Nouns: Genitive Case

01

Possession and Relationship

The owner, or the "of" noun, goes into the genitive. Lithuanian normally puts it before the thing owned:

• Tai brolio knyga.

  That is the brother's book.

• Mano draugo vardas yra Tomas.

  My friend's name is Tomas.

• Lietuvos sostinė.

  The capital of Lithuania.

02

"Of" - Amounts and Contents

After words of quantity and after containers, the substance goes into the genitive:

• Puodelis kavos.

  A cup of coffee.

• Daug knygų.

  A lot of books.

• Stiklinė vandens.

  A glass of water.

• Mažai laiko.

  Little time.

03

Negation

This is a key rule. When a verb is negated, its direct object switches from the accusative to the genitive:

• Matau problemą.

  I see a problem. (accusative)

• Nematau problemos.

  I don't see a problem. (genitive)

• Neturiu laiko.

  I don't have time.

The fixed phrase nėra ("there is no") always takes the genitive too:

• Nėra vietos.

  There is no room.

04

After Prepositions

Many of the most common prepositions are followed by the genitive:

• iš (from, out of), nuo (from, since), iki (until, up to)
• be (without), dėl (because of), prie (near, at)
• ant (on), po (after), virš (above), tarp (between)

• Aš iš Lietuvos.

  I am from Lithuania.

• Kava be cukraus.

  Coffee without sugar.

• Knyga ant stalo.

  The book is on the table.

05

After Certain Verbs

A group of verbs governs the genitive instead of the accusative, even without negation - typically verbs of wanting, fearing, waiting, looking for, asking:

• Laukiu autobuso.

  I am waiting for the bus.

• Bijau šuns.

  I am afraid of the dog.

• Ieškau darbo.

  I am looking for a job.

• Prašau pagalbos.

  I ask for help.

06

Dates and Time

The genitive turns up in everyday date and time phrases - the names of months, the days of the week - where it again carries the idea "of":

• Sausio mėnuo.

  The month of January.

• Sausio pirma.

  The first of January. (literally "of January, the first")

• Šeštadienio vakaras.

  Saturday evening. (literally "of-Saturday evening")

07

The Singular Endings

Which genitive ending a noun takes is decided by its dictionary form, so the nominative ending you already know predicts it. Two large groups cover most nouns, and two smaller ones have endings of their own:

• vyras → vyro, brolis → brolio (masculine, -o / -io)
• knyga → knygos, gatvė → gatvės (feminine, -os / -ės)
• sūnus → sūnaus, moteris → moteries (the smaller -us and -is types)

The feminine -os and -ės are worth spotting early, because they look exactly like the nominative plural: knygos is both "of a book" and "books". Only the sentence tells you which is meant.

08

The Plural Ending

In the plural, the genitive ends in -ų for almost every noun: vyrų, knygų, sūnų, moterų, brolių. This single, reliable plural ending is one of the most useful things to recognise in the whole case system - it shows up after numbers from ten upward, after quantity words, and wherever a plural "of" is meant.

• Daug žmonių.

  Many people.

• Penkiasdešimt eurų.

  Fifty euros.

09

Adjectives and Pronouns Agree

Any adjective, demonstrative or possessive that describes a genitive noun goes into the genitive too. The masculine ending is -o, the feminine -os:

• gero draugo

  of a good friend (masculine).

• geros knygos

  of a good book (feminine).

• to vyro

  of that man.

So a whole genitive phrase moves as a unit: mano gero draugo namas "my good friend's house".