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!