A2 · Section 3
The Prefix Nebe-
Simple *ne-* denies a state; **nebe-** denies that the state still holds — *no longer / not anymore*. Its positive counterpart is **tebe-** (*still*), and both sit in the same slot as *ne-* relative to the stem and to reflexive *-si-*.
Nebe- Means No Longer
161.The prefix nebe- marks a discontinuative: the situation held before, and it does not hold now. English usually says no longer or not anymore; Lithuanian writes the idea onto the verb as one word — nebedirbu, nebegaliu, nebelyja. It is not a stronger form of ordinary ne- (¶25): nedirbu is I do not work (at this time, or habitually), while nebedirbu is I no longer work (I used to, and have stopped).
- Aš nebedirbu čia.
- I no longer work here.
- Ji nebegali ateiti.
- She can no longer come. / She is no longer able to come.
- Šiandien nebelyja.
- It is no longer raining today.
- [1] Sources: Ambrazas (ed.), Lithuanian Grammar (Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1997), on the outer verbal prefixes; P. Arkadiev, “Typological peculiarities of Lithuanian verbal morphosyntax” (SLE 2010), glossing ne-be- as ‘no longer’ against te-be- ‘still’; school morphology (Keinys; Šukys; Paulauskienė) stating that nebe- marks an action that has been interrupted and is no longer performed (nebeateiti, nebelyti, nebenorėti).
How Nebe- Is Built and Written
162.Nebe- is historically ne- + the continuative element be- (‘still’): literally not-still. In the modern standard it is treated as one prefix written together with the verb (and with adjectives and adjectival adverbs formed the same way): nebegaliu, nebegeras, nebetoli. It is written apart from nouns, pronouns, numerals, and from those adverbs that also take separate ne: nebe laikas, nebe tas, nebe vienas. Under contrast (not X, but Y) it is likewise separate: Nebe skaito, o rašo.
- Aš nebegaliu.
- I can no longer (do it). — together with the verb
- Jis nebegeras.
- He is no longer good / kind. — together with the adjective
- Nebe laikas miegoti.
- It is no longer time to sleep. — separate before a noun
- Nebe skaito, o rašo.
- He is no longer reading, but writing. — separate under contrast
| affirmative | ne- | nebe- | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | dirbu | nedirbu | nebedirbu |
| 3 | dirba | nedirba | nebedirba |
| past 3 | dirbo | nedirbo | nebedirbo |
| future 3 | dirbs | nedirbs | nebedirbs |
- [1] Sources: N. Ostrowski, “Lithuanian discontinuatives nebe- / jau nebe- …”, Folia Scandinavica 20 (2016), deriving nebe- from outer negation ne + continuative be(-) ‘still’; official school orthography (eMokykla Dalelyčių rašyba; VLKK practice as taught in secondary curricula) — nebe with verbs/adjectives/adjectival adverbs together, with nouns/pronouns/numerals apart, and apart under contrast (Nebe skaito, o rašo).
Nebe- against Dar Ne- and Jau Ne-
163.Lithuanian has two ordinary ways of saying no longer, and they must not be confused with not yet. Dar + ne- (dar nedirba) is still not / not yet. Jau + ne- (jau nedirba) is the already-not discontinuative — no longer, built with the particle jau of ¶111. Nebe- (nebedirba) is the prefixed discontinuative of the same meaning, interchangeable with jau ne- in the standard language. The four-way square with the particles of ¶111 is therefore: dar ‘still’, dar ne- ‘not yet’, jau ‘already’, jau ne- / nebe- ‘no longer’.
- Jis dar dirba.
- He is still working.
- Jis dar nedirba.
- He is not working yet. / He still does not work.
- Jis jau dirba.
- He is already working.
- Jis jau nedirba. / Jis nebedirba.
- He no longer works. (both standard)
| positive | negative | |
|---|---|---|
| still / not yet | dar dirba | dar nedirba |
| already / no longer | jau dirba | jau nedirba ≈ nebedirba |
- [1] Source: Ostrowski (2016), §§1–2 — the pan-Lithuanian inchoative discontinuative jau ne-, the West-Aukštaitian / standard prefixed discontinuative nebe-, their interchangeability in the literary language, and the Slavic-like square dar / dar ne / jau / jau ne. Do not invent a difference of ‘strength’ between jau nedirba and nebedirba; both mean no longer.
The Positive Counterpart Tebe-
164.The continuative partner of nebe- in modern standard Lithuanian is tebe-: tebedirba ‘is still working’, tebelyja ‘is still raining’. Where dar is a free particle (jis dar dirba), tebe- is a prefix written on the verb like nebe-. At A2 it is enough to recognise tebe- as ‘still’ on the verb and to produce nebe- for ‘no longer’; dar remains the everyday particle already learnt.
- Jis tebedirba čia.
- He is still working here.
- Jis nebedirba čia.
- He no longer works here.
- Ar tebegyveni Vilniuje?
- Do you still live in Vilnius?
- [1] Sources: Arkadiev (2010), examples of te-be- ‘still’ vs ne-be- ‘no longer’ as a typologically rare morphological encoding of phasal meanings; Ostrowski (2016), noting that tebe- superseded older continuative be(-) in the standard. Wikipedia-style sketches that invent other senses for be- without a grammar behind them are not used here.
Case, Reflexives, and Stacking
165.Everything that holds for ne- holds for nebe-. A transitive verb with nebe- still takes the genitive of negation (¶26): nebeturi laiko, not nebeturi laiką. On a reflexive verb the affix -si- stands after the outer prefix, as after ne- (¶157): mokausi → nesimokau → nebesimokau. Nebe- (like ne-, te-, be-, tebe-) may stand outside a lexical prefix: nebeatvažiuoja ‘no longer arrives’. Do not write a space inside the verb, and do not stack a second ne- beside nebe-.
- Jis nebeturi laiko.
- He no longer has time. — genitive *laiko*
- Aš nebesimokau.
- I no longer study / learn. — *nebe-* + *-si-* + stem
- Jis nebeatvažiuoja.
- He no longer comes (by vehicle). — *nebe-* outside lexical *at-*
- [1] Sources: the genitive after negation is Ambrazas (1997) and ¶26 of this course; reflexive migration after outer prefixes including nebe- is the same rule as Ambrazas / standard descriptions summarised in Arkadiev and in the A1–A2 reflexive sections (nesimokau, nebesimokau); co-occurrence of ne- / te- / be- / nebe- / tebe- outside lexical prefixes is the standard inventory of ‘external’ prefixes (Arkadiev, “External verbal prefixes in Lithuanian”).
Vocabulary
- nebe-
- no longer, not anymore (verbal prefix) · prefix
- Written together with verbs: nebedirbu. Contrast dar ne- (not yet).
- tebe-
- still (verbal prefix) · prefix
- Positive counterpart of nebe-: tebedirba ‘is still working’.