Lithuanian noun declension: the five declensions in full

First declension: -as (vyras)

Masculine nouns in -as and -ias

Masculine nouns in -as (vyras, namas, stalas). The -ias subtype (kelias) takes -io/-iui/-ią in the same slots. Vocative singular is -e (Jonai for names in -as: -ai).

• namas, namo, namui, namą, namu, name — house through the singular cases

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First declension: -is / -ys (brolis)

Masculine nouns in -is and -ys, genitive -io

Masculine nouns in -is/-ys with genitive -io (brolis — brolio; gaidys — gaidžio). Stem-final d/t become dž/č before an i that is followed by a vowel (medis — medžio, medžiai; kirtis — kirčio). Distinguish from feminine i-stem -is nouns (declension III), whose genitive is -ies.

• brolis, brolio, broliui, brolį, broliu, brolyje — brother through the singular cases

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Second declension: -a (knyga)

Feminine nouns in -a

Feminine nouns in -a (knyga, mama, ranka). Watch the spelling pair: instrumental -a (su knyga) vs accusative -ą (skaitau knygą).

• knyga, knygos, knygai, knygą, knyga, knygoje — book through the singular cases

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Second declension: -ė (upė)

Feminine nouns in -ė

Feminine nouns in -ė (upė, gatvė, saulė). Genitive plural is -ių (upių).

• upė, upės, upei, upę, upe, upėje — river through the singular cases

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Third declension: -is (pilis)

Nouns in -is with the genitive -ies

i-stem nouns in -is with genitive -ies. Mostly feminine (pilis, naktis, širdis), but a few are masculine (dantis, debesis, žvėris) — masculine i-stems take dative -iui and some have genitive plural -ų (dantų). A dictionary's gender mark tells you which.

• pilis, pilies, piliai, pilį, pilimi, pilyje — castle (f) through the singular cases
• dantis, danties, dančiui, dantį, dantimi, dantyje — tooth (m) — note the dative

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Fourth declension: -us (sūnus)

Masculine nouns in -us and -ius

Masculine nouns in -us (sūnus, dangus, medus) and -ius (vaisius, profesorius). Note accusative singular -ų (sūnų) and the -ius plural in -iai (vaisiai, gen. vaisių).

• sūnus, sūnaus, sūnui, sūnų, sūnumi, sūnuje — son through the singular cases

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Fifth declension: -uo (akmuo)

Nouns in -uo, plus sesuo and duktė

Consonant-stem nouns in -uo insert -en- (m) or -er- (f): akmuo — akmens — akmeniui; vanduo — vandens; sesuo — sesers — seseriai; duktė — dukters. Small but frequent class.

• akmuo, akmens, akmeniui, akmenį, akmeniu, akmenyje — stone through the singular cases
• sesuo, sesers, seseriai, seserį — sister — the -er- stem

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Nouns with only a plural, or only a singular

Durys and metai (only plural), pienas and duona (only singular)

Some everyday nouns exist only in the plural and take plural agreement: metai (year), durys (door), kelnės (trousers), akiniai (glasses), žirklės (scissors), atostogos (vacation), Velykos, Kalėdos. The opposite group is normally used only in the singular — substances and mass nouns: pienas, cukrus, sviestas, duona. Place names sit in one number or the other and stay there: Vilnius, Klaipėda, but Trakai, Druskininkai.

• Durys buvo atidarytos. — The door was open.

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questions

How many noun declensions does Lithuanian have?

Five. The first holds masculine nouns in -as and -is/-ys, the second nouns in -a and -ė (mostly feminine), the third nouns in -is with the genitive -ies, the fourth masculine nouns in -us, and the fifth the -uo nouns (akmuo, sesuo) and duktė.

Is a noun in -is first or third declension?

Check the genitive. First-declension nouns take -io (brolis, brolio) and are masculine; third-declension nouns take -ies (pilis, pilies) and are mostly feminine, with a few masculine ones such as dantis.

Why is akmuo 'akmens' in the genitive?

Fifth-declension nouns add -en- (masculine) or -er- (feminine) in every case after the nominative: akmuo, akmens, akmeniui; sesuo, sesers, seseriai.

more charts

• Lithuanian cases: all seven case endings in one chart
• Lithuanian adjective declension
• The genitive case in Lithuanian (kilmininkas)
• The locative case in Lithuanian (vietininkas)
• All Lithuanian grammar tables