Verbs: The Infinitive

01

After Another Verb

The infinitive is used after verbs of wanting, being able, liking, beginning and so on - exactly where English uses "to …":

• Noriu valgyti.

  I want to eat.

• Ar galite man padėti?

  Can you help me?

• Mėgstu skaityti.

  I like to read.

• Pradedu suprasti.

  I am beginning to understand.

• Bijau pavėluoti.

  I am afraid of being late.

02

After Impersonal Words

Several very common words that describe necessity or possibility are followed by an infinitive. The person involved, if mentioned, goes into the dative, the "to / for" case — man rather than aš — and the sentence has no ordinary subject at all:

• Reikia eiti.

  It is necessary to go. / We must go.

• Galima rūkyti?

  Is it allowed to smoke?

• Man reikia dirbti.

  I need to work.

• Negalima čia stovėti.

  You may not stand here.

03

To Express Purpose

The infinitive on its own can express why you do something ("in order to …"):

• Atėjau pasveikinti.

  I came to congratulate (you).

• Einu pirkti duonos.

  I am going to buy bread.

• Sustojau pailsėti.

  I stopped to rest.

04

As the Subject or Topic

An infinitive can act like a noun and be the subject of a sentence, where English uses "-ing" or "to …":

• Mokytis yra naudinga.

  Studying is useful.

• Keliauti smagu.

  Travelling is fun.

• Rūkyti kenksminga.

  Smoking is harmful.

05

After Adjectives and Feelings

The infinitive follows the small words that judge an activity - "it is nice / hard / good to …". They come from adjectives, but here they take one fixed form that never changes for gender or number, because there is no noun for them to agree with:

• Malonu susipažinti.

  Nice to meet you.

• Sunku suprasti.

  It is hard to understand.

• Gera būti namie.

  It is good to be home.

06

The Form to Build On

Remember that several other forms are built from the infinitive stem - the future (dirb-siu), the conditional (dirb-čiau) and the imperative (dirb-k). So learning the infinitive well gives you a foothold on much of the verb, and it is the form dictionaries list verbs under.