Numbers: Collective Forms

01

The Collective Numbers

• vieneri (1), dveji (2), treji (3), ketveri (4), penkeri (5)
• šešeri (6), septyneri (7), aštuoneri (8), devyneri (9)

They are the ordinary numbers with -eji or -eri in place of the usual ending, and they exist only in the plural. Each has a feminine set beside it: dvejos, trejos, penkerios.

02

Which Nouns Need Them

The ones with no singular of their own - a good few of them everyday words:

• metai (years), durys (door), kelnės (trousers), marškiniai (shirt), akiniai (glasses), atostogos (holiday)

With any of these the collective number is the only choice. The ordinary penki cannot count them at all.

• penkeri metai

  five years.

• dveji marškiniai

  two shirts.

03

They Agree Like Adjectives

A collective number takes the gender and the case of the noun it counts, exactly as an adjective would:

• Jai devyniasdešimt penkeri metai.

  She is ninety-five years old.

• Aš nemačiau tavęs devynerius metus!

  I haven't seen you for nine years!

The second sentence has both words in the accusative, because the phrase measures a stretch of time rather than naming a subject - devynerius metus, not devyneri metai.

04

Only as Far as Nine

There is no collective form from ten upwards, and the ordinary rule takes over instead: the noun goes into the genitive plural.

• dešimt metų

  ten years.

In a compound number it is the last word that decides, so anything ending in one to nine is collective again. That is why the sentence above reads devyniasdešimt penkeri metai and not penki.

05

How to Spot Them

The giveaway is that extra syllable before the ending - penki becomes penkeri, devyni becomes devyneri. When you meet one, look at the noun after it: it will be a word you have never seen in the singular.