Accusative of Measure
How much something costs, how much it weighs or how far you go is said with the accusative: Kava kainuoja tris eurus. (The coffee costs three euros.)
How It Works
Price
Kainuoti (to cost) takes the price in the accusative: Bilietas kainuoja vieną eurą. Kiek kainuoja? – Du eurus. To say a price per unit, add For and In Exchange For With Už: keturis eurus už kilogramą (four euros a kilogram).
Distance
With verbs such as nueiti, nubėgti and nuvažiuoti, the distance is in the accusative: Nubėgau penkis kilometrus. (I ran five kilometers.)
Weight
Sverti (to weigh) works the same way: Lagaminas sveria dvidešimt kilogramų. (The suitcase weighs twenty kilograms.)
Which form of the number?
- 1: vieną eurą, vieną kilometrą, vieną valandą
- 2–9: du eurus, tris eurus, penkis kilometrus, dvi valandas. See Numbers One to Nine.
- Ten, teens, round tens, hundreds and thousands take a genitive plural noun: dešimt eurų, penkiolika kilometrų. Šimtas and tūkstantis go into the accusative themselves: šimtą eurų, tūkstantį eurų. See Ten and Up With the Genitive.
- In compound numbers, the last word decides: dvidešimt vieną eurą, dvidešimt du eurus.
The same case for time
How long something lasts is also in the accusative: Laukiau dvi valandas. (I waited for two hours.) See Accusative of Time.
Examples (6)
- Kava kainuoja tris eurus.
The coffee costs three euros.
Word by Word: Coffee costs three-ACC euros-ACC.
kava is the subject; the price is in the accusative.
- Autobuso bilietas kainuoja vieną eurą.
A bus ticket costs one euro.
Word by Word: Bus-GEN ticket costs one-ACC euro-ACC.
- Vakar nuėjome penkis kilometrus.
Yesterday we walked five kilometers.
Word by Word: Yesterday (we) walked five-ACC kilometers-ACC.
- Mano lagaminas sveria dvidešimt kilogramų.
My suitcase weighs twenty kilograms.
Word by Word: My suitcase weighs twenty kilograms-GEN.
After dvidešimt, the noun is in the genitive plural.
- Šis telefonas kainuoja šimtą eurų.
This phone costs a hundred euros.
Word by Word: This phone costs hundred-ACC euros-GEN.
šimtas itself takes the accusative: šimtą.
- Braškės kainuoja keturis eurus už kilogramą.
Strawberries cost four euros a kilogram.
Word by Word: Strawberries cost four-ACC euros-ACC for kilogram-ACC.
Common Mistakes
Putting the price in the nominative.
Kava kainuoja trys eurai.Kava kainuoja tris eurus.The subject of the sentence is kava. The price after kainuoti goes in the accusative: trys eurai becomes tris eurus.
Putting a small amount in the genitive.
Krepšys svėrė trijų kilogramų.Krepšys svėrė tris kilogramus.The weight after sverti is accusative here: tris kilogramus. A number such as dešimt instead governs a genitive noun: dešimt kilogramų.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The accusative can state a measurement, while quantity words retain their genitive complements.
Related Patterns
- Numbers One to Nine
The accusative forms vieną, du, tris, penkis.
Level 1 - kiek + genitiveHow Many and How Much
Kiek kainuoja? asks the price that this pattern answers.
Level 2 - už + accusativeFor and in Exchange for with Už
Už + accusative gives a price per unit or what you pay for.
Level 2 - Accusative Direct Object
The accusative endings, first learned for direct objects.
Level 1
Words in This Pattern
Practice Accusative of Measure in Bubblegum
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