Lithuanian Basics: Lesson 24

In English, there are lots meanings that the word that has. For example, it is used to identify things. Say, you can say that book. You know this meaning of that in Lithuanian already. You just need the word for book to use it.

A book in Lithuanian is knyga.

It’s one of the few words that are almost the same in Lithuanian and in Russian. Knyga is a fine word and we will most likely be making use of it later – don’t worry if you forget it now, though. Anyway, say:

?That book|Ta knyga

So, that was one meaning of that.

You can also use that to connect phrases. For example, you can say he said that he liked her or I think that you don’t understand anything.

This that is kad in Lithuanian.

You know the Lithuanian word for to think (which has to do with using your head). How would you say:

?I think that I do not have it.|Aš galvoju, kad aš to neturiu.

Talk formally:

?I think that you will wait.|Aš galvoju, kad jūs lauksite.

The Lithuanian word for he says is sako.

?He says that he doesn’t want it.|Jis sako, kad jis to nenori.

?He says that we will not wait.|Jis sako, kad mes nelauksime.

?He will not say that we are here.|Jis nesakys, kad mes čia esame.

Thus, we have that under our belt. This will come in handy later as well. As we have that, let’s learn because. The Lithuanian word for because is extremely easy:

Lithuanian for because is nes.

Thus, you can finally say:

?I want it because I do not have it.|Aš to noriu, nes aš to neturiu.

Or:

?I want to use it because I have it.|Aš noriu tai naudoti, nes aš tai turiu.

Or even (try to emphasize HE the way Lithuanians do it – as we learnt a few lessons ago) :

?I want to have it because I do not think that HE can have it.|Aš noriu tai turėti, nes aš negalvoju, kad gali tai turėti jis.

?We will not say that he is here because we do not want it.|Mes nesakysime, kad jis čia yra, nes mes to nenorime.

Thus, we have learnt two very important phrase connectors in Lithuanian. We now know ir (and), but (bet), kad (that) and nes (because).

You can also put all of it to use in one sentence. This will probably be the longest one you will have done in Lithuanian so far. I want you to use the informal version of you. Try this sentence:

?I want it and I understand that you don’t want to think about it but I can’t wait and I want to have it tomorrow.|Aš to noriu ir aš suprantu, kad tu nenori galvoti apie tai, bet aš negaliu laukti ir aš noriu rytoj tai turėti.

Wow, even I had a hard time writing it. If you got some things wrong, don’t worry. That’s what you are here for – to learn.

We still have some connectors missing but we will learn some of them later. In the next few lessons, we will learn a lot more about being. Till then.

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