Verbs: Expressing 'to be' (būti)

01

The Present

• aš esu (I am), tu esi (you are), jis / ji yra (he/she is)
• mes esame (we are), jūs esate (you are), jie / jos yra (they are)

Notice that yra serves as both the singular and the plural third person - one form for "is" and "are".

02

Dropping "yra"

When you simply equate two things, or describe something, in the present, the form yra is very often left out - the sentence still means "is/are":

• Jis mokytojas.

  He is a teacher.

• Diena graži.

  The day is beautiful.

• Kava karšta.

  The coffee is hot.

This is about yra, the third-person form. The first- and second-person forms (esu, esi, esame, esate) are dropped far less often, and normally stay where English would have them:

• Aš esu iš Lietuvos.

  I am from Lithuania.

03

"There Is / There Are"

To say that something exists or is present somewhere, yra is kept, and it usually comes first or right after the place:

• Ar yra laisvų vietų?

  Are there free seats?

• Čia yra problema.

  There is a problem here.

• Mieste yra parkas.

  There is a park in the city.

04

The Other Tenses

Outside the present, būti is never left out - where English says "was" or "will be", Lithuanian says it too. Every form below is built on the stem bu- / bū-, and each list runs in the same order: aš, tu, jis / ji, mes, jūs, jie / jos. As in the present, the third person is a single form for both singular and plural:

• Past: buvau, buvai, buvo, buvome, buvote, buvo
• Future: būsiu, būsi, bus, būsime, būsite, bus
• Conditional: būčiau, būtum, būtų, būtumėme, būtumėte, būtų
• Imperative: būk (sg), būkite (pl/polite)

• Kur tu buvai?

  Where were you?

• Viskas bus gerai.

  Everything will be fine.

05

Predicate Noun: Nominative or Instrumental

After būti, the noun naming what someone is can stand in the nominative or in the instrumental case. In the present it is usually the nominative; in the past and future, and after the infinitive, the instrumental is common for a role, job or stage of life:

• Jis yra mokytojas.

  He is a teacher. (present tense, nominative)

• Jis buvo mokytoju.

  He was a teacher. (past tense, instrumental)

• Jis bus mokytoju.

  He will be a teacher. (future tense, instrumental)

• Noriu būti gydytoju.

  I want to be a doctor. (instrumental, after the infinitive)

06

Greetings Built on "to be"

Several everyday greetings are simply the imperative of būti:

• Būkite sveiki!

  Be well! (a common greeting and farewell)

• Būk sveikas!

  Be well! (to one person)