A1 · Section 25

Impersonal Constructions

Sentences with no subject at all: the weather, how a person feels, what hurts, and what is permitted. Lithuanian says these with a special form of the adjective that agrees with nothing, and with the dative already met at ¶69.

The Non-Gendered Adjective

126.Beside its masculine and feminine forms every qualitative adjective has a third, non-gendered form — the negimininė forma. It is made from the masculine by changing -as to -a and -us to -u, and it agrees with nothing, because in these sentences there is nothing for it to agree with. It is the form used when a state is reported without any person or thing being said to be in it.

Šiandien šalta.: It is cold today. — no subject at all
Čia labai gera.: It is very pleasant here.
Kaip įdomu!: How interesting!
Man gerai.: I am fine. / I feel well.
Jam gerai, bet man ne.: He is fine, but I am not.

The three forms of the adjective
	masculine	feminine	non-gendered	English
cold	šaltas	šalta	šalta	cold
warm	šiltas	šilta	šilta	warm
good	geras	gera	gera	good
interesting	įdomus	įdomi	įdomu	interesting
difficult	sunkus	sunki	sunku	difficult

For adjectives in -as the non-gendered form is spelt like the feminine, and only the sentence tells them apart. For those in -us the two are distinct — įdomi against įdomu — and the difference is plain to see.

Personal against Impersonal

127.This is the distinction on which the whole section turns. Filmas įdomus says that the film is interesting — a subject, and an adjective agreeing with it. Man įdomu says that I find it interesting — no subject, the person in the dative, and the non-gendered form. English uses the same word for both and gives no warning; Lithuanian keeps them wholly apart.

Tomui šalta.: Tomas feels cold.
Mums buvo labai gera.: We had a very good time. — the past of *būti* carries the impersonal sentence into the past
Ar tau sunku?: Is it difficult for you?

Two sentences that English confuses
	Lithuanian	English	construction
personal	Filmas įdomus.	The film is interesting.	subject + agreeing adjective
impersonal	Man įdomu.	I find it interesting.	dative + non-gendered form
personal	Ji šalta.	She is cold (a cold person).	said of her character
impersonal	Jai šalta.	She feels cold.	said of her sensation

Ji šalta and jai šalta differ by two letters and mean quite different things — the first describes what she is like, the second what she feels. It is worth reading the pair aloud until the difference is automatic.

The Weather

128.The weather is reported either with a non-gendered adjective — šalta, šilta, karšta — or with a verb that has no subject and never will have one. Lyja is it is raining; there is no word answering to the English it, and supplying one is wrong. These verbs exist only in the third person.

Vakar lijo visą dieną.: Yesterday it rained all day. — the past of an impersonal verb, still third person
Rytoj bus šilta.: Tomorrow it will be warm.
Žiemą dažnai sninga.: In winter it often snows.

Weather without a subject
	Lithuanian	English	kind
rain	Lyja.	It is raining.	verb
snow	Sninga.	It is snowing.	verb
cold	Šalta.	It is cold.	non-gendered adjective
hot	Karšta.	It is hot.	non-gendered adjective

What Hurts: Skaudėti

129.Skaudėti is impersonal and takes two things: the sufferer in the dative, and the part that hurts in the accusative. English makes the part the subject — my head aches — and Lithuanian makes it the object of a verb with no subject at all. This is the sentence a learner needs at the doctor's, and it is worth learning whole.

Man skauda galvą.: My head aches. — literally: to-me it-hurts the-head
Jai skauda koją.: Her leg hurts.
Ar tau skauda?: Does it hurt?
Vakar man skaudėjo dantį.: Yesterday I had toothache.

[1] Do not say mano galva skauda: the possessive and the nominative both belong to the English construction, not the Lithuanian one.

What Is Necessary and What Is Allowed

130.Reikia was given at ¶69; it is one of a small family. Galima is it is possible, one may; negalima is it is forbidden; verta is it is worth while. All are impersonal, all are completed by an infinitive, and all take the person concerned in the dative if he is mentioned at all. Because they are impersonal they have no personal endings — they change only for tense.

Čia galima rūkyti?: May one smoke here?
Ne, čia negalima.: No, it is not allowed here.
Man reikėjo dirbti.: I had to work.
Rytoj reikės anksti keltis.: Tomorrow it will be necessary to get up early.

The impersonals and their tenses
	present	past	future	English
necessity	reikia	reikėjo	reikės	it is necessary
permission	galima	buvo galima	bus galima	one may
prohibition	negalima	nebuvo galima	nebus galima	one may not

Galima is itself a non-gendered adjective pressed into service as a verb, which is why it takes buvo and bus to change its tense rather than endings of its own.

Recognising an Impersonal Sentence

131.Three marks together identify one: there is no nominative, the verb or adjective stands in a form that agrees with nothing, and the person, if there is one, is in the dative. Where English inserts a dummy it — it is cold, it is necessary, it hurts — Lithuanian inserts nothing, and the absence is the construction.

Buvo šalta, todėl likome namie.: It was cold, so we stayed at home. — the first clause impersonal, the second personal
Man gera čia gyventi.: I like living here.

English dummy subject, Lithuanian nothing
	English	Lithuanian	what is absent
weather	It is raining.	Lyja.	no it
sensation	I am cold.	Man šalta.	no I as subject
necessity	I have to work.	Man reikia dirbti.	no I as subject
pain	My head aches.	Man skauda galvą.	no possessive, no subject

Vocabulary

karštas: hot · adjective; karšta
šiltas: warm · adjective; šilta
sunkus: difficult; heavy · adjective; sunki
skaudėti: to hurt, to ache (impersonal: + dat. and acc.) · verb; skauda, skaudėjo; Impersonal: no subject; the sufferer is in the dative and the part in the accusative.
galva: head · noun; galvos, galvą, f.
koja: leg, foot · noun; kojos, koją, f.
dantis: tooth · noun; danties, dantį, m.
lyti: to rain (impersonal) · verb; lyja, lijo; Third person only; no subject.
snigti: to snow (impersonal) · verb; sninga, snigo; Third person only; no subject.
galima: it is possible, one may (+ infinitive) · particle; Impersonal; negalima is the prohibition.
oras: weather; air · noun; oro, orą, m.
rūkyti: to smoke · verb; rūko, rūkė, III
anksti: early · adverb
vėjas: wind · noun; vėjo, vėją, m., I
ilsėtis: to rest · verb; ilsisi, ilsėjosi, III

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