Verbs: Conditional Mood — Lithuanian Grammar

The conditional mood is the "would" form. You use it for hypothetical situations, wishes, and - very importantly in everyday speech - for polite requests. It answers "what would happen" rather than "what does happen", so it softens and hypothesises.

How It Is Built

Take the infinitive stem (the infinitive without -ti) and add the conditional endings:

-čiau, -tum, -tų, -tumėme, -tumėte, -tų

The third person is again a single form for "he", "she" and "they": .

Aš tau padėčiau.
I would help you.
Jie norėtų pailsėti.
They would like to rest.

Polite Requests

This is the most common everyday use. Casting a request in the conditional makes it gentle and courteous, exactly like English "could you" or "would you":

Ar galėtumėte man padėti?
Could you help me?
Norėčiau kavos.
I would like a coffee.
Ar norėtum eiti su manimi?
Would you like to come with me?
Ar galėtum pakartoti?
Could you repeat that?

Wishes and Hypotheticals

Use it for things that are imagined rather than real - what you would do, what would be nice:

Būtų gerai.
That would be good.
Ką tu darytum?
What would you do?
Norėčiau gyventi prie jūros.
I would like to live by the sea.

"If" Sentences

In a sentence with (if) about an unreal or unlikely situation, both halves usually go into the conditional - where English uses "if I had … I would …":

Jei turėčiau laiko, ateičiau.
If I had time, I would come.
Jei būtų pigiau, pirkčiau.
If it were cheaper, I would buy it.

Making Offers

The conditional is also the polite way to offer something or float a suggestion:

Gal norėtumėte kavos?
Would you perhaps like some coffee?
Ar norėtum pailsėti?
Would you like to rest?

Negation

Negate the conditional with ne-, just like any other verb form:

Aš to nedaryčiau.
I wouldn't do that.
Be žemėlapio nerasčiau.
Without a map I wouldn't find it.

The Verb "to be"

is regular here, on the stem bū-:

Be tavęs būtų nuobodu.
Without you it would be boring.
Būtų puiku.
That would be wonderful.

Note that the same forms cover what grammars sometimes call the "subjunctive" - there is just one set of -tų endings to learn for all of these meanings.

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