Interrogative & Indefinite Pronouns — Lithuanian Grammar

This family of words asks questions ("who? what? which?") and, with small additions, also expresses vague or general quantities ("someone, anyone, everyone, no one"). Most of them decline through the cases.

The Question Words

- who? / what? (one word covers both people and things)
- what kind of? what … like?
- which one (of a known set)?

Kas tai?
What is this?
Koks oras?
What is the weather like?
Kuris tau patinka?
Which one do you like?

and agree with their noun and decline like adjectives; declines too ( of what, to whom).

Building "some-" Words

Add the piece kaž- in front, or after, to make indefinite "some / any" pronouns:

(someone, something) - a definite but unnamed person or thing
(anyone, anything) - in questions and open possibilities
(some kind of)

Kažkas skambina.
Someone is calling.
Ar nori ko nors?
Do you want anything?

The Negative Words

- nobody, nothing
- no, none (with a noun)

Lithuanian uses a double negative: the verb must also be negated, where English uses just one negative:

Niekas nežino.
Nobody knows. (literally "nobody doesn't know")
Nieko nematau.
I see nothing.
Nėra jokios problemos.
There is no problem at all.

"kas" Declines

Because is a real pronoun, it changes case with its role in the sentence - it is not a fixed question tag:

(who/what), (of what), (to whom), (whom/what), (with what)

Ką tu darai?
What are you doing? (accusative)
Su kuo kalbi?
Who are you talking to? (instrumental)

The Same Words Join Clauses

These question words double as the links in "the one who / the thing that" sentences:

Žmogus, kuris čia gyvena.
The person who lives here.
Tas, kas nori, gali ateiti.
The one who wants to may come.

"all / every / everything"

(all, the whole), (everything), (each, every), (a few)

Viskas gerai.
Everything is fine.
Kiekvienas vaikas.
Every child.
Visą dieną.
All day.
Keletas žmonių.
A few people.

Notice how and agree with their noun, while ("everything") stands alone as a fixed word.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Lithuanian course

57 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “Interrogative & Indefinite Pronouns” is about in bold:

Koks šiandien oras?
What's the weather like today?
Lesson 291
Jūs esate pirmasis asmuo, kuris pastebėjo!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337
Gyvenu kaime, kuriame yra daug karvių.
I live in a village with many cows.
Lesson 487

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