Counting in Lithuanian

1. Counting

1	vienas / viena	11	vienuolika	10	dešimt
2	du / dvi	12	dvylika	20	dvidešimt
3	trys / trys	13	trylika	30	trisdešimt
4	keturi / keturios	14	keturiolika	40	keturiasdešimt
5	penki / penkios	15	penkiolika	50	penkiasdešimt
6	šeši / šešios	16	šešiolika	60	šešiasdešimt
7	septyni / septynios	17	septyniolika	70	septyniasdešimt
8	aštuoni / aštuonios	18	aštuoniolika	80	aštuoniasdešimt
9	devyni / devynios	19	devyniolika	90	devyniasdešimt

The numbers 1 through 9 have gender forms and decline for case (their forms can be found in the appendix to this lesson or here: http://lingvistas.com/declensions.html -at the bottom-). So, for example, we say “vienas stalas” and “vieno stalo”. After these numerals, nouns are declined normally.

The numbers 11 through 19 decline for case like feminine nouns. However, in the accusative case, the ending does NOT have a hook under the letter “a”. After these numerals, we use genitive nouns: vienuolika stalų (11 tables), vienuolikai stalų (for 11 tables).

The numbers 10 trough 90 also take genitive nouns (10 knygų ir 40 žurnalų) and rarely decline. They are feminine nouns by origin, but their endings are usually dropped in most forms:

N.	dešimt(is)
G.	dešimt(ies)
D.	dešimčiai
A.	dešimt(į)
I.	dešimt(imi)
L.	dešimtyje

The endings in parentheses are rarely used in modern Lithuanian.

The words šimtas (100), tūkstantis (1000), and milijonas (1000000) are regular masculine nouns taking genitive nouns: šimtas (100) knygų, trys šimtai (300) žmonių.

Compound numerals are formed by combining simple ones:

56 – penkiasdešimt šeši

73 – septyniasdešimt trys

114 – šimtas keturiolika

326 – trys šimtai dvidešimt šeši

1563 – tūkstantis penki šimtai šešiasdešimt trys

2217 – du tūkstančiai du šimtai septyniolika

4500890 – keturi milijonai penki šimtai tūkstančių aštuoni šimtai devyniasdešimt

As you know, some Lithuanian nouns are only used in the plural. Examples: metai (m.pl., year), durys (f.pl., door).

The numbers 1 through 9 have special forms for such nouns:

	masculine	feminine
1	vieneri	vienerios
2	dveji	dvejos
3	treji	trejos
4	ketveri	ketverios
5	penkeri	penkerios
6	šešeri	šešerios
7	septyneri	septynerios
8	aštuoneri	aštuonerios
9	devyneri	devynerios

All the other numbers are used in their regular forms with all (!) nouns.

IMPORTANT: if you say “du metai” instead of “dveji metai” for “two years”, or, let’s say, “trys durys” instead of “trejos durys” for “three doors”, nobody will beat you – Lithuanians do it all the time. However, it’s important to be able to recognize the correct forms as they are the only ones you will see in written Lithuanian.

2. Some Common Expressions

a. how to tell people your age

Telling age may be a bit unusual in Lithuanian when learned by speakers of most European languages.

Here’s the constructions Lithuanians normally use while telling age:

<dative form> (yra) <number> metai.

Where “metai” is the word for “year(s)” (always plural!!) and the “dative form” is the person whose age is being revealed.

So, the sentence, if translated directly, sounds like “to me/you/him/Pete are { this many } years”.

Man dvidešimt metų. – I am 20 years old.

Petriukui septyneri metai. – Little Pete is 7 years old.

Mūsų mamai keturiasdešimt treji metai. – Our mom is 43.

Mano dukrelei dveji metai. – My little daughter is 2 years old.

Senelei Aldonai šimtas metų. – Grandma Aldona is 100 years old.

In the present tense, the verb “yra” is normally dropped. However, it is required in the past:

Man tada buvo keturiolika metų. – I was 14 back then.

If you want to ask how old somebody is, here’s the way to do it:

Kiek <dative form> metų?

Where “kiek?” is the Lithuanian for “how many?”. It always takes a genitive noun.

Kiek Aldonai metų? – How old is Aldona?

Kiek jiems metų? – How old are they?

Kiek metų jūsų senelei? – How old is your grandma?

Kiek tau buvo metų? – How old were you?

REMEMBER: if you are not comfortable with the forms “vieneri / dveji / treji / ketveri etc” form nouns that are only used in the plural (in this case it’s “metai”) you can use regular numbers (as it is done in colloquial Lithuanian):

dveji metai à du metai

treji metai à trys metai

šešeri metai à šeši metai        

Keep in mind, however, that these forms are always perceived as colloquialisms. An English parallel would be “there’s many people there” instead of “there are …” or “here’s your keys” instead of “here are …”

b. how to say “I like” 

Saying “I love” is very easy – one can use the word “mylėti”.

Liking is a little more complicated. There are two ways to say “I like it”.

The first one is the verb “patikti (patinka, patiko)”, which literally means “to be pleasant / likable”. So, in Lithuanian, we don’t say “I like it” – we say “it is likable to me”, where “is likable” is one word “patinka”.

Man patinka tavo butas. – I like your apartment.

Jam patinka ši daina. – He likes this song.

Mums patinka jų šuo. – We like their dog.

Ar jums patinka mūsų namas? – Do you like our house?

Ar aš tau patinku? – Do you like me?

Tu patinki mano mamai. – My mom likes you.

Man patiko filmas. – I liked the film.

Tu jiems labai patikai. – They liked you very much.

Tikiuosi, tau patiks mano dovana. – I hope you like my gift.

A more rare way to say “like” is similar to English in its structure and uses the verb “mėgti (mėgsta, mėgo)”. It can be used to express constant liking of something, but never situations like “I watched it and liked it” (“patikti” is always used in such instances).

Aš labai mėgstu sūrį. – I really like cheese.

Jis mėgsta dainuoti. – He likes to sing.

Mes mėgstame atostogauti prie jūros. – We like to go on vacation by the sea.

  

Appendix: Declension of Numerals

The number “0” (a masculine noun)

N.	nulis
G.	nulio
D.	nuliui
A.	nulį
I.	nuliu
L.	nulyje

The number “1”

Sg.	masculine	feminine
N.	vienas	viena
G.	vieno	vienos
D.	vienam	vienai
A.	vieną	vieną
I.	vienu	viena
L.	viename	vienoje
Pl.	masculine	feminine
N.	vieni	vienos
G.	vienų	vienų
D.	vieniems	vienoms
A.	vienus	vienas
I.	vienais	vienomis
L.	vienuose	vienose

Note: the plural forms “vieni / vienos” are mainly used to say “some ______”.

The number “2”

	masculine	feminine
N.	du	dvi
G.	dviejų
D.	dviem
A.	du	dvi
I.	dviem
L.	dviejuose	dviejose

The number “3”

	masculine	feminine
N.	trys
G.	trijų
D.	trims
A.	tris
I.	trimis
L.	trijuose	trijose

The numbers “4” through “9” (all declined like “4”)

	masculine	feminine
N.	keturi	keturios
G.	keturių	keturių
D.	keturiems	keturioms
A.	keturis	keturias
I.	keturiais	keturiomis
L.	keturiuose	keturiose

The numbers “11” through “19” (all declined like “11”)

N.	vienuolika
G.	vienuolikos
D.	vienuolikai
A.	vienuolika
I.	vienuolika
L.	vienuolikoje

The numbers “10” through “90” (all declined like “10”)

N.	dešimt(is)
G.	dešimt(ies)
D.	dešimčiai
A.	dešimt(į)
I.	dešimt(imi)
L.	dešimtyje

The numbers “100”, “1000”, “1000000”

Sg.	100	1000	1000000
N.	šimtas	tūkstantis	milijonas
G.	šimto	tūkstančio	milijono
D.	šimtui	tūkstančiui	milijonui
A.	šimtą	tūkstantį	milijoną
I.	šimtu	tūkstančiu	milijonu
L.	šimte	tūkstantyje	milijone
Pl.
N.	šimtai	tūkstančiai	milijonai
G.	šimtų	tūkstančių	milijonų
D.	šimtams	tūkstančiams	milijonams
A.	šimtus	tūkstančius	milijonus
I.	šimtais	tūkstančiais	milijonais
L.	šimtuose	tūkstančiuose	milijonuose

Note on noun forms:

All numbers that end in a “0” take genitive nouns:

0 stalų.

10 stalų.

300 stalų.

14526480 stalų.

They can decline when used in different cases, but the noun always remains in the genitive form.

All numbers that end in “11 – 19” take genitive nouns:

11 stalų.

512 stalų.

14523617 stalų.

They can decline when used in different cases, but the noun always remains in the genitive form.

Numbers that end in “1 – 9” (unless preceded by “1” and therefore forming “11”, “12” etc) take ‘normal’ nouns, i.e. the noun agrees in gender and case with the numeral.

1 (vienas) stalas.

1 (viena) moteris.

4 (keturios) gulbės.

45 (keturiasdešimt penki) vyrai.

7856 (septyni tūkstančiai aštuoni šimtai penkiasdešimt šeši) stalai.

IMPORTANT: unlike in English, nouns that end with “1” take a singular noun: 521 vyras – 521 men.

© Yuriy Kushnir, 2011. All rights reserved