Talk about weather, seasons and days of the week in Lithuanian
Europeans generally don't appreciate talking about personal information to initiate small talk. When you ask information like age, profession and personal details like these, they take it as some sort of interrogation. Privacy is a big deal, especially in the time of social media, prone to hackers, manipulation of (electoral) votes (see: The Great Hack in Netflix). Also consider their bitter past (spies during the two World Wars). The bottomline is you can never be so sure. This doesn't mean that you can't get into a random and pleasant conversation with a stranger or an acquaintance. The safest topic to bring up is weather. It’s impersonal yet relatable.
Weather in Europe changes frequently. And the older Europeans enjoy talking about this. I know this thanks to numerous encounters on the street, stops, bus, train and taxi rides. I have sat with different kinds of people - young and old, male and female. It usually starts with an innocent question such as "what time is it?", "could you please reach the machine and validate my card?", “it’s warm for winter, don’t you think?” or "it's chilly today, isn't it?". Then, once we break a small portion of that barrier (especially if I answer them back in their local language), they'd take interest in me, asking where I am from, what I am doing in Europe, etc. This personal information comes once a more general and safe topic has been initiated. And weather is one practical topic that may be brought up.
Today, we will talk about weather, seasons and the days of the week.
Talk about the current weather
Koks šiandien oras?
Šiandien sauleta ir šilta.
Translation:
What is the weather today?
It’s sunny and warm today.
Koks siandien oras? translates to what is the weather today? In the first module, we’ve seen the interrogative word koks which means “what” in English. Šiandien is a time marker which means “today”. Oras is the Lithuanian word for “weather” (for Spanish and Filipino speakers, it can be confusing a first!).
You can use the following vocabulary to answer the question depending on the current weather conditions:
Sauleta (sunny) from saulė (sun)
Debesuota (cloudy) from debesis (cloud)
Žaibuoja (stormy) from žaibas (lightning)
Lyja (rainy) from lietus (rain)
Vėjuota (windy) from vėjas (wind)
Sninga (snowy) from sniegas (snow)
Aside from the weather conditions, you can also describe the current temperature:
Karšta (hot)
Šilta (warm)
Šalti (cool)
Šalta (cold)
I personally get šilta and šalta confused most of the time. This is also what you use to describe how you want your kava (coffee) or arbata (tea). So as not to make the confusion, I exaggerate and choose to say karšta (hot) instead of šilta (warm) to avoid mistakenly getting a šalta (cold).
Talk about the days of the week
Kokia diena šiandien ?
Šiandien pirmadienis.
Translation:
What is the day today?
Today is Monday.
Weather changes by the hour, more so by the day. To situate yourself in time, you can ask Kokia diena šiandien? (What day is it today?). The answer to this question is fairly straight-forward. For instance, today is Monday, you’d have to say: Šiandien pirmadienis.
Here are the days of the week starting with Monday:
Pirmadienis (Monday) - I
Antradienis (Tuesday) - II
Trečiadienis (Wednesday) - III
Ketvirtadienis (Thursday) - IV
Penktadienis (Friday) - V
Šeštadienis (Saturday) - VI
Sekmadienis (Sunday) - VI
As you will see in the next module where we take up numbers, days in Lithuanian do not technically have their own names. Instead, you name the days in order: first day (pirma + diena), second day (antra + diena) and so on. Days are often represented by their corresponding roman numeral. This is usually used on shop doors which indicate operating days/hours.
Bonus information: the operating hours sign says “nedirbame” on days when the shops are closed (usually Sundays). Nedirbame literally means “we do not work”. This comes from the regular verb dirbti (to work), combined with the negation indicator ne, conjugated with the pronoun mes (we).
What: Koks vs Kokia
Several questions using the interrogative word “what” we’ve taken up have been expressed using Koks:
Koks tavo vardas ?
Koks šiandien oras ?
So how come we say kokia diena šiandien?
Remember that gender plays an important role in Lithuanian. These interrogative words - koks and kokia, (in English - what) are interrogative adjectives that modify the nouns in the question. Vardas and oras are masculine in Lithuanian which, therefore, take a masculine interrogative adjective - Koks. Diena is a feminine noun which, therefore, takes a feminine interrogative adjective - Kokia.
Talk about your preference
Koks oras tau patinka?
- Man patinka, kai yra sauleta.Kokia diena tau patinka ?
- Man patinka sekmadienis.Koks metų laikas tau patinka ?
- Man patinka vasara.
In these three sample dialogues, the person is asking what your preferred weather (oras), day (diena) and season (metų laikas) is. In order to do this, add the expression tau patinka. Tau is the informal manner of speaking and can be replaced with jums to be more formal.
To answer this query, the expression is man patinka ____. If you want to express the opposite (i.e. you don’t like something), simply ad “ne” before patinka. Example:
Tau patinka ruduo ?
- Ne, nepatinka ruduo.
Here are the vocabulary set for the four different seasons:
Vasara (summer)
Pavasaris (spring)
Ruduo (autumn)
Žiema (winter)
Kokia diena šiandien ? Koks šiandien oras? Koks oras jums patinka ? Kokia diena jums patinka ? Koks metų laikas jums patinka ?
What day are you studying this module? How is the weather today? Which weather do you prefer? Which day of the week do you like? Which seasons do you like best?
Rašykite žemiau ! Comment below!
The shores of the Baltic Sea in Smyltinė (Curonian Spit)
MY SHORT LITHUANIAN LINGUISTIC BIOGRAPHY
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, I was a recipient of the Lithuanian government scholarship for the winter and summer Lithuanian language and culture courses. However, I only chose to attend the summer courses given my work schedule. In those two months, I have learned as much as to introduce myself, get around, let others know what I need and am looking for and describe myself and those in my immediate surroundings. In the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), these skills are categorized in the A2 level. In this level, the language user is able to talk and ask questions about themselves and those of their immediate surroundings, regarding their immediate and personal needs. This level is enough to get you through the day to day necessities such as lodging, restaurant, hotel reservations, ordering food, buying in shops… just about anything you need to function better as a tourist or temporary visitor. Read more…