Talk about where you live in Lithuanian
In the previous lesson, we’ve seen some basic greetings followed by expressions on introducing yourself with your name. In this module, we will take your small talk in Lithuanian further by engaging in a conversation where you can talk about where you’re from.
For Filipinos who (will) visit Lithuania, this might be a handy tool, not only getting past immigration or engaging in quick conversation with tour guides and your hotel front desk attendant. From my experience, numerous locals came to me randomly out of curiosity and asked where I was from. They were certain I couldn’t speak Lithuanian but I appreciated that they approached me to have a go at human connection in spite of the language difference. To their surprise, I was able to indulge their curious minds by also responding using these simple expressions. The look on their faces are priceless. This goes without saying that even I felt proud I was able to manage a spontaneous, short and simple conversation.
These short courses are free and should not be used for profitable activities.
“Laba diena ! Mano vardas Leni. O jus ? Koks jūsų vardas ? Iš kur jūs esate ? Kur gyvenate ? Aš iš Filipinų bet dabar gyvenu Klaipėdoje.”
Let’s deconstruct today’s sentence. For the explanation regarding the first part of the sentence, refer to the previous module. There are three new expressions today that focus on talking about where you hail from or where you live.
Asking where one is from
Option 1: Iš kur jūs esate ?
Iš kur jūs esate ? translates to “where are you from?”. Literally, it sounds like “from where you are” in Lithuanian. There are four words in this questions comprising a preposition, an interrogative word, a personal pronoun and a verb. Iš is a preposition which means “from”. Kur is an interrogative word to ask “where”. Jūs is a personal pronoun that means “you”. In this sentence, we are using the formal, respectful form.
To transform this sentence in a more informal, casual form, replace jūs with tu. Finally, esate comes from the verb būti, the Lithuanian “to be”, conjugated with the subject pronoun jūs. Therefore, if you are going to replace jus with tu to be more casual, you must also replace esate with the conjugated būti for tu which is esi. The informal, casual manner to ask where some comes from is iš kur tu esi?
Option 2: Kur gyvenate ?
Kur gyvenate ? can also be used to ask where someone is originally from. However, it is more specifically a question asking where someone lives. So while you can be in your place of origin and place of residence at the same given time, for some people, this can be quite different. Previously, it has already been mentioned that kur is an interrogative word that means “where”. Gyvenate is the conjugated form for jūs from its infinitive form, gyventi, to live.
To change this sentence in a more casual tone, replace gyvenate with gyveni : Kur gyveni ? (Where do you live?).
To gain more control of sentence construction, let us delve deeper into two grammar elements: personal pronouns and verb conjugation.
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are also sometimes referred to as subject pronouns. They replace nouns that function as subject of the sentence. A subject of the sentence is that thing, that idea/concept, or that person (a noun) which/who is being talked about in the sentence.
The personal pronouns in Lithuanian is easy to grasp for English speakers as there is a 1 : 1 equivalence with its Lithuanian counterpart, save for a particular case with the third person, plural pronoun “they”.
Aš (I)
Tu (you, informal, singular)
Jis (he)
Ji (she)
Mes (we)
Jūs (you, formal, plural)
Jie (they, masculine or a combination of feminine and masculine)
Jos (they, feminine)
As mentioned, there is a distinction between the masculine, general “they” and feminine “they” in Lithuanian. This is prevalent in most European Languages except for modern English where you do not make such distinction between the two genders. Therefore, you must pay close attention to the composition of your subject when it comes to both gender and number.
Verb conjugation
Verbs are heavily dependent on the sentence’s subject. It will determine its structure. Unused and isolated, verbs are in their “purest”, untouched state which is called the infinitive form. In the sentence, iš kur jūs esate, the verb used is esate. This verb is conjugated (transformed) to esate from būti as it is used for the subject jūs. Conjugating a verb, therefore, means transforming its structure to match the subject to make a sound and grammatically correct sentence.
yra, būti, buvo (to be)
If you’re new to foreign language learning, you must know that the most important verb you will probably have to learn, acquire and master by heart is the irregular verbs “to be” and “to have”. In this module, we are introducing the verb “to be” in Lithuanian.
Būti is the infinitive form of “to be” in Lithuanian. However, in the sample sentence, you do not see this. This is normal because būti takes the form esate when conjugated with jūs. How come you don’t see any trace of its infinitive form? It is because, just like in the English “to be”, the Lithuanian būti is also irregular.
NB: Irregular verbs are conjugated without a notable pattern, as opposed to regular verbs. Regular verbs normally take a verb stem and are attached with verb endings depending on the subject it is being conjugated to.
In this case, we used būti to refer to where we are from. The answer to iš kur jūs esate / iš kur tu esi (where are you from) is aš iš Filipinų (I am from the Philippines). In both questions, būti is reflected as conjugated with jus and tu: esate and esi respectively. However, in the answer aš iš Filipinų (literally: I from the Philippines), the verb “to be” is absent. This is completely normal in Lithuanian. The complete sentence, including the verb to complete the thought, is aš iš esu Filipinų. However, most especially in spoken Lithuanian, it is completely normal to drop esu.
Aš esu (I am)
Tu esi (You are)
Jis/ji yra (He/she is)
Mes esame (we are)
Jūs esate (you are)
Jie/jos yra (they are)
As you may have already observed, the conjugation for the third person singular and plural jis/ji and jie/jos is the same: yra. This makes Lithuanian a little bit simpler (compared to other European languages). Obviously, the English counterpart is much simpler.
gyvena, gyventi, gyveno (to live)
Gyventi is the Lithuanian verb for “to live”. When asked kur gyvenate / kur gyveni, the speaker is inquiring where you are currently residing. Gyventi is a regular verb. Unlike būti, it is much simpler to conjugate gyventi.
Aš gyvenu
Tu gyveni
Jis/ji gyvena
Mes gyvename
Jūs gyvenate
Jie/jos gyvena
As a regular verb, all you have to do is to get the verb stem. In this case, the verb stem of gyventi is gyven-. Next, you need to attach the verb endings for every subject pronoun:
(aš) +u
(tu) +i
(jis/ji) +a
(mes) +ame
(jūs) +ate
(jie/jos) +a
This is true for most regular Lithuanian verbs.
Armed with this tool, you can now answer the question kur gyvenate / kur gyveni ?. In the sample sentence, it said: …bet dabar gyvenu Klaipėdoje (but now I live in Klaipėda).
When using the verb gyventi, it should be followed by the place in its locative case form. For example, the place being referred to is the Lithuanian city Klaipėda, in its nominative case. When used with the verb gyventi, Klaipėda should now take its locative form, Klaipėdoje. Here, the ending -a, which indicates a nominative case, is replaced with the ending -oje, which indicates a locative case.
Dealing with different cases in Lithuanian could be a little tough. So for the meantime, here are some places in their locative form you can use to practice:
Maniloje (in Manila/Metro Manila)
Filipinuose (in the Philippines)
namuose (at home)
bendrabutyje (at the dorm)
bute (at the apartment/condo)
Bonus: Lithuanian declension
Lithuanian grammar syntax is dependent on its use of the following six cases (see: declension):
nominative (vardininkas)
genitive (kilmininkas)
dative (naudininkas)
instrumental (įnagininkas)
locative (vietininkas)
vocative (šauksmininkas)
But this is for another day (or maybe even a more formal lesson).
Additional vocabulary
In the sample sentence, we encountered the words bet and dabar.
bet is a conjunction that connects two opposing facts. In English, it’s translated to “but”. See how close they sound?
dabar is a time indicator of the present. In English, it translates to “now”.
Does it seem like it’s getting a little tough and confusing? That’s completely normal though. Why don’t you give it a try and see! Comment below by saying where you’re from and where you currently reside.
Was this helpful? There’s more to come! Let me know which topics you want to cover on future modules.
Follow this Pinterest board for other trivial information about the lietuviškai (Lithuanian language) and Lietuva (Lithuania)
The flag of Klaipeda flying high on top of the old castle on a hill (now in ruins)
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…
