Lithuanian Grammar
Welcome to the 8th lesson about Lithuanian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Lithuanian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Lithuanian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Lithuanian.
| Prepositions | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| and | ir  |
| above | aukščiau |
| under | pagal |
| before | prieš |
| after | po |
| in front of | priešais |
| behind | už |
| far from | toli nuo |
| near | šalia |
| in | į |
| inside | viduje |
| outside | už |
| with | su |
| without | be |
| about | apie |
| between | tarp |
| but | bet |
| for | už |
| from | nuo |
| to | į |
Preposition Grammar Rules
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] | valgau be peilio |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] | ji gyvena netoli bažnyčios |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] | jis yra aukštesnis už ją |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] | jis atėjo su savo šuniuku |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] | ar galite eiti su manimi? |
Negation in Lithuanian
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] | aš jus suprantu |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] | aš jūsų nesuprantu |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] | tai nėra teisingas žodis |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] | nepalikite manęs |
| no problem [negation + noun] | jokių problemų |
| Negative Sentences | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] | aš nekalbu prancūziškai |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] | ji nesilankė vokietijoje |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] | jis mūsų nemato |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] | ji nemoka žaisti šachmatais? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] | mes nepavėluosime |
Questions in Lithuanian
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| how? | kaip? |
| what? | kas? |
| who? | kas? |
| why? | kodėl? |
| where? | kur? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] | kur jūs gyvenate? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] | ar ji kalba kiniškai? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] | kiek tai yra? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] | ar galiu jums padėti? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] | kuo jūs vardu? |
Adverbs in Lithuanian
It's time to learn the adverbs in Lithuanian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| now | dabar |
| yesterday | vakar |
| today | šiandien |
| tonight | šįvakar |
| tomorrow | rytoj |
| soon | greit |
| quickly | greitai |
| slowly | lėtai |
| together | kartu |
| very | labai |
| almost | beveik |
| always | visada |
| usually | paprastai |
| sometimes | kartais |
| rarely | retai |
| never | niekada |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] | ardabar jūs mane suprantate? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] | man tučtuojau reikia pagalbos |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] | ji yra labai protinga |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] | aš visada tave mylėsiu |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] | ar galime kartu mokytis vokiškai? |
Pronouns in Lithuanian
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Lithuanian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| I | aš |
| you | tu/jūs |
| he | jis |
| she | ji |
| we | mes |
| they | jie/jos |
| Object Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| me | man/mane |
| you | jums/jus/tau/tave |
| him | jį/jam/juo |
| her | ją/jai/ja |
| us | mus/mums |
| them | jų/juos/jiems/joms |
| Possessive Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| my | mano/savo |
| your | tavo/savo |
| his | jo/savo |
| her | jos/savo |
| our | mūsų/savo |
| their | jų/savo |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] | aš esu tavo draugas |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] | kalbate labai greitai |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] | jis turi tris šunis |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] | ji moka vokiškai |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] | mes nepavėluosime |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] | jie nusipirko pieno ir duonos |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] | ar galite man pasakyti savo vardą? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] | aš duosiu jums pinigų |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] | ji parašė jam laišką |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] | jie aplankė ją vakar |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] | ji gali mums padėti? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] | jis jiems davė maisto |
| Possessive Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] | mano vardas maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] | tavo brolis gyvena čia |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] | jos mama mums verda |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] | jo hobis - skaityti knygas |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] | mūsų svajonė - aplankyti paryžių |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] | jų namas netoli |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns | Lithuanian |
|---|---|
| this is my house | tai mano namas |
| that restaurant is far | tas restoranas toli |
| these apples are delicious | šie obuoliai skanūs |
| those stars are shiny | tos žvaigždės spindi |
I hope you learned a lot about the Lithuanian grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Lithuanian Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |