Subordinate Clauses

Kai: When

179.Kai introduces a time clause — when, as. It was listed among the vocabulary of the future (¶103); it is now needed as a full subordinator. The clause it opens is set off by a comma, as every subordinate clause is (¶109), and the tense inside it is the tense of the event itself: present for present, past for past, future for future.

Kai lyja, aš skaitau namie.

When it rains, I read at home.

Kai jis atėjo, mes jau valgėme.

When he came, we were already eating.

Paskambink man, kai grįši.

Ring me when you get back. — future in the *kai*-clause, as the return is future

• [1] Kada asks when?; kai answers it in a statement. The two are not interchangeable: Kada grįši? but Paskambink, kai grįši.

Kol: While and Until

180.Kol covers the ground of English while and until, according to the sense of the verbs. With two actions that overlap it is while; with one that stops at the start of another it is until. A negative in the kol-clause often marks the until reading: laukiau, kol jis atėjo against dirbau, kol jis neatėjo — I waited until he came / I worked until he came (literally while he had not come).

Laukiau, kol autobusas atvažiavo.

I waited until the bus arrived.

Kol lyja, liksime namie.

While it is raining, we shall stay at home.

Nors: Although

181.Nors (and the fuller nors ir) introduces a concession — although, even though. The main clause often answers with vis tiek (all the same) or simply continues; nothing in the grammar of nors requires a special mood. English although with a past in the subordinate clause does not force a tense shift in Lithuanian either.

Nors buvo šalta, ėjome į parką.

Although it was cold, we went to the park.

Nors jis dirba daug, vis tiek nespėja.

Although he works a lot, he still does not manage in time.

Aš ateisiu, nors ir lyja.

I shall come even though it is raining.

• [1] Bet contradicts; nors concedes. Norėjau eiti, bet nebuvo laiko cancels the wish; Nors nebuvo laiko, ėjau admits the obstacle and goes anyway.

The Comma before Every Subordinate Clause

182.Lithuanian punctuates by grammar, not by pause. Wherever a clause introduced by kad, ar, kai, kol, nors, jeigu, nes begins, a comma stands before it — even when English would write none. The rule of ¶109 for kad is therefore the rule for the whole system: learn the comma with the conjunction.

Žinau, kad tu dirbi.

I know that you work.

Palauk, kol baigsiu.

Wait until I finish.

Ateisiu, nors bus vėlu.

I shall come although it will be late.

Sequence of Tenses

183.Lithuanian does not shift tenses in reported or subordinate clauses the way English does. What was said in the future stays in the future; what was present stays present. Jis sakė, kad ateis is he said he would come, but Lithuanian keeps ateis. The same honesty of tense holds after kai, kol, nors and jeigu: choose the tense that names the time of the event, not a tense forced by the main verb.

Ji manė, kad aš sergu.

She thought that I was ill. — present *sergu* kept under a past main verb

Kai grįšiu, papasakosiu.

When I return, I shall tell you. — both futures

The Inventory so Far

184.The subordinators now in hand fall into clear jobs. Kad reports a statement; ar reports a yes-or-no question; kai and kol fix time; nors concedes; jeigu conditions; nes gives a reason that cannot open the sentence. Coordinators (ir, bet, o, arba) join equals and take no comma of subordination. Mixing the jobs — jeigu for ar, kai for kada in a question — is the usual error at this level.

Nežinau, ar jis ateis, kai lyja.

I do not know whether he will come when it rains.

Nors jis sakė, kad ateis, aš lauksiu, kol paskambins.

Although he said he would come, I shall wait until he rings.