Lithuanian Out Loud 0155 - Ledinis Tvenkinys An Icy Pond

Feb 24, 2009

Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.

According to Wikipedia, the Nemunas is a major Eastern European river beginning in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. The Nemunas marks the border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. It is the 14th largest river in Europe, the largest in Lithuania and the 3rd largest in Belarus, it is navigable for most of its 900-kilometer length.

Today we’ll start to learn how to use Lithuanian adjectives.  An adjective is a word that modifies a noun.  For example, a car is a noun.  What kind of car is it?  We need an adjective to describe this noun.  The car is expensive.  Expensive is an adjective.  An expensive car.  A red car.  An old car.  A fast car.

Lithuanian adjectives can be masculine, feminine or neuter.  Masculine adjectives are combined with masculine nouns and feminine adjectives are combined with feminine nouns.  The neuter is used when you’re referring to something inspecific.

Additionally, adjectives are plural when combined with plural nouns.  For today we’ll just focus on singular nouns combined with singular adjectives.

Lithuanian adjectives normally preceed the noun.
Lithuanian adjectives are the only place you’ll see the neuter in Lithuanian.
Lithuanian adjectives agree with the gender, number and case of the noun - except when you use the neuter.

Lithuanian adjectives have three basic endings; the first, -as or –a, the second, -us or –u, and the third, -is or –ė.

the first group -as or –a has three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter
the neuter has no case and no number
you use the neuter when you’re talking about something not identified
you don’t combine nouns with neutral adjectives because nouns don’t have a neutral form
you’ll see what we mean as we go through the next few episodes
the plural of –as changes to –i, the plural of -a changes to –os
but on this episode we’re only concerned with the singular forms

here are examples of –as and –a

small                      
mažas / maža

soft                        
minkštas / minkšta

hard                      
kietas / kieta

the neuter form of this group ends in –a

maža
minkšta
kieta

the second group -us or –i has three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter
the neuter has no case and no number
the plural of –us changes to –ūs, the plural of -i changes to –ios
on this episode we’re only concerned with the singular forms

here are examples of –us and –i

clean                      
švarus / švari

cheap                    
pigus / pigi

expensive              
brangus / brangi

the neuter form of this group ends in –u
švaru
pigu
brangu

the third group -is or –ė has only two genders – masculine and feminine
this group doesn’t have a neuter form
the plural of –is changes to –iai, the plural of -ė changes to –ės

here are examples of –is and –ė

icy                          
ledinis / ledinė

silky                        
šilkinis / šilkinė

synthetic                
sintetinis / sintetinė

neuter form: none

The singular masculine adjectives end in –as –us or –is.  Only –as and –us have a neuter ending.

The singular feminine adjectives end in –a –i or –ė.  Only –a and –i can have a neuter ending.

Now let’s go through some examples so this makes more sense.

small     
mažas / maža

a small dog            
mažas šuo

a small cat              
mažas katinas

a small house        
mažas namas

a small car              
mažas automobilis

a small table          
mažas stalas

a small country      
maža šalis

a small boat          
maža valtis

a small ant            
maža skruzdėlė

a small fox            
maža lapė

a small library        
maža biblioteka

neuter example: 

how small! 
kaip maža!

-soft     
minkštas / minkšta

a soft armchair      
minkštas fotelis

a soft bag              
minkštas maišelis

a soft carpet          
minkštas kilimas

a soft cheese        
minkštas sūris

a soft rabbit          
minkštas kiškis

a soft sofa            
minkšta sofa

a soft blanket        
minkšta antklodė

a soft chair            
minkšta kėdė

a soft bed              
minkšta lova

a soft pillow          
minkšta pagalvė

neuter example: 

how soft! 
kaip minkšta!

-hard     
kietas / kieta

a hard muffin        
kietas keksas

a hard cheese        
kietas sūris

a hard stone          
kietas akmuo

a hard armchair    
kietas fotelis

a hard bench        
kietas suolas

a hard sofa            
kieta sofa

a hard chair            
kieta kėdė

a hard bed              
kieta lova

a hard pillow          
kieta pagalvė

a hard bun            
kieta bandelė

neuter example: 

how hard it is to sit here! 
kaip kieta čia sėdėti!

-clean     
švarus / švari

a clean beach      
švarus pliažas

a clean bowl          
švarus dubuo

a clean room          
švarus kambarys

a clean house        
švarus namas

a clean bedroom  
švarus miegamasis

a clean bathtub      
švari vonia

a clean kitchen      
švari virtuvė

a clean stove        
švari viryklė

a clean plate          
švari lėkštė

a clean saucer        
švari lėkštutė

neuter example: 

how clean it is in the house! 
kaip švaru namuose!

-cheap     
pigus / pigi

a cheap bicycle    
pigus dviratis

a cheap camera      
pigus fotoaparatas

a cheap overcoat    
pigus paltas

a cheap pen          
pigus tušinukas

a cheap ticket        
pigus bilietas

a cheap dress        
pigi suknelė

a cheap blouse      
pigi bliuzelė

a cheap jacket        
pigi striukė

a cheap guitar        
pigi gitara

a cheap handbag    
pigi rankinė

neuter example: 

in this store everything is cheap
šioje parduotuvėje viskas pigu

-icy     
ledinis / ledinė

an icy pond          
ledinis tvenkinys

an icy pool              
ledinis baseinas

an icy drink            
ledinis gėrimas

an icy lake              
ledinis ežeras

an icy bridge          
ledinis tiltas

an icy river            
ledinė upė

an icy sea              
ledinė jūra

an icy street          
ledinė gatvė

an icy puddle          
ledinė bala

an icy stairway      
ledinė laiptinė

neuter example:  there is none

-silky     
šilkinis / šilkinė

a silky skirt          
šilkinis sijonas

a silky necktie        
šilkinis kaklaraištis

a silky sweater        
šilkinis megztinis

a silky robe            
šilkinis chalatas

a silky pillowcase  
šilkinis užvalkalas

a silky dress          
šilkinė suknelė

a silky blouse        
šilkinė bliuzelė

a silky blanket        
šilkinė antklodė

a silky sheet          
šilkinė paklodė

a silky headscarf    
šilkinė skarelė

neuter example:  there is none

-synthetic    
sintetinis / sintetinė

a synthetic chemical
sintetinis chemikalas

a synthetic coat    
sintetinis paltas

a synthetic fur      
sintetinis kailis

a synthetic sweater
sintetinis megztinis

a synthetic tie        
sintetinis kaklaraištis

a synthetic blouse
sintetinė palaidinukė

a synthetic jacket  
sintetinė striukė

a synthetic fabric    
sintetinė medžiaga

a synthetic glove    
sintetinės pirštinės

a synthetic resin    
sintetinė derva

the adjective didelis is an oddball and it doesn’t follow the normal rules

-big, heavy, large    
didelis / didelė

a big noise            
didelis triukšmas

a big elephant      
didelis dramblys

a big man              
didelis vyras

a big mountain      
didelis kalnas

a big house            
didelis namas

a big structure      
didelė struktūra

a big country        
didelė šalis

a big sofa              
didelė sofa

a big snowflake    
didelė snaigė

a large book          
didelė knyga

Šaunuoliai!  Excellent!  You made it to the end of another episode!  Puiku!