare.

Degrees of comparison

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

LanguageGenderpositivecomparativesuperlative
LithuanianMasculineGẽrasGerėlèsnisGerèsnisGeriáusiasPàts/visų̃ geriáusias
FeminineGeràGerėlèsnėGerèsnėGeriáusiaPatì/visų̃ geriáusia
NeuterGẽraGerėliaũGeriaũGeriáusiaVisų̃ geriáusia
EnglishGoodA tiny bit betterBetterBestThe very best
LithuanianMasculineGražùsGražėlèsnisGražèsnisGražiáusiasPats/visų gražiáusias
FeminineGražìGražėlèsnėGražèsnėGražiáusiaPatì/visų̃ gražiáusia
NeuterGražùGražėliaũGražiaũGražiáusiaVisų̃ gražiáusia
EnglishBeautifulA tiny bit more beautifulMore beautifulMost beautifulThe most beautiful

Adjectives of different degrees can also have their pronominal forms:

LanguageGenderpositivecomparativesuperlative
LithuanianMasculineGeràsisGeresnỹsisGeriáusiasis
FeminineGerójiGeresniójiGeriáusioji
Neuter–––
EnglishThe goodThe betterThe very best
LithuanianMasculineGražùsisGražesnỹsisGražiáusiasis
FeminineGražiójiGražesniójiGražiáusioji
Neuter–––
EnglishThe beautifulThe more beautifulThe most beautiful

Pronouns

Lithuanian has no grammatical category of animacy. Pronouns (including personal ones jis, ji, jie, jos (he, she, they)) replace any noun, regardless if it is not animate (people, animals, objects etc.). Whom did you see? and What did you see? both translate as Ką tu matei?; Something is there and Somebody is there both translate as Ten kažkas yra.

Personal pronouns

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

NominativeGenitiveDativeAccusativeInstrumentalLocative
Singular1st personašmanęsmanmanemanimimanyje
2nd persontutavęstautavetavimitavyje
3rd personMasculinejisjojamjįjuojame
Femininejijosjaijąjajoje
Reflexive pronoun–savęssausavesavimisavyje
Plural1st personmesmūsųmumsmusmumismumyse
2nd personjūsjūsųjumsjusjumisjumyse
3rd personMasculinejiejųjiemsjuosjaisjuose
Femininejosjųjomsjasjomisjose

Reflexive pronoun

The reflexive pronoun savęs is declined like tu (savęs – sau – save ...), but it does not have the singular nominative and plural cases.

Verbs

Every Lithuanian verb belongs to one of three different conjugations:

In Lithuanian every single verbal form can be derived from three stems: infinitive, 3rd person present tense and 3rd person past tense.

Lithuanian verbs belong to one of the following stem types:

The 3rd person of every conjugatable verbal form in Lithuanian has no distinction between numbers: all the singular, dual and plural forms have merged into one single form. Declinable forms (such as compound tenses and passive structures), however, must match according to gender and number. This is a shared feature with its closest relative, the Latvian language.

Modern Lithuanian grammarians no longer consider the 3rd person as having an ending, instead it is now called the "final stem vowel" to which a personal ending is attached in order to make the 1st and the 2nd persons:

 SimpleReflexive
 SingularPluralSingularPlural
1stumeuosimės
2nditeiesitės
3rd∅∅ + si

In reality, however, the attachment of the respective ending to the 3rd person stem is not straightforward and requires additional conversion, e. g. if the 3rd person stem ends in -a, the attachment of the ending -u to make the 1st person form produces -u instead of the expected -au. Moreover, certain notable forms have dropped the final vowel in the 3rd person (future tense, conditional mood), however, the forms for other persons are still composed having the stem vowel in mind (dirbti to work → dirbs he will work → dirbsime we will work). Each one of these conversions are being represented in the following conjugation tables.

Active voice

The active voice in Lithuanian has four moods:

Indicative mood

In the active voice, the indicative mood contains 4 simple and 7 compound tenses.

In each tense five examples are given: three belonging to each conjugation group (dirbti, norėti, skaityti), one reflexive (praustis) and būti – the only auxiliary verb in Lithuanian.

Present tense

This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes present or ongoing actions or, sometimes, actions without definite tense. Its forms and stress patterns are always derived from the 3rd person of the Present tense.

 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be (es- stem)bū́ti – to be (būn- stem)bū́ti – to be (būv- stem)
Idìrbunóriuskaitaũprausiúosiesùbūnùbūvù
You (singular)dìrbinóriskaitaĩprausíesiesìbūnìbūvì
He/She/Itdìrbanóriskaĩtopraũsiasiyrà / ẽstibū̃nabū̃va
Wedìrbamenórimeskaĩtomepraũsiamėsẽsamebū̃namebū̃vame
You (plural)dìrbatenóriteskaĩtotepraũsiatėsẽsatebū̃natebū̃vate
Theydìrbanóriskaĩtopraũsiasiyrà / ẽstibū̃nabū̃va

E.g. dirbu = 'I work', (tu) nori = 'You want', skaitome = 'We read' (present tense).

The auxiliary verb bū́ti has two conjugations in the Present tense: an irregular one (based on es-/yr- stems) and a regular one (based on the būn- / būv- stem). The difference is that the stem bū̃n-/bū̃v- has an iterative meaning (to be frequently): Mokiniaĩ yrà pasiruõšę – The pupils are ready; Mokiniaĩ bū̃na pasiruõšę – The pupils are often ready. The 3rd person form ẽsti is semantically equivalent to bū̃na or bū̃va, but is rarely used in modern Lithuanian. The bū̃v- stem is very rare in modern Lithuanian.

In the -i conjugation type, the 1st person of singular loses the final stem vowel -i, but the last stem consonant becomes palatalized (the sound [ɪ] is absent in nóriu [n̪ôːrʲʊ], the letter i merely denotes palatalization). If the stem ends with a consonant -d, it becomes -dž: girdėti to hear → girdi he hears → girdžiu I hear.

The accentuation of all persons always corresponds to the accentuation of the 3rd person. The only exception is when its accented syllable is penultimate (excluding the reflexive formant -si) and has a short vowel (bìjo – he is afraid) or a rising tone (skaĩto – he reads, praũsiasi – he washes himself): in that case the 1st and the 2nd persons of singular move the stress to the ending: bijaũ, bijaĩ; skaitaũ, skaitaĩ; prausiúosi, prausíesi.

Past tense

This is the basic tense in Lithuanian which describes past actions (ongoing or complete). Its forms and stress patterns are always derived from the 3rd person of the Past tense.

 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be
Idìrbaunorė́jauskaičiaũprausiaũsibuvaũ
You (singular)dìrbainorė́jaiskaiteĩprauseĩsibuvaĩ
He/She/Itdìrbonorė́joskaĩtėpraũsėsibùvo
Wedìrbomenorė́jomeskaĩtėmepraũsėmėsbùvome
You (plural)dìrbotenorė́joteskaĩtėtepraũsėtėsbùvote
Theydìrbonorė́joskaĩtėpraũsėsibùvo

E.g. dirbau = 'I worked', norėjai = 'You wanted', skaitėme = 'We read' (past tense)

In the -ė conjugation type, the last stem consonant becomes palatalized. If the stem ends with a consonant -t or -d, in the 1st person of singular it becomes -č or -dž respectively: kęsti to suffer → kentė he suffered → kenčiau I suffered; melsti to beg → meldė he begged → meldžiau I begged.

The accentuation of all persons always corresponds to the accentuation of the 3rd person. The only exception is when its accented syllable is penultimate (excluding the reflexive formant -si) and has a short vowel (bùvo – he was) or a rising tone (skaĩtė – he read, praũsėsi – he washed himself): in that case the 1st and the 2nd persons of singular move the stress to the ending: buvaũ, buvaĩ; skaičiaũ, skaiteĩ; prausiaũsi, prauseĩsi.

Past iterative tense

The basic meaning of this tense translates as "used to" in English. Its construction is simple:

  • Remove the infinitive ending -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
  • Add the suffix -dav- to the stem.
  • Finally, add the corresponding ending of the past tense for the first conjugation.
 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be
Idìrbdavaunorė́davauskaitýdavaupraũsdavausibū́davau
You (singular)dìrbdavainorė́davaiskaitýdavaipraũsdavaisibū́davai
He/She/Itdìrbdavonorė́davoskaitýdavopraũsdavosibū́davo
Wedìrbdavomenorė́davomeskaitýdavomepraũsdavomėsbū́davome
You (plural)dìrbdavotenorė́davoteskaitýdavotepraũsdavotėsbū́davote
Theydìrbdavonorė́davoskaitýdavopraũsdavosibū́davo

E.g. dirbdavau = 'I used to work', norėdavai = 'You used to want', skaitydavome = 'We used to read'

Future tense

This tense basically describes what will happen in the future. It is relatively simple to form:

  • Remove the -ti ending from the infinitive form of the verb.
  • Add the -s- suffix which is used to form the Future Tense. Note, that ...š or ...ž + -s- assimilates to š without the final s (the infinitive vežti 'to transport' gives vešiu, veši, veš etc. in the Future Tense). In case the stem itself ends with a final ...s, it is eliminated as well: kąsti (to bite) → kąs.
  • Add the appropriate ending.
  • All the persons in this tense are completely regular (and retain the stress position and intonation of the infinitive), except for the 3rd one. The latter of this tense changes depending on several rules:
  • If the 3rd person's form is stressed in the final or the only syllable with a falling tone (without the inclusion of the reflexive formant -is), it is systematically replaced with a rising tone (kalbė́ti (to speak) → kalbė̃s, pramogáuti (to entertain oneself) → pramogaũs; aukótis (to sacrifice oneself) → aukõsis (the reflexive formant does not count)). This rule does not apply to cases when there the last syllable is not stressed (sáugoti (to protect) → sáugos).
  • Primary verbs acquire a short vowel i or u (instead of long y or ū) when the infinitive and the present tense has a long vowel, but the past tense has a short vowel: (lýti (to rain): lỹja, lìjo → lìs; pū́ti (to rot): pū̃va, pùvo → pùs, most importantly: bū́ti (to be): bū̃na, bùvo → bùs).
 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be
Idìrbsiunorė́siuskaitýsiupraũsiuosibū́siu
You (singular)dìrbsinorė́siskaitýsipraũsiesibū́si
He/She/Itdir̃bsnorė̃sskaitỹspraũsisbùs
Wedìrbsimenorė́simeskaitýsimepraũsimėsbū́sime
You (plural)dìrbsitenorė́siteskaitýsitepraũsitėsbū́site
Theydir̃bsnorė̃sskaitỹspraũsisbùs

E.g. dirbsiu = 'I shall work', norėsi = 'You will want', skaitysime = 'We shall read'

Compound tenses

Compound tenses are periphrastic structures having temporal meanings usually relative to actions indicated by other verbs. Two groups of such tenses exist in modern Lithuanian: Perfect and Inchoative. All of them require an auxiliary verb būti (to be) in its respective form and an active voice participle.

Perfect tenses

There are four perfect tenses in Lithuanian (present, past, past iterative and future) which are all formed using the verb būti in its respective tense and person as well as the active past simple participle in its respective number and gender:

 Present perfectPast perfectPast iterative perfectFuture perfect
Iesu skaĩtęs / skaĩčiusibuvau skaitęs / skaičiusibūdavau skaitęs / skaičiusibūsiu skaitęs / skaičiusi
You (singular)esi skaitęs / skaičiusibuvai skaitęs / skaičiusibūdavai skaitęs / skaičiusibūsi skaitęs / skaičiusi
He/She/Ityra skaitęs / skaičiusibuvo skaitęs / skaičiusibūdavo skaitęs / skaičiusibus skaitęs / skaičiusi
Weesame skaĩtę / skaĩčiusiosbuvome skaitę / skaičiusiosbūdavome skaitę / skaičiusiosbūsime skaitę / skaičiusios
You (plural)esate skaitę / skaičiusiosbuvote skaitę / skaičiusiosbūdavote skaitę / skaičiusiosbūsite skaitę / skaičiusios
Theyyra skaitę / skaičiusiosbuvo skaitę / skaičiusiosbūdavo skaitę / skaičiusiosbus skaitę / skaičiusios

These tenses (except for present perfect) correspond roughly to equivalent English perfect tenses (I had read / I will have read). They are used in various contexts for very different meanings, but they usually indicate an action that happened before another action said with another verb, noun or similar: Tos knygos neėmiau, nes jau ją buvau skaitęs – I didn't take that book because I had already read it; Po kelionės vaikai bus labai pasiilgę tėvų – After the trip the children will have badly missed their parents.

They are also used for a generalized meaning not associated with a specific event (equivalent of English "Have you ever done it?"): Ar esi buvęs Paryžiuje? – Have you ever been to Paris [any time in your life]?; Esu skaitęs, kad vaistai nuo peršalimo nepadeda – I read [some time ago] that pharmaceuticals are useless against common cold.

Compare phrases: Ar buvai Paryžiuje? – Were you in Paris [that day]?; Skaičiau, kad vaistai nuo peršalimo nepadeda – I read [that day, at a specific moment in my life] that pharmaceuticals are useless against common cold.

The perfect tenses are a common feature of the Lithuanian language and are often used in all types of spoken and written speech.

Inchoative tenses

There are three inchoative tenses in Lithuanian (past, past iterative and future) which are all formed using the verb būti in its respective tense and person, as well as the active present simple participle in its respective number and gender, complemented with the prefix be-. Note the absence of the present inchoative tense.

 Past inchoativePast iterative inchoativeFuture inchoative
Ibuvau beskaitąs / beskaitantibūdavau beskaitąs / beskaitantibūsiu beskaitąs / beskaitanti
You (singular)buvai beskaitąs / beskaitantibūdavai beskaitąs / beskaitantibūsi beskaitąs / beskaitanti
He/She/Itbuvo beskaitąs / beskaitantibūdavo beskaitąs / beskaitantibus beskaitąs / beskaitanti
Webuvome beskaitą / beskaitančiosbūdavome beskaitą / beskaitančiosbūsime beskaitą / beskaitančios
You (plural)buvote beskaitą / beskaitančiosbūdavote beskaitą / beskaitančiosbūsite beskaitą / beskaitančios
Theybuvo beskaitą / beskaitančiosbūdavo beskaitą / beskaitančiosbus beskaitą / beskaitančios

These tenses mostly indicate an action that was interrupted by another action said with another verb. They correspond roughly to English "...was about to do something, when": Tėvas buvo beskaitąs laikraštį, bet kažkas paskambino – The father was about to read a newspaper, but someone called.

They can also indicate an action that have started and is still going on during another action (equivalent of English continuous tenses), but they are almost never used in such a way: Kai grįši namo, motina bus bemieganti – When you will get back home, the mother will be sleeping.

Inchoative tenses are not a part of common Lithuanian speech, their use is limited to literary language and even there only past inchoative tense is ever used.

Indirect mood

The indirect mood in Lithuanian has all and the same tenses (including compound tenses) as the indicative mood, but is not conjugated. Instead of being composed of a conjugatable verb, they are made of pure active participle in nominative case, thus they must match the gender and number of the subject.

 SingularPlural
Presentskaitą̃s, skaĩtantiskaitą̃, skaitančios
Pastskaĩtęs, skaĩčiusiskaĩtę, skaĩčiusios
Past iterativeskaitýdavęs, skaitýdavusiskaitýdavę, skaitýdavusios
Futureskaitýsiąs, skaitýsiantiskaitýsią, skaitýsiančios
Present perfectesą̃s skaĩtęs, ẽsanti skaĩčiusiesą̃ skaĩtę, ẽsančios skaĩčiusios
Past perfectbùvęs skaitęs, bùvusi skaĩčiusibùvę skaitę, bùvusios skaĩčiusios
Past iterative perfectbū́davęs skaĩtęs, bū́davusi skaĩčiusibū́davę skaĩtę, bū́davusios skaĩčiusios
Future perfectbū́siąs skaĩtęs, bū́sianti skaĩčiusibū́sią skaĩtę, bū́siančios skaĩčiusios
Past inchoativebùvęs beskaitą̃s, bùvusi beskaĩtantibùvę beskaitą̃, bùvusios beskaĩtančios
Past iterative inchoativebū́davęs beskaitą̃s, bū́davusi beskaĩtantibū́davę beskaitą̃, bū́davusios beskaĩtančios
Future inchoativebū́siąs beskaitą̃s, bū́sianti beskaĩtantibū́sią beskaitą̃, bū́siančios beskaĩtančios

The indirect mood of passive voice is also used. It is composed of an auxiliary active participle formed from the verb būti 'to be' and passive participle which is the main one. So, indirect mood of passive voice can only be compound. Both present and past passive participles are used. The indirect mood of passive voice has the following tenses: present (esąs skaitomas), present perfect (esąs skaitytas), past (buvęs skaitomas), past perfect (buvęs skaitytas), past iterative (būdavęs skaitomas), past iterative perfect (būdavęs skaitytas), future (būsiąs skaitomas), future perfect (būsiąs skaitytas). [3] [4]

The indirect mood, sometimes called "participle speech", has multiple uses, but primarily denote actions not experienced directly by the speaker and bearing a high degree of uncertainty: Čia kažkada stovėjusi tvirtovė – [I'm not really sure, it seems like] some time ago there stood a fortress here.

Another widely known use of the indirect mood is describing actions in fictional literature (especially folklore) (could be considered as an equivalent of French Passé simple, except that in Lithuanian it is not limited to the past): Kartą gyvenęs kalvis, kuris turėjęs du sūnus – Once there lived a smith who had two sons.

In modern Lithuanian this mood is not very widely used, because other ways of expressing uncertainty and fictional events exist.

Imperative mood

The imperative mood has three forms or tenses (simple, perfect and inchoative). The simple form of the 2nd person of singular, the 1st and the 2nd persons of plural is very regular:

  • Remove the infinitive ending -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
  • Add the suffix -k- to the stem.
  • Finally, add the corresponding ending.

The 3rd person imperative is sometimes called the "optative mood" and has numerous equivalent forms:

  • By adding a simple grammatical prefix te- to the 3rd person of the present tense (tedìrba – let him work). Used moderately often.
  • By adding a simple grammatical prefix te- to the 3rd person of the present tense and replacing the ending with -ie or -ai (tedirbiẽ – let him work, teskaĩtai – let him read). Obsolete / rare.
  • By adding one of the particles tè, tegùl, tegù, laĩ before the 3rd person of the present tense (or sometimes the future tense): tegùl dìrba – let him work, laĩ skaĩto – let him read. Used very often.
 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be
I—
You (singular)dìrbk(i)norė́k(i)skaitýk(i)praũskisbūk(i)
He/She/Ittedirbiẽ / tedìrbatenoriẽ / tenóriteskaĩtai / teskaĩtotesiprausiẽ / tesipraũsiateesiẽ / tebūniẽ / tebùs
Wedìrbkimenorė́kimeskaitýkimepraũskimėsbū́kime
You (plural)dìrbkitenorė́kiteskaitýkitepraũskitėsbū́kite
Theytedirbiẽ / tedìrbatenoriẽ / tenóriteskaĩtai / teskaĩtotesiprausiẽ / tesipraũsiateesiẽ / tebūniẽ / tebùs

The imperative mood is used to describe an action that the speaker wants another person to do: Duok pinigų! – Give me some money! Iš pradžių įleiskime svečius. – Let us at first invite the guests in. This mood is actively used in modern Lithuanian.

The 2nd person of singular has its ending -i only in poetry / fictional literature. The usage of this ending is usually an indication of poetic style.

The perfect and inchoative forms are composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its simple imperative form and of an active participle of the main verb, matched according to gender and number of the person:

 PerfectInchoative
I—
You (singular)būk skaitęs / skaičiusibūk beskaitąs / beskaitainti
He/She/Ittebūnie skaitęs / skaičiusitebūnie beskaitąs / beskaitainti
Webūkime skaitę / skaičiusiosbūkime beskaitą / beskaitainčios
You (plural)būkite skaitę / skaičiusiosbūkite beskaitą / beskaitainčios
Theytebūnie skaitę / skaičiusiostebūnie beskaitą / beskaitančios

Imperative perfect means an instruction of the speaker that has to be completed before some other event: Pirmadienį jau būkite apsisprendę – Please already have your decision made by Monday. This form is actively used in modern Lithuanian.

Imperative inchoative means an instruction of the speaker that has to be started before some other event and continued afterwards: Kai grįšiu, būkite bedirbą – When I'll come back, please be working. This form is obsolete.

Conditional mood

The conditional mood has three forms or tenses (simple, perfect and inchoative). It is very regular to form:

  • Remove the infinitive suffix -ti (the stress pattern is always the same as the infinitive).
  • Add the respective suffix and ending.
 dìrbti – to worknorė́ti – to wantskaitýti – to readpraũstis – to wash oneselfbū́ti – to be
Idìrbčiaunorė́čiauskaitýčiaupraũsčiausibū́čiau
You (singular)1dìrbtum(ei)norė́tum(ei)skaitýtum(ei)praũstumeisibū́tum(ei)
He/She/Itdìrbtųnorė́tųskaitýtųpraũstųsibū́tų
We2dìrbtu(mė)menorė́tu(mė)meskaitýtu(mė)mepraũstu(mė)mėsbū́tu(mė)me
You (plural)2,3dìrbtu(mė)tenorė́tu(mė)teskaitýtu(mė)tepraũstu(mė)tėsbū́tu(mė)te
Theydìrbtųnorė́tųskaitýtųpraũstųsibū́tų
  • 1The longer form with the ending -ei is used very rarely in modern Lithuanian.
  • 2In modern colloquial speech the shorter forms actually retain the -mė- syllable, but remove the final -e (except for reflexive verbs): dirbtumėm, skaitytumėt.
  • 3A shorter form without -mė- does exist, but is used very rarely.

This mood is actively used in modern Lithuanian and one of its functions corresponds to the English conditional mood. The conditional mood is used to describe a hypothetical action that could take place if certain conditions were met (hence the name) or a desired action in present or in future: Panaikinus muitus, sumažėtų prekių kainos – Having eliminated customs duties, prices would go down. Conditional mood is used in conditional (if) sentences; this usage requires conditional mood in subordinate and main clauses if both actions are perceived as hypothetical: Visi laimėtų, jeigu priimtumėte šį pasiūlymą. – There would be a win-win situation for everyone if you accepted this offer.

Another very important function of conditional mood is the expression of purpose in final clauses (corresponds to Subjunctive mood in English): Dirbu viršvalandžius, kad uždirbčiau daugiau. – I work extra hours so that I earn more.

The third function of conditional mood is the expression of politeness: Siūlyčiau panagrinėti šią temą kitu kampu. – I would like to suggest to examine this topic from a different angle.

The perfect and inchoative forms are composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its simple conditional form and of an active participle of the main verb, matched according to gender and number of the person:

 PerfectInchoative
Ibūčiau skaitęs / skaičiusibūčiau beskaitąs / beskaitainti
You (singular)būtum skaitęs / skaičiusibūtum beskaitąs / beskaitainti
He/She/Itbūtų skaitęs / skaičiusibūtų beskaitąs / beskaitainti
Webūtume skaitę / skaičiusiosbūtume beskaitą / beskaitainčios
You (plural)būtumėte skaitę / skaičiusiosbūtumėte beskaitą / beskaitainčios
Theybūtų skaitę / skaičiusiosbūtų beskaitą / beskaitančios

Conditional perfect is actively used in modern Lithuanian. It means a hypothetical action in the past that would have taken place if certain conditions had been met (corresponds to the semantically equivalent form in English): Vadovas būtų pritaręs renginiui, bet niekas nerodė iniciatyvos. – The leader would have approved the event, but nobody showed initiative.

Inchoative conditional means an action that could have started in the past and continued until present if certain conditions were met: Jei jis būtų paklaũsęs mano patarimo, šiandien būtų besimáudąs turtuose. – If he had listened to my advice, today he would be rolling in money. This form is obsolete.

Passive voice

In Lithuanian, passive voice is always analytical and structured differently from the active voice. Passive voice has no perfect tense and no inchoative aspect, because similar semantic relationships can be expressed by the present or past passive participle dichotomy.

Passive voice is always composed of the auxiliary verb būti in its respective tense or person and either a present passive participle or a past passive participle that must match the gender and number of the subject. Sometimes the necessity participle can be used as well. In order to avoid redundancy, the following table only includes the masculine third person, singular.

  Present passivePast passive
Indicative moodPresentyra baigiamasyra baigtas
Pastbùvo baĩgiamasbuvo baigtas1
Past iterativebū́davo baigiamasbūdavo baigtas
Futurebùs baigiamasbus baigtas
Indirect moodPresentesą̃s baigiamasesąs baigtas
Pastbùvęs baigiamasbuvęs baigtas1
Past iterativebū́davęs baigiamasbūdavęs baigtas
Futurebū́siąs baigiamasbūsiąs baigtas
Imperative moodtebūnie baigiamastebūnie baigtas
Conditional moodbūtų baigiamasbūtų baigtas
  • 1This form for all persons can expressed using the passive (invariable) neuter gender participle bū́ta instead of the active participle bùvęs, usually for intransitive verbs: Prieš tai mes buvome [buvę] apsilankę muziejuje → Prieš tai mūsų būta apsilankyta muziejuje. – Before that we had gone to a museum → Before that it had been gone by us to a museum. This structure is rarely used in modern Lithuanian.

The subject of the active voice is converted to the passive voice using its possessive genitive form (hence aš, tu (I, you) converts not into manęs, tavęs, but mano, tavo): Vaikus pagimdei tu, bet užauginau aš → Vaikai buvo tavo pagimdyti, bet mano užauginti. – You gave birth to the children, but I raised them → The children were given birth by you, but raised by me. The possessive adjectives are indeclinable. [5]

Passive voice structures with present participle are the passive equivalents of active voice simple tenses: Mokslininkai atranda tolimas planetas → Tolimos planetos yra mokslininkų atrandamos – Scientists discover distant planets → Distant planets are being discovered by scientists. Kaime bijodavo vilkų → Kaime būdavo bijoma vilkų – Village [people] used to fear wolves → Wolves used to be feared by village [people].

Passive voice structures with past participle are the passive equivalents of active voice perfect tenses: Siuntinį paštas bus pristatęs iki Kalėdų → Siuntys bus pašto pristatytas iki Kalėdų – The post office will have delivered the parcel until Christmas → The parcel will have been delivered by the post office until Christmas. Už tokį poelgį tave būtų pagerbę → Už tokį poelgį būtum pagerbtas – One would have praised you for such a behaviour → You would have been praised for such a behaviour.

Because of the flexibility offered by the neuter gender, in Lithuanian most active voice structures can be converted into passive voice, including intransitive, reflexive and even impersonal verbs. A transitive example (some or most of the English translations are literal, do not make sense in English and are shown only to give an idea):

Generally in modern Lithuanian absence of the subject has a very limited use (except for impersonal verbs). In cases where an active voice structure would have no subject or there is no need for it (except for impersonal verbs), a passive voice equivalent is used instead: Čia nerūko! → Čia nerūkoma! – [Nobody] smokes here! → No smoking here! (The subject would be too broad). Skubiai išnuomoja dviejų kambarių butą. → Skubiai išnuomojamas dviejų kambarių butas. [Someone] is urgently renting a two-room apartment. → A two-room apartment is urgently for rent. (The subject is not necessary).

The opposite case is true as well. If a passive voice structure has an agent expressed in the genitive case, an active voice structure is preferred: Pilietinė visuomenė turi būti skatinama vyriausybės. → (more common) Vyriausybė turi skatinti pilietinę visuomenę. – A civil society should be promoted by the government. → The government should promote a civil society.

Participles

Lithuanian retains a rich system of participles, fourteen in total. In contrast English contains just two: the present participle ("the eating cow") and the past participle ("the eaten cow").

Adjectival participles decline as adjectives, while adverbial participles are not declined..

In Lithuanian participles are very important part of every type of speech. All of them have their own function, but not all are used equally often.

Adjectival participles

Adjectival participles have all the adjectival characteristics: three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), pronominal forms, mostly identical declension and sometimes even degrees of comparison. Their primary function is to describe a nominal part of speech (usually a noun), like any adjective would in their position, hence they are matched by gender, case and number with the noun they are describing.

They can be active or passive. In the following tables only nominative case forms are given.

The verb used is baĩgti (to finish).

Active (non pronominal forms):

SimpleReflexive
MasculineFeminineNeuterMasculineFeminineNeuter
Presentbaigią̃s / baĩgiantisbaĩgiantibaigią̃besibaigią̃s / besibaĩgiantis / baĩgiąsisbesibaĩgianti / baĩgiantisbesibaigią̃ / baigią̃si
Pastbaĩgęsbaĩgusibaĩgębaĩgęsisbaĩgusisbaĩgęsi
Past iterativebaĩgdavęsbaĩgdavusibaĩgdavębaĩgdavęsisbaĩgdavusisbaĩgdavęsi
Futurebaigsią̃s / baĩgsiantisbaĩgsiantibaigsią̃baĩgsiąsisbaĩgsiantisbaĩgsiąsi

Active (pronominal counterparts):

SimpleReflexive
MasculineFeminineNeuterMasculineFeminineNeuter
Presentbaigiantỹsisbaigiančióji–besibaigiantỹsisbesibaigiančióji–
Pastbaigusỹsisbaigusióji–(pa)sibaigusỹsis1(pa)sibaigusióji1–
Past iterative––––––
Futurebaigsiantỹsisbaigsiančióji–(pa)sibaigsiantỹsis1(pa)sibaigsiančióji1–

Passive (non pronominal forms):

SimpleReflexive
MasculineFeminineNeuterMasculineFeminineNeuter
Presentbaĩgiamasbaigiamàbaĩgiama(už)sibaĩgiamas2(už)sibaigiamà2baĩgiamasi
Pastbaĩgtasbaigtàbaĩgta(už)sìbaigtas2(už)sibaigtà2baĩgtasi
Past iterative—
Futurebaĩgsimasbaigsimàbaĩgsima(už)sibaĩgsimas2(už)sibaigsimà2baĩgsimasi
Necessitybaĩgtinasbaigtinàbaĩgtina(už)sibaĩgtinas2(už)sibaigtinà2baĩgtinasi

Passive (pronominal counterparts):

SimpleReflexive
MasculineFeminineNeuterMasculineFeminineNeuter
Presentbaigiamàsisbaigiamóji–(už)sibaigiamàsis2(už)sibaigiamóji2–
Pastbaigtàsisbaigtóji–(už)sibaigtàsis2(už)sibaigtóji2–
Past iterative—
Futurebaigsimàsisbaigsimóji–(už)sibaigsimàsis2(už)sibaigsimóji2–
Necessitybaigtinàsisbaigtinóji–(už)sibaigtinàsis2(už)sibaigtinóji2–

Passive voice present participles and the necessity participles can acquire degrees of comparison if their meaning allows it: mėgti (to like) → liked (favourite), mėgstamesnis (more liked), mėgstamiausias (most liked/favorite); būti (to be) → būtinas (necessary), būtinesnis (more necessary), būtiniausias (the most necessary).

The necessity participles are used to describe something that has to be done: Įsidėmėtinos rašybos atvejis – A spelling case one has to pay special attention to. Abejotina, ar mums pavyks – It is to be doubted if we succeed. Mostly limited to official styles, but certain participles are actively used in colloquial speech as well, some of them being considered more adjectives than verbs: Jis suimtas už pasibaisėtiną elgesį su gyvūnais – He was arrested for an appalling behaviour with animals. (Pasibaisėtinas = one that has to be detested).

Main passive participles mainly denote actions that have impact upon nouns they describe: statomas namas – a house that is being built, iškeltas klausimas – a question that has been raised, vykdysimas įsakymas – an order that will be obeyed. Future passive participles are rare in modern speech.

Present passive participles very often have an active meaning, especially if the verb is intransitive, and are one of the terminology building tools: kuliamoji mašina – a threshing machine, taupomasis bankas – a savings bank, grįžtamasis ryšys – a feedback. If the verb is transitive, it can be used in its intransitive meaning in form of a present passive participle: gydomasis vanduo – healing water. Compare: geriamasis vanduo – drinking water. The difference in those cases is only semantic (water cannot be healed, thus it is accepted that gydomasis vanduo denotes water having healing properties, but not water being healed).

Adverbial participles

As the name suggests, adverbial participles have the characteristics of an adverb and are used to describe the verb instead of the subject. There are three types of such participles: padalyvis ("sub-participle"), pusdalyvis ("half-participle") and būdinys ("descriptive participle"). These forms are not conjugatable, although the pusdalyvis has feminine and masculine genders for both singular and plural. These forms do not have equivalents in English or other languages (except Latvian), the given translations of these names are ad hoc.

SimpleReflexive
Present padalyvisbaĩgiantbaĩgiantis
Past padalyvisbaĩgusbaĩgusis
Past iterative padalyvisbaĩgdavusbaĩgdavusis
Future padalyvisbaĩgsiantbaĩgsiantis
Pusdalyvisbaĩgdamas (m.sg.), baigdamà (f.sg.)baĩgdamasis (m.sg.), baĩgdamasi (f.sg.)
baigdamì (m.pl.), baĩgdamos (f.pl.)baĩgdamiesi (m.pl.), baĩgdomosi (f.pl.)
Būdinys (I)baigtè–
Būdinys (II)baigtinaĩ–
  • The primary function of the padalyvis is to indicate an action that is happening at the same time (present padalyvis) or before (past padalyvis) the event said with the main verb, of which the sentence subject is not the agent: Lauko darbus mes dirbome saulei šviečiant (present padalyvis) – We were doing the field works the sun shining; Skaniai pavalgius malonu pamiegoti (past padalyvis) – Having eaten a delicious meal, it is pleasant to take a nap.
  • The primary function of the pusdalyvis is to indicate a simultaneous, but secondary action done by the sentence subject in nominative case (it must be matched according to gender and number with the said subject): Lauko darbus mes dirbome dainuodami – We were doing the field works while singing. In this case the present padalyvis participle can be used as well: Lauko darbus mes dirbome dainuojant, but this time the sentence will mean: We were doing the field works while someone else was singing. A secondary action done previously by the sentence subject can be expressed with adjectival past simple participle: Lauko darbus mes dirbome padainavę – We were doing the field works having sung. When used with the preposition prieš (before), pusdalyvis and padalyvis denote a secondary action in future: Lauko darbus mes dirbome prieš dainuodami. – We were doing the field works before singing. Lauko darbus mes dirbome prieš dainuojant. – We were doing the field works before someone else started to sing.

This table shows the participle usage in temporal adverbial phrases:

Past actionSimultaneous actionFuture action
Sentence subject is the agentPast simple adjectival participlePusdalyvisPrieš + pusdalyvis
Sentence subject is not the agentPast padalyvisPresent padalyvisPrieš + padalyvis
  • Another function of the padalyvis is to explain (precise) another verb by indicating a secondary action of which the subject is not the agent: Vartydamas seną albumą, prisiminiau mus šiame ežere maudydavusis – While seing an old photo album, I remembered us having used to swim in this lake. If the subject is the agent, an adjectival participle must be used instead.

This table shows the participle usage as an object.[ clarification needed ]:

Simultaneous actionPast actionMultiple actions in the pastFuture action
Sentence subject is the agentPresent adjectival active participlePast simple adjectival active participlePast iterative adjectival active participleFuture adjectival active participle
Sentence subject is not the agentPresent padalyvisPast padalyvisPast iterative padalyvisFuture padalyvis
  • The būdinys (the descriptive or intensifying participle) reinforces the meaning of the verb being described: Šaukte šaukiausi pagalbos, niekas neatsiliepė – I was shouting loudly for help, nobody answered. Type I būdinys is used relatively often in some written and colloquial speech. Type II būdinys is very rare and can only be found in literary language. Their primary function is the same. In some grammars they are not considered verbs, but adverbs derived from verbs.

Grammatical aspect

All Lithuanian verbs can be characterized by their aspect which can be either perfective or imperfective. Nevertheless, this important dichotomy is semantical, rather than expressed by purely grammatical means. [6] Formally distinguishing an imperfective verb from its perfective counterpart is not possible, since those forms are not mutually exclusive or interdependent. Moreover, certain grammatical categories (like past iterative tense) automatically negate any perfectiveness a certain verb might have in infinitive or in other tenses. The opposite is true as well: a different tense (like an inchoative or perfect tense) of an otherwise imperfective verb automatically grants a perfective meaning. Contrary to modern Slavonic languages, each and every Lithuanian verb, in spite of its aspect, has all tenses and forms described in previous chapters of this article.

Nevertheless, certain very general rules can be laid down to detect the aspect of a verb in Lithuanian.

The imperfective aspect of a verb means the continuity of an action or a repetitiveness of a completed action. The imperfective aspect can sometimes be implied by:

The perfective aspect of a verb means the completeness of an action. The perfective aspect can sometimes be implied by:

In other cases the aspect is contextual. This might sometimes be implied by:

– mèsti – to throw:
Vakar mečiau darbą – I quit my job yesterday. (perfective)
Visas senas knygas jis metė į šiukšlių dėžę – He was throwing all the old books to the trash bin. (imperfective)
– grį̃žti – to come back:
Grįžęs namo, virtuvėje rasi sriubos. – Having come back home, you'll find some soup in the kitchen. (perfective)
Grįžtu namo, kol saulė dar nenusileido – I'm going home as the sun is not yet down. (imperfective)
– laimė́ti – to win:
Kol kas mūsų komanda laimi – For the meantime our team is winning. (present tense, imperfective)
mūsų komanda laimėjo dideliu skirtumu – Our team [has] won by a big difference. (past simple tense, perfective)

Verb prefixes

General usage notes

Prefixes are added to verbs to make new verbs that have different color of the primary verb's meaning. The new verb and the primary verb are considered different words, taking different positions in vocabularies. However their meanings are related, often showing similarity to being forms of a single verb. In many instances a prefixed verb has no apparent semantical relationship with the primary verb. Prefixes have mostly restrictive sense, so they restrict the meaning of the primary not prefixed verb to certain direction, amount or limit of time.

  • ap- round (direction, perfective), about, around
  • api- is a variant of ap- before b or p
  • at- off; from, from somewhere (direction; place, perfective); at (with 'moving towards' verbs)
  • ati- is a variant of at- before d or t
  • į- in (direction, perfective), into, be able to (imperfective)
  • iš- out (direction, perfective), ex-
  • nu- down; away (direction), from the start place (action with some direction, perfective)
  • pa- sub-, under (direction, perfective); definite, terminating on continuous (< after), a bit, slightly, some time (time or amount, imperfective), till end (for single actions, cf su-, time or amount, perfective)
    • ima - 'it takes'
    • pa-ima - 'it takes and finishes it'
    • ėmė - 'it was taking', 'it has been taking', 'it had been taking'
    • pa-ėmė - 'it took'
  • par- back, similar to English (Latin) re- (with some differences; perfective)
  • per- through (place, perfective), over, across, thoroughly, completely (perfective)
  • pra- by (direction, perfective), through, between, starting (time, perfective rarely)
  • pri- up, to (direction or place, perfective), close to, to the place (of the action) (place, perfective), much, many (amount, sometimes perfective)
  • su- together (place, perfective), from everywhere (direction), till end (time, perfective), completely (long or complex action, perfective)
  • už- on (direction or place), completely (short action, cf. su-, perfective)
  • už- behind (direction, perfective), in (for limited time, cf į-) (direction and time, perfective), suddenly, unexpectedly (time, perfective)

There are also three special modifying prefixes that can be used with other prefixed or unprefixed (including reflexive) verbs. They define different forms of the same verb, rather than a new verb:

  • ne- is a prefix that makes negative form of a verb: turiù – I have, neturiù – I haven't.
  • be- says that an action of a verb:
– takes an undefined amount of time: Šitaip bedirbant galima susigadinti sveikatą – Working [for a long time] like that one can damage one's health. This function allows be- to be used as a dummy prefix for reflexive present tense participles. In that case the reflexive formant moves right after the prefix, thus avoiding the formation of a complex reflexive ending: džiaũgtis – to rejoice → džiaũgiantisis – the one (masc., sg. nominative) who rejoices, but more commonly: besidžiaũgiantis. Other forms besides nominative (džiaũgiančiasis – the ones (fem., pl. accusative) who rejoice) are not used at all in favour of besidžiaũgiančias etc.
– may be interrupted (see "Inchoative tenses");
– is restrictive (a combination of English "only" and "still"): Ligoninėje jį motina beaplanko – Only his mother still visits him to the hospital.
  • te- indicates:
– that an action of a verb is restrictive (equivalent of English "only"): Ligoninėje jį motina teaplanko – Only his mother visits him to the hospital;
– the 3rd person of the imperative mood (see "Imperative mood").
  • tebe- indicates that an action of a verb is still ongoing (equivalent of English "still"): Ligoninėje jį motina tebeaplanko – His mother still visits him to the hospital.
  • nebe- indicates that an action of a verb is no longer ongoing (equivalent of English "no longer"): Ligoninėje jo motina nebeaplanko – His mother no longer visits him to the hospital.
  • A verb cannot acquire more than one prefix, except for ne-, te-, be-, nebe- or tebe-. Only very few words are exception from this.
  • The indicator of reflexion -si is used between the prefix and the root if the verb is prefixed, e. g.

 nẽšasi but nusìneša, atsìneša
 laikýtis but susilaikýti, pasilaikýti
 teiráutis but pasiteiráuti

  • The same rule is applied, when ne-, be-, nebe-, te- or tebe- is added:

 nẽšasi but nesìneša, nebesìneša, also nenusìneša, neatsìneša, tebeatsìneša
 laikýtis, but nesilaikýti, also nesusilaikýti, nepasilaikýti
 teiráutis but nesiteiráuti, also nepasiteiráuti

Stress retraction

Certain Lithuanian verbs have the ability to move their stress to the last prefixed element they acquire. General stress retraction principles are laid down below.

All prefixes (including ne- type, but not including the prefix per-) acquire the stress only in:

  • past simple tense forms of primary (monosyllabic stem) verbs. This always happens when the 3rd person has an -ė ending, its stress would normally fall on its penultimate syllable and this syllable has a short vowel or a rising tone:
baũsti (to punish, monosyllabic stem verb) → baũdė (stress on the penultimate, rising tone) → nùbaudė, nebenùbaudė etc.
vìrti (to boil, monosyllabic stem verb) → vìrė (stress on the penultimate, short vowel) → ìšvirė, nebeišsìvirė etc.
kláusti (to ask, monosyllabic stem verb) → kláusė (stress on the penultimate, falling tone, the rule does not apply) → pakláusė
darýti (to ask, suffixal verb, the rule does not apply) → dãrė (stress on the penultimate, rising tone) → padãrė
  • Some present tense forms (primary or mixed stem), but only if the stress of the 3rd person falls on its penultimate syllable, this syllable is not a suffix and has a short vowel or a rising tone:
kalbė́ti (to speak, suffixal verb) → kal̃ba (stress on the penultimate, no suffix, rising tone) → sùkalba, tebesìkalba etc.
sukti (to turn, primary verb) → sùka (stress on the penultimate, no suffix, short vowel) → pàsuka, nèsuka etc.
  • Past simple accent retraction is regular, present tense accent retraction is sporadic. If a particular verb retracts its accent in one tense, it does not mean that the other tense will follow suit.
  • The accent retraction does not depend on a particular prefix (except for per-) and will systematically happen with every other prefixed structure (a prefix, a ne- type prefix or a reflexive formant). It means that even if dictionaries never include ne- type prefixes, the stress retraction can be deduced from other prefixed forms that dictionaries do include:
plaũkti (to swim) → išplaũkti (to swim out) → išplaũkia (no retraction, hence: neišplaũkia, teišplaũkia etc.)
riñkti (to gather) → suriñkti (to gather them all) → sùrenka (retraction does happen, hence: nèrenka, tèrenka etc.)
  • The latter rule has two exceptions:
turė́ti (to have) → suturė́ti (to restrain) → sùturi (retraction does happen, but not for ne- type prefixes of the non-prefixed verbs: netùri, tetùri etc.)
galė́ti (to be able) → išgalė́ti (to afford) → ìšgali (retraction does happen, but not for ne- type prefixes of the non-prefixed verbs: negãli, begãli etc.)
  • The prefix pér- always has the falling tone and takes the stress in all parts of speech of that word, ignoring all the other accentuation rules: pérduoti – to transmit, nebepérsivalgymas – the inability to overeat.

Stem classes

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

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

Non-suffixed

infinitivepresent tensepast tensemeaning
1p.sg.2p.sg.3p.sg., pl.1p.sg.2p.sg.3p.sg., pl.
Consonantal non-palatalized stems (it is palatalized in the 2p. form of the present, but not in the remaining forms). Sounds of a stem do not change in conjugation, except for a common pre-desinential alternation between historically nasal vowels (in the infinitive) and nasal diphthongs.
áugtiáuguáugiáugaáugauáugaiaugoto grow
bė́gtibė́gubė́gibė́gabė́gaubė́gaibė́goto run
šóktišókušókišókašókaušókaišókoto jump, spring, leap; hop in, out; dance
dìrbtidìrbudìrbidìrbadìrbaudìrbaidìrboto work
sė́stisė́dusė́disė́dasė́dausė́daisė́doto sit down, sit up; mount, get on (car, plain etc.)
grū́stigrū́dugrū́digrū́dagrū́daugrū́daigrū́doto thrust; hustle; pestle; tamp
žį́stižìndužìndižìndažìndaužìndaižìndoto suck, nurse (at)
ką́stikándukándikándakándaukándaikándoto bite
galą́stigalándugalandigalándagalándaugalandaigalándoto sharpen, hone
lìptilipùlipìlìpalipaũlipaĩlìpoto mount; tread (on); scale, climb
kìštikišùkišìkìšakišaũkišaĩkìšoto put, slip, poke, stick in
rìstiritùritìrìtaritaũritaĩrìtoto roll, bowl
suktisukusukisukasukausukaisukoto turn; bear (to); spin; wrap
suptisupusupisupasupausupaisupoto swing, sway, rock
luptilupulupilupalupaulupailupoto peel; flay; swinge, thrash
skùstiskutùskutìskùtaskutaũskutaĩskùtoto shave; scale, peel, scrape; run fast
There is a frequent verb with its final stem consonant palatalized in the present tense.
léistiléidžiuleidileidžialeidauleidaileidoto let, allow; spend
Alternation between pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms. Possible only when the syllable contains a mixed diphthong (a, e, i, u + sonorant) and is stressed in the end-firm accent.
sir̃gtisergùsergìser̃gasirgaũsirgaĩsir̃goto be ill
kirstikertukertikertakirtaukirtaikirtoto cut, fell (by axe); cross, traverse; strike, smite; pitch in (food)
vilktivelkuvelkivelkavilkauvilkaivilkoto pull, trail, drag
tilptitelputelpitelpatilpautilpaitilpoto get / have enough of space for oneself: be contained, go into
rinktirenkurenkirenkarinkaurinkairinkoto pick; collect
lįstilendulendilendalindaulindailindoto be getting into / through smth.; make a pass at, intrude, molest, cavil, meddle
A numerous part of the verbs having any short vowel – a, e, i, u – in a pre-desinential syllable in infinitive receive n, m (the latter when before p, b) after these vowels in the present.
tàptitampùtampìtam̃patapaũtapaĩtãpoto become
rastirandurandirañdaradauradairãdoto find
gestigendugendigendagedaugedaigedoto deteriorate; decay; spoil; corrupt
tiktitinkutinkitinkatikautikaitikoto fit
tektitenkutenkitenkatekautekaitekoto go for (property)
apniktiapninkuapninkiapninkaapnikauapnikaiapnikoto obsess, crowd in
migtimingumingimingamigaumigaimigoto be / start falling asleep
liptilimpulimpilimpalipaulipailipoto stick, cling
plistiplintuplintiplintaplitauplitaiplitoto spread, proliferate, circulate
mistimintumintimintamitaumitaimitoto feed on, fare, live on
kistikintukintikintakitaukitaikitoto mutate; vary
švistišvintušvintišvintašvitaušvitaišvitoto begin to light, esp. to day-light
bluktiblunkublunkiblunkablukaublukaiblukoto fade
kluptiklumpuklumpiklumpaklupauklupaiklupoto stumble
justijuntujuntijuntajutaujutaijutoto sense, feel
A small group of verbs has to be written with a nosinė in the present.
baltibąlubąlibąlabalaubalaibaloto become white, to whiten
šaltišąlašąlišąlašalaušalaišaloto freeze; to cool; to feel cold
kartikąrakąrikąrakaraukaraikaroto incline, bow down (hung things, boughs)
For the verbs that have start-firm accented mixed diphthongs -il-, -ir- in the pre-desinential syllable in the infinitive, the vowel i lengthens and receives the end-firm accent in the present tense, if the syllable becomes open.
kìltikylùkylikỹlakilaukilaikiloto rise; emerge (e.g. question)
diltidyludylidyladilaudilaidiloto fray, decay, become dull
birtibyrubyribyrabiraubiraibiroto pour (solid, no liquid matter), fall apart
irtiyru / irstuyriyrairauiraiiroto disintegrate, decay, crumble
Cases of alternation between a pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms in verbs which receive n, m in the present forms. The a-verb likti has ie / i alternation. The a-verb kristi can be conjugated with both -en- and -in- in the present tense.
skristiskrendùskrendiskrendaskridauskridaiskridoto fly
bristibrendubrendibrendabridaubridaibridoto wade, go on foot through water, grass etc.
kristikrentu /krintukrentikrintakritaukritaikritoto fall
liktiliekuliekiliekalikaulikailikoto remain
Stems that are palatalized in the past tense.
ėstiė́duėdiėdaė́džiauėdeiėdėto eat (for animals); eat like an animal; erode
vestivedùvedivedavedžiaũvedeivedėto lead, take smb. to somewhere; marry (for a man; for a woman the a-verb is tekėti, teka, tekėjo)
mèstimetùmetimetamečiaumeteimetėto throw
vežtivežuveživežavežiauvežeivežėto carry by means of conveyance, by vehicle
neštinešunešinešanešiaunešeinešėto carry (going on foot)
kastikasukasikasakasiaukaseikasėto dig
lestilesulesilesalesiauleseilesėto peck
sektisekusekisekasekiausekeisekėto follow; spy (on, upon); tell a tail
keptikepukepikepakepiaukepeikepėto bake
degtidegudegidegadegiaudegeidegėto be on fire, burn; kiln
megztimezgumezgimezgamezgiaumezgeimezgėto knit
zùitizujùzujizujazujauzujaizujoto pop in and out
káltikalùkalikalakaliaukaleikalėto hammer, smith, batter; mint; chisel; hit
máltimalumalimalamaliaumaleimalėto grind, mill
bár̃tibarùbaribarabariaubareibarėto scold, trim
The a-verb pulti has alternation between u in the infinitive and uo in the present and past tenses. Verbs gimti, mirti have the suffix -st- in the present.
pùltipúolupuolipuolapúoliaupuoleipuolėto attack; fling, throw oneself, make a dive
gìmtigìmstugimstigimstagimiaũgimeigimėto be born, arrive
mir̃timìrštumirštimirštamiriaũmireimirėto 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.
pìltipilùpilipilapýliaupyleipylėto pour (any non solid material); tip
tirtitiriutiritiriatyriautyreityrėto investigate; analyse; research
skintiskinuskiniskinaskyniauskyneiskynėto pluck (fruits, flowers etc.)
pintipinupinipinapyniaupyneipynėto plait; weave; pleach
trintitrinutrinitrinatryniautryneitrynėto rub
mintiminuminiminamyniaumyneimynėto step, tread (on); trample; treadle
gintiginuginiginagyniaugyneigynėto defend
im̃tiimùimiimaėmiaũėmeĩė̃mėto take
There are some verbs having mixed diphthongs in a pre-desinential syllable that have alternation between pre-desinential e of the present tense and i of the other forms. A sound i of a pre-desinential syllable is not lengthened in the past tense. The a-verb virti has d insterted after -er- in the present tense.
atsimiñtiatsìmenuatsimeniatsimenaatsìminiauatsimineiatsiminėto remember, recollect
miñtimenùmenimenaminiaũmineiminėto riddle, ask a riddle
giñtigenùgenigenaginiaugineiginėto herd, goad, drive
vìrtivérduverdiverdaviriaũvireĩvìrėto 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.
sprógtisprógstusprogstisprógstasprógausprogaisprogoto explode, burst; eat (get stomach filled)
plýštiplýštuplyštiplyštaplyšauplyšaiplyšoto tear, rip, split; (coll.) get drunk
klystiklystuklystiklystaklydauklydaiklydoto mistake, err, be under misapprehension
linktilinkstulinkstilinkstalinkaulinkailinkoto bend (itself)
rūgtirūgsturūgstirūgstarūgaurūgairūgoto sour, become turned
toltitolstutolstitolstatolautolaitoloto become remote, distant, to recede
alktialkstualkstialkstaalkaualkaialkoto become, be hungry; to be short of food
pažìntipažį́stupažįstipažįstapažinaũpažinaipažinoto become familiar, to explore; recognize
pažinotipažinojaupažinojaipažinojoto know smb., be acquaintance with smb.
pỹktipykstùpykstipỹkstapykaũpykaipykoto be angry, annoyed
nyktinykstunykstinykstanykaunykainykoto dwindle, wither away, vanish, disappear
raustirausturaustiraustaraudauraudairaudoto become red, to redden; to blush
brangtibrangstubrangstibrangstabrangaubrangaibrangoto become expensive
išsigąstiišsigąstuišsigąstiišsigąstaišsigandoišsigandaiišsigandoto get a scare, fright; to lose courage
vargtivargstuvargstivargstavargauvargaivargoto have difficulties doing; be in hardship
širstiširstuširstiširstaširdauširdaiširdoto be angry (širdis – heart)
dingtidingstudingstidingstadingaudingaidingoto disappear
klimptiklimpstuklimpstiklimpstaklimpauklimpaiklimpoto sink (to viscous material)
drįstidrįstudrįstidrįstadrįsaudrįsaidrįsoto dare
grįžtigrįžtugrįžtigrįžtagrįžaugrįžaigrįžoto come back, return
A small group of stems ending in ž, š, has to be written with an ogonek in the present.
gestigęstugęstigęstagesaugesaigesoto be stopping (intransitive) shining, burning, working (for light, fire; life; motor)
težtitęžtutęžtitęžtatežautežaitežoto become squidgy; wimp out
For a few stems that have a pre-desinential syllable ending in ž or š and with a short i or u in it, the vowels lengthen in the present. For tikšti the forms tykšta and tyška are used in the present tense.
dùžtidū̃žtadùžoto smash, chip
gižtigyžtagižoto sour, become turned (figur. as well)
tikštitykštatiškoto splash on smth., smb.
tižtityžtatižoto become squidgy; wimp out
ižtiyžtaižoto crack (usual for ice)
nižtinyžtanižoto start itching, to itch
Vocalic stems. The consonant n (or j in dialects) is inserted before desinences after a pre-desinential au. The diphthong becomes ov in the past, when start-firm accented. Consonant v is palatalized.
eĩtieinùeinieĩnaėjaũėjaiė̃joto go
aũtiaunùauniaũnaaviaũaveiãvėto boot, shoe
máutimáunumáunimáunamóviaumoveimovėto put on, glove, shoe
rautiraunurauniraunaroviauroveirovėto tear up
šautišaunušaunišaunašoviaušoveišovėto shoot
brautisbraunuosibrauniesibraunasibroviausibroveisibrovėsito intrude; thrust one's way; be breaking in
liautisliaujuosiliaujiesiliaujasilioviausilioveisiliovėsito cease, desist
griautigriaunugriaunigriaunagrioviaugrioveigriovėto ruin, demolish; unsettle
Consonant v / n is inserted after ū.
griū̃tigriūvù /-nùgriūnigriū̃vagriuvaũgriuvaigriùvoto tumble down, fall down; collapse
žūtižūnu /-vužūnižūvažuvaužuvaižuvoto perish
pūtipūvu /-nupūnipūvapuvaupuvaipuvoto rot
siūtisiuvu /siūnusiuvisiuvasiuvausiuvaisiuvoto sew, stitch
gáutigáunugaunigaunagavaũgavaigãvoto get
The consonant j is inserted before desinences after other pre-desinential vowels or diphthong 'ie'
mótimójumojimojamójaumojaimojoto motion, wave, sweep
plotiplojuplojiplojaplojauplojaiplojoto clap, applaud; flatten; swat
jotijojujojijojajojaujojaijojoto ride on horse
gotigojugojigojagojaugojaigojo(dial.) to go in a hurry
klotiklojuklojiklojaklojauklojaiklojoto lay, pave; to tell, report, retail; to make a bed (lovą);
grotigrojugrojigrojagrojaugrojaigrojoto play (musical instrument)
sėtisėjusėjisėjasėjausėjaisėjoto sow, seed; disseminate
sietisiejusiejisiejasiejausiejaisiejoto tie, associate, bond
lietiliejuliejiliejaliejauliejailiejoto pour (liquid); water (plants)
lýtilỹjalijoto rain
gýtigyjùgyjigỹjagijaũgijaigijoto heal, recover
rýtiryjùryjiryjarijaurijairijoto swallow; guttle
výtivejùvejivejavijauvijaivijoto strand, twist; chase
Two verbs have d insterted before the desinences in the present forms.
dúotidúoduduodidúodadaviaũdaveidavėto give
dė́tidedùdedidẽdadėjaudė́jaidėjoto put, lay, set; place
Palatalized consonantal stems. Maybe the most numerous group of non-suffixed verbs.
siẽktisiekiùsiekisiẽkiasiekiaũsiekeisiekėto seek, aim (at, for)
griebtigriebiugriebigriebiagriebiaugriebeigriebėto grab; snatch
brauktibraukiubraukibraukiabraukiaubraukeibraukėto wipe, sweep across; line through
lenktilenkiulenkilenkialenkiaulenkeilenkėto (make it) bend
raustirausiurausirausiarausiaurauseirausėto trench, burrow
kauptikaupiukaupikaupiakaupiaukaupeikaupėto save up, gather, amass
mer̃ktimerkiùmerkìmer̃kiamerkiaũmerkeĩmer̃kėto soak, dip
dengtidengiudengidengiadengiaudengeidengėto cover
tęstitęsiutęsitęsiatęsiautęseitęsėto continue, proceed; drag, carry
čiulptičiulpiučiulpičiulpiačiulpiaučiulpeičiulpėto suck
láužtiláužiulaužilaužialáužiaulaužeilaužėto break (transitive)
grėbtigrėbiugrėbigrėbiagrėbiaugrėbeigrėbėto rake
grobtigrobiugrobigrobiagrobiaugrobeigrobėto plunder; kidnap; usurp, hog
mérktimérkiumérkimérkiamérkiaumérkeimérkėto give a wink; to close eyes
melžtimelžiumelžimelžiamelžiaumelžeimelžėto milk
jùngtijùngiujungijungiajungiaujungeijungėto connect, join
keistikeičiukeitikeičiakeičiaukeiteikeitėto change
švęstišvenčiušventišvenčiašvenčiaušventeišventėto celebrate
siųstisiunčiusiuntisiunčiasiunčiausiunteisiuntėto send
skleistiskleidžiuskleidiskleidžiaskleidžiauskleideiskleidėto spread
skų́stiskùndžiuskundiskundžiaskundžiauskundeiskundėto tell on; tattle; appeal (against)
When a pre-desinential syllable having mixed diphthong becomes open in the past, its vowel receives a start-firm accent and lengthens (for a, e, besides lengthening, those vowels are of different quality, o, ė) if stressed.
gértigeriugerigeriagė́riaugėreigėrėto drink
bértiberiuberiberiabė́riaubėreibėrėto (make it) pour (solid, no liquid matter), (make it) fall apart
pér̃tiperiuperiperiapė́riaũpėreipėrėto beat with a leafy, wet birch bunch (in sauna)
kéltikeliukelikeliakėliaukėleikėlėto raise
rem̃tiremiuremiremiarėmiaurėmeirėmėto prop, bear up; support
kùltikuliukulikuliakū́liaukūleikūlėto flail
dùrtiduriuduriduriadūriaudūreidūrėto prick, stick
stùmtistumiustumistumiastūmiaustūmeistūmėto push, move; thrust, shove; (coll.) grudge
ìrtiiriuiriiriaýriauyreiyrėto row, oar
spìrtispiriuspirispiriaspyriauspyreispyrėto kick; spring back; press (for), push
kártikariùkarikãriakóriaukoreikorėto hang over; execute
ártiariùariãriaariaũareĩãrėto plough
tar̃titariùtaritãriatariaũtareitarėto 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).
pū̃stipučiùputipùčiapūčiaupūteipū̃tėto blow; toot
tū̃ptitupiutupitupiatūpiautūpeitūpėto squat; hunker
drė̃btidrebiudrebidrẽbiadrėbiaudrėbeidrė̃bėto make fall on (for viscous, thick material); sleet; plonk
krė̃stikrečiukretikrečiakrėčiaukrėteikrėtėto shake down
plė̃stiplečiupletiplečiaplėčiauplėteiplėtėto expand, widen, amplify
lė̃ktilekiulekilekialėkiaulėkeilėkėto scurry, rip along, fly; fly; fall out, fly away
skė̃stiskečiusketiskečiaskėčiauskėteiskėtėto spread, open out (e.g. arms, legs, umbrella)
tė̃kštiteškiuteškiteškiatėškiautėškeitėškėto splash onto; slap; slam
võgtivagiuvagivãgiavogiauvogeivogėto steal

Suffixed

-o- suffixed stems. Shorter present tense. The consonant j is inserted between the vocalic stem and the desinence to make pronunciation easier. Historically it is most probably the same type as the full one, there are verbs that are conjugated in both types, for example, saugoti, saugau / saugoju (< saugā(j)u). The a-verb pažinoti – to know (a person), has the same to pažinti – to know, become familiar, -st- suffixed present forms.
žinótižinaũžinaižinožinójaužinojaižinojoto know, be aware (of; that)
šypsótisšỹpsaũsišypsaisišỹpsosišypsójausišypsojaisišypsojosito smile
sáugotisáugausaugaisaugosáugojausaugojaisaugojoto protect; keep, save
Full type of -o- suffixed stems (the suffix is kept the same in conjugation)
naudótinaudójunaudojinaudojanaudójaunaudojainaudojoto use
putótiputojuputojiputojaputojauputojaiputojoto foam
býlótibylojubylojibylojabylojaubylojaibylojato speak, purport
sáugotisáugojusaugojisaugojasaugojausaugojaisaugojoto protect; keep, save
šakótisšakojuosišakojiesišakojasišakojausišakojaisišakojosito spread boughs: ramify; (coll.) conflict, put one's own condition over smb.; fork, divaricate
viliótiviliojuviliojiviliojaviliojauviliojaiviliojoto attract, seduce, bait
galiótigaliojagaliojoto stand, hold good, be valid
Stems that do not have -o- suffix in the present tense.
miegótimiegùmiegimiẽgamiegójaumiegojaimiegojoto sleep
raudótiráuduraudiráudaraudójauraudojairaudojoto weep, mourn
giedótigíedugiedigiedagiedójaugiedojaigiedojoto chant (religious); warble, crow
-y- suffixed stems. The present is of the -o- suffixed type. The past forms are historically possibly the same to the full -y- suffixed type, there are verbs that are conjugated in both types, for example, pelnyti, (past) pelniau / pelnijau, pelnė (< pelnē < (possibly) pelni(j)ā) / pelnijo (< pelnijā) (an after a soft consonant is e).
sakýtisakaũsakaisãkosakiaũsakeisãkėto say
klausýtiklausauklausaiklausoklausiauklausėklauseito listen
darýtidaraudaraidarodariaudareidarėto do
matýtimataumataimatomačiaumateimatėto see
mė́tytimė́taumėtaimė́tomė́čiaumėteimė́tėto throw (one-time: mesti, metu, mečiau)
ródytirodaurodairodorodžiaurodeirodėto show
pelnýtipelnaũpelnaipel̃nopelniaupelneipelnėto earn
gáudytigaudaugaudaigaudogaudžiaugaudeigaudėto catch (one-time: su/pagauti, -gaunu, -gavau)
barstýtibarstaubarstaibarstobarsčiaubarsteibarstėto pour (multiple times) (iterative)
lankstýtilankstaulankstailankstolanksčiaulanksteilankstėto bend (multiple times) (iterative)
Full type of -y- suffixed stems. The suffix is shortened in conjugation if not stressed and is long or short (both variants are used) in the present if stressed.
pel̃nytipel̃nijupelnijipelnijapelnijaupelnijaipelnijo(obsolete) to earn
mū́rytimū́rijumūrijimūrijamūrijaumūrijaimūrijoto lay bricks, set
nuõdytinuõdijunuodijinuodijanuodijaunuodijainuodijoto poison
trūnýtitrūnỹjatrūnijoto rot, putrefy
-ė- suffixed stems. Shorter present tense, palatalized ending consonant of a stem. It is possible that historically it would be the same type as the full one, there are words that are conjugated in both types, for example, ryšė́ti – to wear something tied on oneself (rišti – to tie), ryšiù / ryšė́ju. For the a-verb vertėti the mainly used form is subjunctive, 3p. (present) vertė́tų – it would be worth, for the present tense it is mostly said in a neuter adjective: ver̃ta – it is worth (doing), for the past tense it is said either buvo verta or vertėjo – it was worth (doing).
mylė́timýliumýlimýlimylė́jaumylė́jaimylė́joto love
norė́tinóriunorinorinorėjaunorėjainorėjoto want
blyksė́tiblýksiublyksiblyksiblyksėjaublyksėjaiblyksėjoto twinkle, blink
švytė́tišvyčiùšvytišvytišvytė́jaušvytėjaišvytėjoto light brightly
galė́tigaliùgalìgãligalė́jaugalėjaigalėjoto be able
girdė́tigirdžiùgirdigirdigirdėjaugirdėjaigirdėjoto hear
rūpė́tirūpiùrūpirūpirūpėjaurūpėjairūpėjoto concern, be interesting to smb.
nyrė́tinyriùnyrinyrinyrėjaunyrėjainyrėjoto be submerged and still
tikė́titikiùtikitikitikėjautikėjaitikėjoto believe
vertė́ti(verti)vertėjoto be worth for being done / to be done
Full type of -ė- suffixed stems (the suffix is kept the same in conjugation)
ryškė́tiryškė́juryškėjiryškėjaryškė́jauryškėjairyškėjoto grow clear, bold, bright, glowing
šviesė́tišviesė́jušviesėjišviesėjašviesė́jaušviesėjaišviesėjoto grow light
tvirtė́titvirtėjutvirtėjitvirtėjitvirtėjautvirtėjaitvirtėjoto stiffen, strengthen, firm up
raudonė́tiraudonėjuraudonėjiraudonėjaraudonėjauraudonėjairaudonėjoto grow red, to redden
púoselėtipúoselėjupuoselėjipuoselėjapúoselėjaupuoselėjaipuoselėjoto 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.
varinė́tivarinė́juvarinėjivarinėjavarinė́jauvarinėjaivarinėjoto drive, direct; drive, go (on foot, by train, etc.); propel, power (not repeated: varyti, varau, variau)
pardavinėtipardavinėjupardavinėjipardavinėjapardavinėjaupardavinėjaipardavinėjoto sell, market (one-time: parduoti, -duodu, -daviau)
klausinėtiklausinėjuklausinėjiklausinėjaklausinėjauklausinėjiklausinėjoto ask (not repeated: klausti, klausiu, klausiau)
Stems that have neither -ė- suffix nor palatalization in the present tense.
kalbė́tikalbùkalbikal̃bakalbė́jaukalbėjaikalbėjoto speak; talk
judė́tijudujudijudajudėjaujudėjaijudėjoto move, be in motion
žibė́tižibužibižibažibėjaužibėjaižibėjoto glitter, glint, star
bambė́tibámbìbám̃babambėjaibambėjoto grouse, be on smb's case
skambė́tiskambaskambėjoto tune; sound
skaudė́tiskaudaskaudėjoto hurt, ache
byrė́tibyrabyrėjoto crumble; fall (small particles, petals)
-au-, -uo- suffixed stems, the suffix is -av- in the past. Verbs of this group are made from nouns, adjectives, etc. Verbs made from borrowings from other languages receive the suffix -uo-, for example, sportuoti – to go in for sports.
bendráutibendráujubendraujibendraujabendravaũbendravaibendravoto associate (with), communicate (with)
kariáutikariaujukariaujikariaujakariavaukariavaikariavoto be at war, wage war
matúotimatúojumatuojimatuojamatavaũmatavaimatavoto measure
dainúotidainuojudainuojidainuojadainavaudainavaidainavoto sing
sapnúotisapnuojusapnuojisapnuojasapnavausapnavaisapnavoto dream (sleeping); (coll.) to speak about smth. lacking orientation in it
vėlúotivėluojuvėluojivėluojavėlavauvėlavaivėlavoto be late, to fall behind schedule
raudonúotiraudonuojuraudonuojiraudonuojaraudonavauraudonavairaudonavoto blush; to attract attention by being red
sūpúotisūpuojusūpuojisūpuojasūpavausūpavaisūpavoto swing, sway, rock
kopijúotikopijuojukopijuojikopijuojakopijavaukopijavaikopijavoto copy
Some other suffixes, for example, transitivity-forming suffix -in-. The suffix -en- can have a meaning of moderate intensity of action. The suffix -in- is usual for making verbs from foreign words, e.g., (coll.) kòpinti – to copy, which is used besides longer standard kopijuoti.
rū́pintisrū́pinuosirūpiniesirūpinasirū́pinausirūpinasirūpinosito take care
grãžintigrãžinugražinigražinagrãžinaugražinaigražinoto beautify
grąžìntigrąžinùgrąžinigrąžìnagrąžinaũgražinaigrąžinoto give back, return
jùdintijùdinujudinijudinajùdinaujudinaijudinoto move, make smth. move
lýgintilýginulyginilyginalýginaulyginailyginoto compare; to level, make level; make smooth; to iron (clothes); to equate
srovéntisrovẽnasrovẽnoto stream tranquilly, in small ripples
kuténtikutenùkutenikutẽnakutenaũkutenaikutẽnoto tickle, titillate
gabentigabenugabenigabenagabenaugabenaigabenoto convey, carry
kūrentikūrenukūrenikūrenakūrenaukūrenaikūrenoto fire a furnace, heater
ridentiridenurideniridenaridenauridenairidenoto 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

Today

kine

at the movies

aš

I

mačiau

saw

gražią

beautiful

mergaitę.

girl

(the main order)

 

Šiandien kine aš mačiau gražią mergaitę.

Today {at the movies} I saw beautiful girl

Aš mačiau gražią mergaitę kine šiandien.
Šiandien aš mačiau gražią mergaitę kine.
Gražią mergaitę mačiau aš kine šiandien.
Gražią mergaitę aš šiandien mačiau kine.
Kine šiandien aš mačiau gražią mergaitę.
Kine gražią mergaitę aš mačiau šiandien.

However, word order isn't a subject of intonation only. Different word orders often have different meanings in Lithuanian. There are also some strict rules and some tendencies in using different word placing. For example, a word that provides new information (rheme, or comment) has a tendency to be postponed after other words, but not always to the end of the sentence. Adjectives precede nouns like they do in English, but order of adjectives in an adjective group is different from English. If the main word order is followed, a temporal, locative or causal adjunct is put at the beginning of the sentence, while adjuncts of other types go directly before the verb and its objects (see the SVO rule above).

The word order in Lithuanian can also be described using concepts of theme and rheme. Looking from this point of view, the structure of a sentence is following:

Initial complementary words or clauses + theme + middle words or clauses + rheme + final complementary words or clauses

The middle words or clauses are more significant words or word groups other than the theme or the rheme, but complementary words or clauses (both the initial and the final) are less significant or secondary. Local, causal or temporal adjuncts are typical parts of the initial complementary words group, while other complementary words are put in the final group. If an adjunct is more significant in a sentence, it should be put in the middle group or even used as theme or as rheme. The same is true considering any other part of sentence, but the Subject and the Verb aren't complementary words typically, and they often serve as the theme and as the rheme respectively. Note that a sentence can lack any part of the structure, except the rheme.

Prepositions

Prepositions tell us where an object is or what direction it is going. Some cases of nouns, such as the genitive, accusative and instrumental, take prepositions. Some cases never take prepositions (such as locative and nominative). Certain prepositions are used with certain cases. Below is a list of some common prepositions used in Lithuanian.

Used with genitive form of noun

  • iš – from, out of
  • ant – on
  • iki – until
  • po – after, past, succeeding
  • prie – near, at
  • už – behind

Used with instrumental form of noun

  • po – under
  • su – with
  • sulig – up to
  • ties – by, over

Used with accusative form of noun

  • į – in
  • pas – to, at
  • per – across, by, over, through, during, via
  • pro – through, past, by
  • apie – about

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are used to link together clauses in a sentence, for example "I thought it would be a nice day but it was raining." Some common conjunctions in Lithuanian are:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin grammar</span> Grammar of the Latin language

Latin is a heavily inflected language with largely free word order. Nouns are inflected for number and case; pronouns and adjectives are inflected for number, case, and gender; and verbs are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, voice, and mood. The inflections are often changes in the ending of a word, but can be more complicated, especially with verbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catalan grammar</span> Morphology and syntax of Catalan

Catalan grammar, the morphology and syntax of the Catalan language, is similar to the grammar of most other Romance languages. Catalan is a relatively synthetic, fusional language. Features include:

Russian grammar employs an Indo-European inflexional structure, with considerable adaptation.

Swedish is descended from Old Norse. Compared to its progenitor, Swedish grammar is much less characterized by inflection. Modern Swedish has two genders and no longer conjugates verbs based on person or number. Its nouns have lost the morphological distinction between nominative and accusative cases that denoted grammatical subject and object in Old Norse in favor of marking by word order. Swedish uses some inflection with nouns, adjectives, and verbs. It is generally a subject–verb–object (SVO) language with V2 word order.

Yiddish grammar is the system of principles which govern the structure of the Yiddish language. This article describes the standard form laid out by YIVO while noting differences in significant dialects such as that of many contemporary Hasidim. As a Germanic language descended from Middle High German, Yiddish grammar is fairly similar to that of German, though it also has numerous linguistic innovations as well as grammatical features influenced by or borrowed from Hebrew, Aramaic, and various Slavic languages.

The grammar of the Polish language is complex and characterized by a high degree of inflection, and has relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). There commonly are no articles, and there is frequent dropping of subject pronouns. Distinctive features include the different treatment of masculine personal nouns in the plural, and the complex grammar of numerals and quantifiers.

Ancient Greek grammar is morphologically complex and preserves several features of Proto-Indo-European morphology. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, articles, numerals and especially verbs are all highly inflected.

The grammar of Modern Greek, as spoken in present-day Greece and Cyprus, is essentially that of Demotic Greek, but it has also assimilated certain elements of Katharevousa, the archaic, learned variety of Greek imitating Classical Greek forms, which used to be the official language of Greece through much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modern Greek grammar has preserved many features of Ancient Greek, but has also undergone changes in a similar direction as many other modern Indo-European languages, from more synthetic to more analytic structures.

Ukrainian grammar is complex and characterised by a high degree of inflection; moreover, it has a relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). Ukrainian grammar describes its phonological, morphological, and syntactic rules. Ukrainian has seven grammatical cases and two numbers for its nominal declension and two aspects, three tenses, three moods, and two voices for its verbal conjugation. Adjectives agree in number, gender, and case with their nouns.

Icelandic is an inflected language. Icelandic nouns can have one of three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns are declined in four cases and two numbers, singular and plural.

The Lithuanian language's declension system is similar to declension systems in ancient Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit, Latin or Ancient Greek. It is one of the most complicated declension systems among modern Indo-European and modern European languages.

Standard Kannada grammar is primarily based on Keshiraja's Shabdamanidarpana which provides the fullest systematic exposition of Kannada language. The earlier grammatical works include portions of Kavirajamarga of 9th century, Kavyavalokana and Karnatakabhashabhushana both authored by Nagavarma II in first half of the 12th century.

Old Norse has three categories of verbs and two categories of nouns. Conjugation and declension are carried out by a mix of inflection and two nonconcatenative morphological processes: umlaut, a backness-based alteration to the root vowel; and ablaut, a replacement of the root vowel, in verbs.

Serbo-Croatian is a South Slavic language that, like most other Slavic languages, has an extensive system of inflection. This article describes exclusively the grammar of the Shtokavian dialect, which is a part of the South Slavic dialect continuum and the basis for the Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian standard variants of Serbo-Croatian. "An examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system."

Historical linguistics has made tentative postulations about and multiple varyingly different reconstructions of Proto-Germanic grammar, as inherited from Proto-Indo-European grammar. All reconstructed forms are marked with an asterisk (*).

The morphology of the Polish language is characterised by a fairly regular system of inflection as well as word formation. Certain regular or common alternations apply across the Polish morphological system, affecting word formation and inflection of various parts of speech. These are described below, mostly with reference to the orthographic rather than the phonological system for clarity.

This article concerns the morphology of the Albanian language, including the declension of nouns and adjectives, and the conjugation of verbs. It refers to the Tosk-based Albanian standard regulated by the Academy of Sciences of Albania.

The grammar of Old Saxon is highly inflected, similar to that of Old English or Latin. As an ancient Germanic language, the morphological system of Old Saxon is similar to that of the hypothetical Proto-Germanic reconstruction, retaining many of the inflections thought to have been common in Proto-Indo-European and also including characteristically Germanic constructions such as the umlaut. Among living languages, Old Saxon morphology most closely resembles that of modern High German.

The grammar of the Silesian language is characterized by a high degree of inflection, and has relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). There commonly are no articles, and there is frequent dropping of subject pronouns. Distinctive features include the different treatment of masculine personal nouns in the plural, and the complex grammar of numerals and quantifiers.

The grammar of the Slovincian language is characterized by a high degree of inflection, a lack of articles, and vowel, consonant, and stress alternations.

References

  1. ↑ In some languages like Icelandic neuter is used in such cases.
  2. 1 2 "Naujas požiūris į lietuvių kalbos linksniavimo tipus […]", Acta Linguistica Lithuanica (in Lithuanian): 3, 6–7, 10–16, 17–18, 16, 2004
  3. ↑ "Lietuvių kalbos žinynas. 9.3 Veiksmažodžio formų sistema" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. ↑ Vytautas Ambrazas. "Netiesioginė nuosaka". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  5. ↑ Dambriūnas, Leonardas, 1906–1976. (1999) [1966]. "2.3". Beginner's Lithuanian. Klimas, Antanas, 1924–, Schmalstieg, William R. New York, N.Y.: Hippocrene Books. p. 27. ISBN   0-7818-0678-X. OCLC   40553239.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos gramatika. Vilnius, 1997, page 288–289

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.