Lithuanian Basics: Lesson 39

Do you still remember the word for Lithuania?

?Lithuania|Lietuva

What about: Lithuanianly (that is, in Lithuanian)?

?In Lithuanian|Lietuviškai

Lithuanian for he teaches is jis moko.

Think of teaching a monk. Try:

?He teaches Lithuanian.|Jis moko lietuviškai.

It’s an o word so what do you think to teach would be?

?To teach|Mokyti

If you want to say he learns you simply direct the action (jis moko) to the person by adding si.

So, if you add si to moko, you get he teaches directed to himself, or, he teaches himself - and that means, of course, he learns.

How would you say:

?He learns Lithuanian.|Jis mokosi lietuviškai.

How would you say:

?I learn Lithuanian.|Aš mokausi lietuviškai.

If to teach is mokyti, what is to learn (don’t forget that the last i of si drops in to words because they don’t drop ONLY in singular forms (I, informal you, he). Say:

?To learn|Mokytis

Remember that this i drops in we as well. Try:

?We learn Lithuanian.|Mes mokomės lietuviškai.

You could have a conversation now where somebody would ask (just by raising intonation):

?You (informal) learn Lithuanian.|Tu mokaisi lietuviškai?

You can also go to the past. First, go to the past with he teaches which is jis moko. Attention to how it ends in o.

?He taught.|Jis mokė.

And now simply add that magic si:

?He learnt.|Jis mokėsi.

You also know mokyti (and mokytis) so you can also go to the future.

?He will teach Lithuanian.|Jis mokys lietuviškai.

You say mokys (and not mokysi) because you drop that last i. However, if you add si to the end (or s in this case), that i goes back. So, how would you say:

?He will learn Lithuanian.|Jis mokysis lietuviškai.

Yeah, I know it’s a bit silly. You have sisi in this word but i drops so you get sis. Anyway, talking about that question we have asked, how do you answer:

?Yes, I learn Lithuanian.|Taip, aš mokausi lietuviškai.

Finally, say:

?He was learning Lithuanian because he will be teaching Lithuanian.|Jis mokėsi lietuviškai, nes jis mokys lietuviškai.

You can now talk about how you learn Lithuanian now which is kind of nice.

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