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Grammar

16 The Accent Classes of the Nouns

16.1 The Third Accent Class

The third accent class comprises nouns that, in the dative plural, have their stress on the ending while in the accusative plural the stress may fall on any syllable of their stem. When the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, it is always acute; when the stress falls on any other syllable of the stem before penultimate, it may be acute, circumflex, or the syllable may be short, e.g., acc.sg. délną 'palm (of the hand)'; dẽbesį 'cloud'; dóbilą 'clover'; ùždavinį 'task'.

In trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic nouns, the play of stress is ordinarily between the initial syllable and the final syllable. If the stress on the initial syllable is the acute, these nouns are labelled 3^a for trisyllabic and 3^4a for quadrisyllabic. If the stress on the initial syllable is circumflex or the syllable is short, they are labelled 3^b and 3^4b respectively, e.g., acc.sg. kẽpalą 3^b 'loaf'; žìburį 3^b; tráukinį 3^a; ãpdangalą 3^4b 'cover'; láiškanešį 3^4a 'postman'; pìktadarį 'malefactor' 3^4b.

Examples of the third accent class are given below:

Nom sg		délnas 'palm'		aikštė̃ 'square'		debesìs 'cloud'
Gen sg		délno		aikštė̃s		debesiẽs
Dat sg		délnui		áikštei		dẽbesiui
Acc sg		délną		áikštę		dẽbesį
Inst sg		délnu		áikšte		debesimì
						debesim̃
Loc sg		delnè		aikštėjè		debesyjè
				aikštė̃j		debesỹ
Voc sg		délne		áikšte		debesiẽ
Nom pl		delnaĩ		áikštės		dẽbesys
Gen pl		delnų̃		aikščių̃		debesų̃
Dat pl		delnáms		aikštė́ms		debesìms
		delnám		aikštė́m		debesìm
Acc pl		délnus		áikštes		dẽbesis
Inst pl		delnaĩs		aikštėmìs		debesimìs
				aikštė̃m		debesim̃
Loc pl		delnuosè		aikštėsè		debesysè
		delnuõs
Voc pl		delnaĩ		áikštės		dẽbesys

16.2 The Fourth Accent Class

The fourth accent class comprises nouns that, in the dative and accusative plural, have their stress on the ending. In their paradigm the stress alternates between the ending and the penultimate syllable, which is either short or has the circumflex intonation. The fourth accent class seems to be a kind of combination of the second and third accent classes. In any particular case if the stress is required on the inflectional syllable by either the rules of the second or the third accent class, then the stress will be on the inflectional syllable. In other words the stress is on the case ending unless a stem stress is demanded for that same case in both the second and third accent classes. The paradigms for the nouns of the fourth accent class are given bellow. In this paradigm the noun viršùs 'top' is mostly used as singularia tantum and the noun piẽtūs 'dinner', 'south' is pluralia tantum.

Nom sg		nãmas 'house'		pušìs 'pine'		viršùs 'top'
Gen sg		nãmo		pušiẽs		viršaũs
Dat sg		nãmui		pùšiai		vir̃šui
Acc sg		nãmą		pùšį		vir̃šų
Inst sg		namù		pušimì		viršumì
				pušim̃		viršum̃
Loc sg		namè		pušyjè		viršujè
				pušỹ		viršùj
Voc sg		nãme		pušiẽ		viršaũ
Nom pl		namaĩ		pùšys		piẽtūs 'dinner', 'south'
Gen pl		namų̃		pušų̃		pietų̃
Dat pl		namáms		pušìms		pietùms
		namám		pušìm		pietùm
Acc pl		namùs		pušìs		pietùs
Inst pl		namaĩs		pušimìs		pietumìs
				pušim̃		pietum̃
Loc pl		namuosè		pušysè		pietuosè
		namuõs				pietuõs
Voc pl		namaĩ		pùšys

17 Numerals

Numerals are inflected for case, partly for gender and number. Some numerals are similar to nouns, others to adjectives. There are two main groups of numerals: cardinal and ordinal numerals. Cardinal numerals are subdivided into several groups: basic numerals, plural (pluralia tantum) numerals, collective numerals and fractions. According to their structure numerals are simple, derived, compound or composite (multiword) numerals.

17.1 Basic Numerals

The following numerals from one to nine are simple numerals:

		Masculine		Feminine
		víenas 'one'		vienà
		dù 'two'		dvì
		trỹs 'three'		trỹs
		keturì 'four'		kẽturios
		penkì 'five'		peñkios
		šešì 'six'		šẽšios
		septynì 'seven'		septýnios
		aštuonì 'eight'		aštúonios
		devynì 'nine'		devýnios

The number víenas is declined like a regular first declension adjective and agrees in case, number and gender with the noun which it modifies, e.g., Jìs tùri tìk víeną dvìratį 'He has only one bicycle'. The number trỹs is inflected for gender only in the locative, e.g., trijuosè viẽšbučiuose 'in three hotels' vs trijosè kavìnėse 'in three cafes'.

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom		dù 'two'		dvì		trỹs		'three'		keturì 'four'		kẽturios
Gen		dviejũ*		dviejũ*		trijų̃		keturių̃		keturių̃
Dat		dvíem		dvíem		trìms		keturíems		keturióms
						trìm		keturíem		keturióm
Acc		dù		dvì		trìs		kẽturis		kẽturias
Inst		dviẽm		dviẽm		trimìs		keturiaĩs		keturiomìs
						trim̃				keturiõm
Loc		dviejuosè		dviejosè		trijuosè		keturiuosè		keturiosè
		dviejuõs						keturiuõs

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom		penkì 'five'		peñkios		septynì 'seven'		septýnios
Gen		penkių̃		penkių̃		septynių̃		septynių̃
Dat		penkíems		penkióms		septyníems		septynióms
		penkíem		penkióm		septyníem		septynióm
Acc		penkìs		penkiàs		septýnis		septýnias
Inst		penkiaĩs		penkiomìs		septyniaĩs		septyniomìs
				penkiõm				septyniõm
Loc		penkiuosè		penkiosè		septyniuosè		septyniosè
		penkiuõs				septyniuõs

The declension of penkì and septynì differs from keturì only by virtue of the fact that they belong to different accent classes. Šešì is declined and accented like penkì, and aštuonì and devynì like septynì.

The numerals from two to nine agree with the word they modify in case and gender:

• Svar̃stymas bùvo atidė́tas keturióms dienóms
• 'A discussion was delayed for four days'.

Dešimtìs 'ten'is declined like a regular third declension noun of accent class 3^b, however, it is used rarely. The indeclinable form dẽšimt 'ten' is used instead.

Numbers from eleven to nineteen are denoted by compound numerals. They are built by adding -lika (derived historically from the verb lìkti 'remain') to simple numerals from one to nine:

• vienúolika 'eleven';
• dvýlika 'twelve';
• trýlika 'thirteen';
• keturiólika 'fourteen';
• penkiólika 'fifteen';
• šešiólika 'sixteen;
• septyniólika 'seventeen';
• aštuoniólika 'eighteen';
• devyniólika 'nineteen'.

They are not inflected for gender, but they are declined like a regular second declension nouns of the first accent class (cf: síela, 'soul') except that the accusative is like the nominative: vienúolika.

Tens are indicated by compound numerals, the first constituent of which coincides with the accusative form of simple feminine numerals, e.g., dvi-, tris-, keturias-, etc. and the second constituent is the numeral dešimt:

• dvìdešimt 'twenty';
• trìsdešimt 'thirty';
• kẽturiasdešimt 'fourty';
• peñkiasdešimt 'fifty';
• šẽšiasdešimt 'sixty';
• septýniasdešimt 'seventy';
• aštúoniasdešimt 'eighty';
• devýniasdešimt 'ninety'.

These numerals are declined like dešimtìs. However, uninflected forms are used more often, e.g.:

• Bè dvìdešimt (or gen. dvidešimtiẽs) vadovė̃lių neišsiver̃sime
• 'We cannot do without twenty text-books'.

Šim̃tas 'hundred' is declined like a regular first declension noun of the fourth accent class (cf: na~mas 'house').

Tū́kstantis 'thousand' is declined like a regular first declension noun of the first accent class (cf: brólis 'brother').

Milijõnas 'million' is declined like a regular first declension noun of the second accent class (cf: pir̃štas 'finger').

Numerals from 10 to 19, numerals indicating tens (20-90), also šim̃tas 'hundred', tū́kstantis 'thousand', milijõnas, 'million', milijárdas 'billion' require that the noun quantified be in the genitive plural. They are used as nouns, e.g.:

• Šešiólika strėlių̃ 'sixteen arrows';
• peñkiasdešimt pilių̃ 'fifty castles';
• šim̃tas vaikų̃ 'a hundred children';
• tū́kstantis príešų 'a thousand enemies';
• milijõnai vabzdžių̃ 'millions of insects';
• milijárdas žvaigždžių̃ 'a billion stars'.

In declining multi-word numerals, we decline all the components except for the uninflected ones, e.g., nom. dù šimtaĩ peñkiasdešimt devynì; gen. dviejų̃ šimtų̃ peñkiasdešimt devynių̃; dat. dvíem šimtáms peñkiasdešimt devyníems, etc.

17.2 Plural Numerals

Those numerals which are reserved for use with nouns which have a plural form but a singular meaning are as follows:

		Masculine		Feminine
		vienerì mẽtai 'one year'		víenerios dùrys 'one door'
		vienì mẽtai 'one year'		víenos dùrys 'one door'
		dvejì piẽtūs 'two dinners'		dvẽjos skyrýbos 'two divorces'
		trejì var̃tai 'three gates';		trẽjos rõgės 'three sledges'
		ketverì akiniaĩ 'four eye glasses'		kẽtverios žìrklės 'four pairs of scissors'
		penkerì rinkìmai 'five elections'		peñkerios vestùvės 'five weddings'
		šešerì neštùvai 'six stretchers'		šẽšerios láidotuvės 'six funerals'
		septynerì kailiniaĩ 'seven fur coats'		septýnerios kélnės 'seven pairs of trousers'
		aštuonerì marškiniaĩ 'eight shirts'		aštúonerios imtỹnės 'eight wrestling matches'
		devynerì pakiñktai 'nine harnesses'		devýnerios muštỹnės 'nine fights'

The plural number vienerì, vienerios 'one' is a new form in Lithuanian. Also the plural forms of the cardinal numbers vienì, víenos are used with pluralia tantum. These numerals are formed by adding the suffixes -eji, -ejos or -eri, -erios to a simple cardinal numerals.

Numerals of this group are declined like the adjectives of the second declension (cf: žãlias, žalià 'green'):

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom		vienerì 'one'		víenerios		dvejì 'two'		dvẽjos
Gen		vienerių̃		vienerių̃		dvejų̃		dvejų̃
Dat		vieneríems		vienerióms		dvejíems		dvejóms
		vieneríem		vienerióm		dvejíem		dvejóm
Acc		víenerius		víenerias		dvejùs		dvejàs
Inst		vieneriaĩs		vieneriomìs		dvejaĩs		dvejomìs
				vieneriõm				dvejõm
Loc		vieneriuosè		vieneriosè		dvejuosè		dvejosè
		vieneriuõs				dvejuõs

Dvejì and trejì are accented like the ajectives of the fourth accent class, whereas all the others are accented like the adjectives of the third accent class.

17.3 Collective Numerals

There are eight collective numerals: dvẽjetas 'two', trẽjetas 'three', kẽtvertas 'four', peñketas 'five', šẽšetas 'six', septýnetas 'seven', aštúonetas 'eight', devýnetas 'nine'. They are formed by adding the suffixes -etas or -tas (kẽtvertas 'four') to a basic numeral or plural numerals. Víenetas 'one' does not denote number so it cannot be regarded as a collective numeral. It is used as a noun, e.g.:

• Lìtas yrà Lietuvõs pinigìnis víenetas
• 'The litas is the basic unit of currency in Lithuania'.

Other collective numerals (mostly their diminutive forms) can also be used as nouns:

• Stártinis penketùkas jaũ bùvo pasiruõšęs žaĩsti
• 'The starting line-up of five (players) was ready to play'.

These numerals belong to accent class one and are declined like regular first declension nouns (cf: výras).

The collective numerals show that the objects under consideration are to be taken as a group:

• Užtrùksiu tik trẽjetą dienų̃ 'I will be delayed only for three days'.
• Šẽšetas výrų mėgìno įnèšti pianìną į̃ vìdų '(A group of) six men were trying to bring a piano inside'.
• Ligónis nesugebė́jo žeñgti nė̃ kẽtverto žiñgsnių 'The patient was not able to take even four steps'.

The noun quantified by these collective numerals is always in the genitive plural.

18 Adjective Inflection

18.1 The Definite Adjectives

The forms of the definite adjective are mainly obtained by adding the appropriate case of the third person pronoun to the indefinite adjective:

• naũjas + jìs 'new' + 'he' = naujàsis 'new';
• naujà + jì 'new' + 'she' = naujóji 'new'.

But there are some changes in the vowels in their declension:

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom sg		žaliàsis 'green'		žalióji		saldùsis 'sweet'		saldžióji
Gen sg		žãliojo		žaliõsios		sáldžiojo		saldžiõsios
Dat sg		žaliájam		žãliajai		saldžiájam		sáldžiajai
Acc sg		žãliąjį		žãliąją		sáldųjį		sáldžiąją
Inst sg		žaliúoju		žalią́ja		saldžiúoju		saldžią́ja
Loc sg		žaliãjam(e)		žaliõjoj(e)		saldžiãjam(e)		saldžiõjoj(e)
Nom sg		žalíeji		žãliosios		saldíeji		sáldžiosios
Gen sg		žalių̃jų		žalių̃jų		saldžių̃jų		saldžių̃jų
Dat sg		žalíesiem(s)		žaliósiom(s)		saldíesiem(s)		saldžiósiom(s)
Acc sg		žaliúosius		žalią́sias		saldžiúosius		saldžią́sias
Inst sg		žaliaĩsiais		žaliõsiom(is)		saldžiaĩsiais		saldžiõsiom(is)
Loc sg		žaliuõsiuos(e)		žaliõsiose		saldžiuõsiuos(e)		saldžiõsiose

Definite forms are not formed from the third declension adjectives (e.g., auksìnis 'golden'), but they can be formed from comparative and superlative adjectives: naujesnỹsis, naujesnióji 'newer'; naujáusiasis, naujáusioji 'newest'.

Some pronouns and numerals and many participles also have definite forms, e.g., tasaĩ bókštas 'that tower'; pirmóji kovà 'the first battle'; griū̃vančioji pilìs 'the crumbling castle'.

The definite form of the adjective is used to point out some particular object in a group of similar objects:

• Añt stãlo gùli kẽletas įvairių̃ spalvų̃ pieštùkų. 'There are some pencils of different colors on the desk.'
• Kuriõ tù norė́tum? 'Which one would you like?'
• Padúok mán (tą̃) žãliąjį. 'Give me the green one.'

In most cases the English adjective plus one construction could be the best rendered by the definite adjective in Lithuanian.

The definite form of the adjective may also impart a generic meaning of the noun, because it denotes a permanent characteristic. Thus pilkà žąsìs merely means 'a gray goose', whereas pilkóji žąsìs is the variety the gray goose (Latin Anser anser). These forms are common in various terms where they cannot be replaced in most cases with the indefinite forms, e.g., greitàsis traukinỹs 'the fast train' and greĩtas traukinỹs 'a fast train'.

Definite forms are used to form proper names:

• Juodóji jū́ra 'The Black sea';
• Baltíeji rū́mai 'The White House';
• Výtautas Didỹsis 'Vytautas the Great'.

In many cases the definite adjectives differ very little from the simple adjectives. The definite adjectives merely emphasize more the attributive characteristics of the nouns. Thus, their use can be subjective, e.g.:

• Mán skaũda dẽšinę (dešinią́ją) ãkį
• 'My right eye aches'.

Definite adjectives can be used as substantives of the sentence:

• Žalíeji užtvė́rė autostrãdą 'The Greens blocked the highway'.
• Už vagỹstę jìs patẽko į̃ šáltąją 'He was locked up in prison (lit. 'the cold one') for the theft'.
• Dešiniéji pralaimė̃s rinkimùs 'The right-wingers will lose the election'.

18.2 Comparision of Adjectives

There are three basic degrees of comparision in Lithuanian just as in English: the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.

The positive adjectival forms do not refer to any difference in the degree of a quality.

The comparative degree is formed by dropping the endings (-(i)as, -us) of the masculine nominative singular of the adjective and adding -esnis (for masculine) or -esnė (for feminine), e.g., žalèsnis 'greener', žalèsnė; saldèsnis 'sweeter', saldèsnė. There is practically no comparative degree with the adjectives of the third declension (auksìnis 'golden', vilnõnis 'woolen').

The comparative adjectives are declined as follows:

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom sg		gilèsnis 'deeper'		gilèsnė		didèsnis 'bigger'		didèsnė
Gen sg		gilèsnio		gilesnė̃s		didèsnio		didesnė̃s
Dat sg		gilesniám		gilèsnei		didesniám		didèsnei
Acc sg		gilèsnį		gilèsnę		didèsnį		didèsnę
Inst sg		gilesniù		gilesnè		didesniù		didesnè
Loc sg		gilesniamè		gilèsnėje		didesniamè		didèsnėje
		gilesniam̃		gilèsnėj		didesniam̃		didèsnėj
Nom pl		gilesnì		gilèsnės		didesnì		didèsnės
Gen pl		gilesnių̃		gilesnių̃		didesnių̃		didesnių̃
Dat pl		gilesníems		gilesnė́ms		didesníems		didesnė́ms
		gilesníem		gilesnė́m		didesníem		didesnė́m
Acc pl		gilesniùs		gilesnès		didesniùs		didesnès
Inst pl		gilesniaĩs		gilesnėmìs		didesniaĩs		didesnėmìs
				gilesnė̃m				didesnė̃m
Loc pl		gilesniuosè		gilesnėsè		didesniuosè		didesnėsè
		gilesniuõs				didesniuõs

There are some positive adjectives which are also declined according to this paradigm, e.g., dìdelis 'big', dìdelė; dešinỹs 'right', dešinė̃; kairỹs 'left', kairė̃. In the adjective dìdelis 'big' -elis is dropped before the addition of the comparative or supperlative endings -esnis, -iausias, e.g., didèsnis 'bigger', didžiáusias 'biggest'.

The comparative degree denotes that there is a greater degree of the quality in question in one object than in another. The concept "than" in most cases is expresed by negù, neĩ, with the following noun in the nominative case or ùž with the accusative case. Other expressions (kaĩp, nekaĩp) are rarer.

• Tàvo mašinà naujèsnė negù màno (mašinà) 'Your car is newer than my car'.
• Juodà dúona sveikèsnė ùž báltą (dúoną) 'Brown bread is more healthy than white bread'.
• Mònikos výras turtingèsnis neĩ Sãros výras 'Monica's husband is richer than Sara's husband'.

The superlative degree is formed by dropping the -(i)as, -us of the masculine nominative singular of the adjective and adding -iausias, -iausia, e.g., žaliáusias, 'greenest' žaliáusia; saldžiáusias 'sweetest', saldžiáusia. If the stem ends in -d or -t these are replaced by -dž and -č respectively. They are declined like the adjectives of the first declension (cf: žãlias 'green'):

		Masculine		Feminine		Masculine		Feminine
Nom sg		giliáusias 'deepest'		giliáusia		didžiáusias 'biggest'		didžiáusia
Gen sg		giliáusio		giliáusios		didžiáusio		didžiáusios
Dat sg		giliáusiam		giliáusiai		didžiáusiam		didžiáusiai
Acc sg		giliáusią		giliáusią		didžiáusią		didžiáusią
Inst sg		giliáusiu		giliáusia		didžiáusiu		didžiáusia
Loc sg		giliáusiam(e)		giliáusioj(e)		didžiáusiam(e)		didžiáusioj(e)
Nom pl		giliáusi		giliáusios		didžiáusi		didžiáusios
Gen pl		giliáusių		giliáusių		didžiáusių		didžiáusių
Dat pl		giliáusiem(s)		giliáusiom(s)		didžiáusiem(s)		didžiáusiom(s)
Acc pl		giliaúsius		giliaúsias		didžiáusius		didžiáusias
Inst pl		giliáusiais		giliáusiom(is)		didžiáusiais		didžiáusiomis
Loc pl		giliáusiuos(e)		giliáusiose		didžiáusiuos(e)		didžiáusiose

The superlative degree denotes the highest or greatest existing degree of the quality expressed by the adjective:

• Šiuõ metù jìs yrà svarbiáusias žmogùs ìš visų̃ 'Now he is the most important man of all (people)'.
• Atvỹksta jauniáusia duktė̃ 'The youngest daughter is coming'.
• Pérduok jíems màno nuoširdžiáusius linkė́jimus 'Give them my warmest greetings'.

The neuter adjective has a comparative -iau and superlative -iausia, e.g., gražù 'beautiful', gražiaũ , gražiáusia; pìkta 'angry', pikčiaũ, pikčiáusia:

• Šiañdien šilčiaũ neĩ vãkar 'Today is warmer than yesterday'.
• Mán apmaudžiáusia dė̃l tõ pralaimė́jimo 'I am mostly annoyed because of that defeat'.

There is a degree which is somewhat stronger than the positive and weaker than the comparative. It is formed with the suffixes -ėlesnis, -ėlesnė, e.g., mažėlèsnis 'a little smaller' mažėlèsnė. Some other transitional stages are expressed by the prefixes apy- and po- or the suffix -okas, e.g., apýsunkis 'pretty hard', apýsunkė; apýnaujis` 'pretty new' apýnaujė; póminkštis 'pretty soft', póminkštė; didókas 'rather big', didóka.

19 The Participles, Half-participles, and Gerunds

Participles in Lithuanian are similar to participles in English and other languages. They are a variety of adjectives derived from verbs. In Lithuanian they are declined like adjectives and they can denote the characteristic of an object. They can possess definite forms. But, since they are formed from verbs, they also have verbal characteristics: they can denote action and are inflected for tense and can be active and passive. The reflexive forms are also an important verbal characteristic of the participles.

Participles can be used in the following four cases: (a) as modifiers (adjectival use); (b) in compound tenses; (c) in participial phrases; (d) in indirect discourse.

The special adverbial participles (half-participles) denote an action which is simultaneous with the action of the main verb.

Four indeclinable forms of active participles are traditionally called gerunds. They are formed by adding the same suffixes to the same stems as any other active participle. The main difference is the absence of case endings.

19.1 The Present Active Participles and Half-participles

The present active participles are formed by replacing the 3rd person endings -a, -i, -o with (a) the masculine nominative singular endings -ąs, -įs, -ąs or (b) the feminine nominative singular endings -anti, -inti, -anti, e.g.:

bė́ga '(he) runs': bėgã*s (in adjectival function bė́gantis), bė́ganti 'running';
mýli		'(he) loves': mylį̃s (in adjectival function mýlintis), mýlinti 'loving';
gýdo '(he) cures': gydą̃s (in adjectival function gýdantis), gýdanti 'curing'.

The present active participles are declined as follows:

		Masculine		Feminine
Nom sg		bėgą̃s 'running'		bė́ganti
		bė́gantis
Gen sg		bė́gančio		bė́gančios
Dat sg		bė́gančiam		bė́gančiai
Acc sg		bė́gantį		bė́gančią
Inst sg		bė́gančiu		bė́gančia
Loc sg		bė́gančiam(e)		bė́gančioj(e)
Nom pl		bėgą̃		bė́gančios
		bė́gantys
Gen pl		bė́gančių		bė́gančių
Dat pl		bė́gantiem(s)		bė́gančiom(s)
Acc pl		bė́gančius		bė́gančias
Inst pl		bė́gančiais		bė́gančiom(is)
Loc pl		bė́gančiuos(e)		bė́gančiose

The forms bė́gantis 'running', bė́gantys are used only in adjectival function, e.g., bė́gantis čiáupas 'running tap', bė́gantys čiáupai 'running taps'. Bėgą̃s čiáupas and bėgą̃ čiáupai would be uncommon in Modern Lithuanian.

In the nominative singular and plural the present active participles have a special form which is used in adverbial function. It is called in Lithuanian as the half-participle. Half-participles are formed by adding -damas, -dama to the infinitival stem, e.g.,

• bė́g-ti 'to run': sg. bė́gdamas, bėgdamà;
• mylė́-ti 'to love': sg. mylė́damas, mylė́dama.

These forms are inflected for gender and number and they agree with the subject of the sentence in gender and number, e.g.:

• Vaĩkas bė́gdamas treñkėsi į̃ durìs
• 'The child struck the door while running'.

19.2 The Past Active Participle

The past active participle is formed by replacing the 3rd person simple preterit endings -o and -ė with (a) the masculine nominative singular -ęs or (b) the feminine nominative singular -usi, e.g.,

• bė́go '(he) ran': bė́gęs, bė́gusi '(the one who) ran';
• gýdė '(he) cured': gýdęs, gýdžiusi '(the one who) cured'.

A paradigm of the declension for the past active participles is given below:

		Masculine		Feminine
Nom sg		bė́gęs '(the one who) ran'		bė́gusi
Gen sg		bė́gusio		bė́gusios
Dat sg		bė́gusiam		bė́gusiai
Acc sg		bė́gusį		bė́gusią
Inst sg		bė́gusiu		bė́gusia
Loc sg		bė́gusiam(e)		gė́gusioj(e)
Nom pl		bė́gę		bė́gusios
Gen pl		bė́gusių		bė́gusių
Dat pl		bė́gusiem(s)		bė́gusiom(s)
Acc pl		bė́gusius		bė́gusias
Inst pl		bė́gusiais		bė́gusiomis
Loc pl		bė́gusiuos(e)		bė́gusiose

19.3 The Frequentative Past Active Participle

The frequentative past active participle is formed by removing the 3rd person ending of the frequentative past tense, i.e. -o and adding the same endings as those used for the past active participle (see above), e.g.:

• bė́gdavo '(he) used to run': bė́gdavęs, bė́gdavusi;
• gýdydavo '(he) used to cure': gýdydavęs, gýdydavusi/.

This form is used rarely in Lithuanian. Examples are given below:

• Vãsarą jiẽ važiúodavę priẽ jū́ros 'In summer they used to go to the sea'.
• Àš prisìmenu geraĩ žmõgų, váikščiodavusį čià kasdiẽn 'I remember well the man who used to walk here every day'.

It is declined like the past active participle.

19.4 The Future Active Participle

The future active participle is formed by adding the same endings as those used for the present active participle (i.e. -ąs, -anti) to the future stem of the 2nd person singular, e.g.:

• 2nd sg.fut. bė́gsi 'you will run': bė́gsiąs, bė́gsianti;
• 2nd sg.fut. mylė́si 'you will love': mylė́siąs, mylė́sianti.

Since all of the present active participle endings begin with a vowel, the -si- denotes here merely palatalized -s-.

Future active participles are not used frequently in Lithuanian:

• Rytój jiẽ vỹksiantys namõ
• 'Tomorrow they (maybe) will go home'.

These participles are declined like the present active participles.

19.5 The Gerunds

The gerunds are formed from the active participles by dropping the final -i of the feminine nominative singular forms, e.g.:

• bė́ganti: bė́gant;
• bė́gusi: bė́gus;
• bė́gdavusi: bė́gdavus;
• bė́gsianti: bė́gsiant.

They denote an action or situation which is accessory or incidental to the action of the main verb. Such forms are used rather than the adverbial participle or the past active participle to show that the subject of the concomitant action is not the same as that of the main verb, e.g.:

• Bèt, ámžiams sleñkant, ir̃ griū̃vančioji pilìs lìko bè prasmė̃s 'But in the course of centuries even the crumbling castle remained without meaning'.
• Išvýdus tókį vaĩzdą, jiems plaukaĩ pasišiáušė 'Having seen such a sight, their hair stood on end'.

The gerund can have not only an object (e.g., vaizdą 'sight'), but a subject too. Such a subject is put in the dative case (e.g., ámžiams 'centuries') and than we have what is known as a dative absolute construction.

20 Some Impersonal Constructions

Impersonal constructions can be formed with impersonal (subjectless) verbs. The impersonal verbs usually denote natural phenomena, e.g., témti 'to get dark', lynóti 'to drizzle', or person's physical or mental state, e.g., maũsti 'to ache', atródyti 'to seem'. These verbs cannot be combined with a subject expressed in nominative case. Such constructions may consist of a predicate alone or a predicate and other dependents (e.g., oblique cases, adverbials, infinitives):

• Įdienójo 'It was broad daylight'.
• Vaĩką pỹkina 'The child feels sick'.
• Jám pasìsekė laimė́ti 'He succeeded in winning'.
• Šiañdien jaũ niẽkam nebereĩkia tõ bókšto sargýbos 'Today nobody needs the protection of that tower any more'.

The logical subject of the verb nebereĩkia is in the dative case (niẽkam) and the logical object is in the genitive case (sargýbos).

Some of impersonal verbs denoting natural phenomena can take a tautological or cognate subject, e.g.:

• Lietùs lỹja
• (literally) 'Rain is raining'.

The neuter forms are commonly used with the verb bū́ti 'to be' in certain impersonal constructions:

• Búvo káršta 'It was hot'.
• Mán baĩsiai pìkta 'I feel extremely angry'.
• Ligóniui sunkù sėdė́ti 'It is difficult for the patient to sit'.
• Tòmui gaĩla sàvo draũgo 'Tomas is sorry for his friend'.

The present tense form of bū́ti 'to be' is usually omitted.

These forms may also be used with an infinitive of a verb occurring as a subject of certain constructions, e.g.:

• Píeną sveĩka gérti 'It is healthy to drink milk'.
• Nãmą sunkù statýti 'It is difficult to build a house'.

Another type of such a construction is also possible with the neuter adjective, although such a construction is to be considered an exception rather than the general rule. In such constructions the logical object of the infinitive is in the nominative case, e.g.:

• Píenas sveĩka gérti 'Milk is healthy to drink'.
• Nãmas sunkù statýti 'The house is difficult to built'.

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