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Trečioji pamoka

Lesson 3

GRAMMAR

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    There are seven declensional cases in Lithuanian:

    .....English..... ....Lithuanian.... .....English.... ....Lithuanian....
    1. Nominative Vardininkas who, what? kas?*
    2. Genitive Kilmininkas whose, of what? ko?
    3. Dative Naudininkas to whom? kam?
    4. Accusative Galininkas whom, what? ka?
    5. Instrumental Įnagininkas with whom, with what? kuo?
    6. Locative Vietininkas where, in what? kame?, kur?
    7. Vocative Šauksmininkas used for addressing, calling [calling someone by name]
    ____
    * kas ? means both who? and what?

    THE NOMINATIVE

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  • The nominative case is the case of the subject of the sentence,
    or it may function as the case of the predicate in some copulative
    constructions.

    1) Mano broils yra studentas. — My brother is a student.

  • (Both the subject and the noun predicate are in the nominative
  • case in the preceding example.)

    2) Mano namas yra didelis. — My house is big.

  • (Both the subject and the predicate adjective are in the
  • nominative case in the preceding example.)

    3) Mama skaito laikrašti. — Mother is reading a newspaper.

  • (The subject is in the nominative case, but the object, laikrašti
  • is in the accusative case; see below.)

    THE GENITIVE

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  • The genitive case may be used to show possession or some
    type of relationship which is commonly expressed in English
    by 'of ' or 's. Examples:

    1) brolio stalas — the brother's desk
    2) miesto gatves — the streets of the city
    3) Lietuvos sostine — the capital of Lithuania

  • Certain prepositions require the genitive case. See Lesson 36.

    THE DATIVE

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  • The dative case is the case of the indirect object of the verb.
    Example
  • Jis duoda broliui knyga. — He is giving [his] brother a book.

    It may also function as the subject of an impersonal construction,
    Examples:

    1) Tevui sunku gyventi čia. — It is difficult for father to live here.

    2) Autobusui sunku važiuoti sena gatve. — It is difficult for the

  • bus to travel on (along) the old street

    LS303accusativeTHE ACCUSATIVE

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  • The accusative case functions as the case of the direct object
    of the verb. Examples:

    1) Mama skaito laikrašti. — Mother is reading the newspaper.
    2) Ji verda pusryčius. — She is cooking breakfast.
    3) Tevas rašo laiška. — Father is writing a letter.
    4) Aš turiu viena seseri. — I have one sister.

  • The accusative case is also used in certain time expressions,
  • see Lesson 32 and with certain prepositions,
    see Lesson 37.

    THE INSTRUMENTAL

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  • The instrumental case may denote the means by which, or the
    instrument with which, something is done. Examples:

    1) Jis rašo laiška, pieštuku. — He is writing a letter with a pencil.

  • (Note that pieštuku is in the instrumental case to denote means, but that
  • no preposition is used with it.)

    2) Aš važiuoju i universiteta, autobusu. — I am going to the university by bus.

  • The instrumental case may denote the place along which or near something is
    moving. Example:

  • Jis važiuoja sena gatve. — He is driving along the old street.

    Certain prepositions require the instrumental case, see Lesson 36.

    THE LOCATIVE

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  • The locative case denotes the place where something is.
    Examples:

    1) Mes gyvename mieste. — We live in the city.
    2) Universitetas yra miesto centre. — The university is in the center of the city

    THE VOCATIVE

  • The vocative case is used for addressing, calling a person by name

    Sunau! Son!
    Algi! Ar mane matai? Calling you friend Algis. Al! Do you see me?

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