Language/Lithuanian/Grammar/Nominative-and-Accusative-Cases
As a Lithuanian language teacher with 20 years of experience, I strongly believe that mastering cases and prepositions is essential for anyone looking to speak Lithuanian fluently. In this lesson, we will focus on the two most common cases: the nominative and accusative cases.
Nominative Case
The nominative case is used when you want to indicate the subject of a sentence. Here are some examples:
| Lithuanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jonė | yo-NEH | Jonė |
| vaikas | VAI-kas | child |
| eina | EH-na | is walking |
| mokykloje | mo-KUHK-loh-yeh | at school |
| pamoka | pah-MOH-kah | lesson |
| prasideda | prah-SEE-deh-dah | starts |
As you can see from this example, the nominative case is used to indicate the subject of a sentence. In this case, Jonė is the subject and the verb eina (is walking) agrees with it.
Accusative Case
The accusative case is used when you want to indicate the direct object of a sentence. Here are some examples:
| Lithuanian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jonę | yo-NEH | Jonė |
| vaikas | VAI-kas | child |
| mato | MAH-toh | sees |
| mokykloje | mo-KUHK-loh-yeh | at school |
| pamoką | pah-MOH-kah | lesson |
| baigia | BAI-gyah | finishes |
As you can see from this example, the accusative case is used to indicate the direct object of a sentence. In this case, vaikas (child) is the direct object and is being seen by the subject. The ending -ą is used to mark the accusative case in Lithuanian.