The Three Conjugations

Getting the Present Stem

35.Every present form is built on the present stem, which is got by removing the ending of the third person present — the second of the three principal parts (¶23). dirba gives the stem dirb-, turi gives tur-, skaito gives skait-. Because the third person is cited in every dictionary, no present form ever has to be guessed.

dirbti, dirba, dirbo → dirb-

to work — first conjugation

turėti, turi, turėjo → tur-

to have — second conjugation

skaityti, skaito, skaitė → skait-

to read — third conjugation

The Second Conjugation

36.Verbs whose third person present ends in -i take the endings below. The first person singular is -iu, not -u; and the second person singular is identical to the third, so that tu turi and jis turi differ only in their pronoun — one of the few places where the pronoun cannot be dropped without loss.

Aš noriu kavos.

I want coffee.

Ar tu turi brolį?

Have you a brother?

Mes žiūrime televizorių.

We are watching television.

The Third Conjugation

37.Verbs whose third person present ends in -o take the endings below. Here the first and second persons singular are -au and -ai, and they are never confused with anything else; the third person in -o is the mark of the whole class.

Aš rašau laišką.

I am writing a letter.

Ką jūs valgote?

What are you eating?

Jie mato namą.

They see the house.

The Three Conjugations Compared

38.Set side by side, the three differ only in the vowel that runs through them — a, i, o. The plural endings are built alike in all three: the third-person form plus -me and -te. Learn the third person and the rest follows.

Aš gyvenu Vilniuje ir dirbu.

I live in Vilnius and work.

Wanting and Liking, and the Cases They Govern

39.Two very common verbs differ in the case they take, and the difference must be learned with them. Norėti, to want, governs the genitive; mėgti, to like, governs the accusative. The reason is the old one: what is wanted is not yet had, and so is a part rather than a whole, while what is liked is liked entire.

Noriu kavos.

I want coffee. — genitive after norėti

Mėgstu kavą.

I like coffee. — accusative after mėgti

Ji nori duonos, bet mėgsta obuolius.

She wants bread, but likes apples.

• [1] klausyti, to listen to, likewise governs the genitive: klausau muzikos, I am listening to music.

The Complementary Infinitive

40.Galėti (to be able), norėti (to want) and mėgti (to like) may be completed by an infinitive instead of by a noun. The infinitive ends in -ti and never changes; the finite verb alone carries the person. Note that when norėti is completed by an infinitive there is no noun to put in the genitive, and the question of case does not arise.

Aš galiu dirbti.

I can work.

Ji nori skaityti.

She wants to read.

Mes mėgstame dainuoti.

We like to sing.

Ar jūs galite kalbėti lietuviškai?

Can you speak Lithuanian?

Adverbs of Frequency

41.Because Lithuanian has one present tense where English has two (¶24), how often an action happens is said with an adverb rather than with a change of tense: visada (always), dažnai (often), kartais (sometimes), retai (rarely), niekada (never). They stand before the verb. Niekada requires the verb to be negated as well — Lithuanian doubles its negatives where English refuses to.

Aš dažnai skaitau.

I often read.

Ji kartais dirba namuose.

She sometimes works at home.

Mes niekada nevalgome duonos.

We never eat bread. — niekada and ne- together

• [1] The double negative is obligatory, not emphatic: niekada valgome is simply ungrammatical.