Nouns: Plural Forms — Lithuanian Grammar

Lithuanian nouns have a full set of plural forms, one for each of the seven cases. The plural is not a single ending you tack on - it runs through the cases just as the singular does - but several of its endings are so regular that they are easy to recognise.

The Nominative Plural

This is the "more than one" subject form:

(men), (brothers) - masculine, -ai / -iai
(books), (streets) - feminine, -os / -ės
(sons), (women)

Vyrai dirba.
The men are working.
Knygos ant stalo.
The books are on the table.

Two Especially Useful Endings

Whatever the noun, the plural genitive almost always ends in -ų, and the plural dative in -ams / -oms / -ėms:

Daug knygų.
A lot of books. (genitive plural)
Dovanos vaikams.
Gifts for the children. (dative plural)

The -ų genitive plural in particular turns up after numbers from ten upward and after quantity words, so it is worth knowing on sight.

Plural Through the Cases

The other plural endings are equally systematic - accusative -us / -as, instrumental -ais / -omis, locative -uose / -ose:

Matau vyrus.
I see the men. (accusative)
Kalbu su draugais.
I am talking with friends. (instrumental)
Knygose daug nuotraukų.
In the books there are many photos. (locative)

Counting and the Plural

A number in front decides which plural you need: two to nine take the nominative plural, while ten and above take the genitive plural:

Penki vyrai.
Five men. (nominative plural)
Dešimt vyrų.
Ten men. (genitive plural)

Adjectives and Pronouns Go Plural Too

Everything that describes a plural noun also takes a plural ending, agreeing in gender and case:

geri vyrai
good men (masculine).
geros knygos
good books (feminine).
tie žmonės
those people.
Matau gerus draugus.
I see good friends. (accusative plural)

Plural-Only Nouns

Some nouns exist only in the plural, even when English thinks of them as one thing - certain place names, festivals, and a few everyday words. Learn these directly in their plural form, since there is no singular to fall back on. Counting them takes a separate set of numbers as well, because the ordinary (two) cannot stand in front of a plural-only noun:

dveji metai
two years.
Kalėdos
Christmas (plural in form).

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Lithuanian course

142 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 7. A few of them, with the words “Nouns: Plural Forms” is about in bold:

Aš turiu du automobilius, du dviračius ir tris motociklus.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33
Aš perku vieną bananą ir šešis kiaušinius.
I am buying one banana and six eggs.
Lesson 43
Aš nupirkau tuziną kiaušinių ir tau šokoladuką.
I bought a dozen eggs and a candy bar for you too.
Lesson 47

Comments

Loading comments…