laikyti / vadinti + instrumental

Considering and Calling with the Instrumental

Level 5

laikyti / vadinti + accusative + instrumental: Laikau jį geru draugu. (I consider him a good friend.)

How It Works

1. Considering: laikyti. Two useful meanings of laikyti are hold and consider. With just an object, it means to hold or keep: Laikau knygą. (I am holding a book.) With a second word in the instrumental, it means to consider someone or something to be something:

  • Laikau jį geru draugu. (I consider him a good friend.)
  • Save laikau laimingu žmogumi. (I consider myself a happy person.)
  • Šį žodį kalbininkai laiko lietuvišku. (Linguists consider this word Lithuanian.)

2. Calling and naming: vadinti, pavadinti. A name or nickname also goes in the instrumental:

  • Draugai jį vadina Petriuku. (His friends call him Petriukas.)
  • Sūnų pavadino Jonu. (They named their son Jonas.)
The reflexive verb vadintis (to be called) is different. In a present-tense naming sentence, the name is nominative: Šis miestas vadinasi Kaunas. (This city is called Kaunas.)

3. Agreement. An adjective in the label matches the object in gender and number, but its case is always the instrumental:

  • Laikau jį geru draugu. (him: masculine singular)
  • Laikau ją gera drauge. (her: feminine singular)
  • Laikau juos gerais draugais. (them: masculine plural)

4. The passive. When you turn the sentence around, the label still stays in the instrumental: Vilnius laikomas vienu gražiausių Europos miestų. (Vilnius is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.)

5. No preposition. Do not add už or kaip. Laikyti už is a pattern copied from other languages, and standard Lithuanian corrects it to the plain instrumental. The same instrumental names a role after tapti and dirbti: see the instrumental for roles.

Examples (6)

  1. Laikau jį geru draugu.

    I consider him a good friend.

    Word by Word: I-consider him good(INS) friend(INS).

  2. Draugai jį vadina Petriuku.

    His friends call him Petriukas.

    Word by Word: Friends him call Petriukas(INS).

    Petriukas is a pet form of Petras. The name changes to the instrumental: Petriuku.

  3. Save laikau laimingu žmogumi.

    I consider myself a happy person.

    Word by Word: Self I-consider happy(INS) person(INS).

  4. Vilnius laikomas vienu gražiausių Europos miestų.

    Vilnius is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

    Word by Word: Vilnius considered one(INS) most-beautiful(GEN) Europe(GEN) cities(GEN).

    In the passive, Vilnius is the subject, and the label vienu stays in the instrumental.

  5. Sūnų pavadino Jonu.

    They named their son Jonas.

    Word by Word: Son(ACC) they-named Jonas(INS).

  6. Močiutę visi vadino Onute.

    Everyone called Grandma Onutė.

    Word by Word: Grandma(ACC) everyone called Onutė(INS).

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the label in the accusative too.

    Laikau jį gerą draugą.
    Laikau jį geru draugu.

    Only the person is the object in the accusative. What you consider him to be goes in the instrumental.

  • Adding už, as in some neighboring languages.

    Laikau jį už gerą draugą.
    Laikau jį geru draugu.

    Laikyti už in this meaning is a borrowed pattern. Standard Lithuanian uses the instrumental with no preposition.

  • Using the nominative in the passive.

    Jis laikomas geriausias žaidėjas.
    Jis laikomas geriausiu žaidėju.

    In the passive, jis is the subject, but the label is still in the instrumental.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

laikyti / vadinti + instrumentalLevel 5Considering and Calling with the Instrumental

Learn This First

These verbs give an accusative object a label in the instrumental.

Words in This Pattern

laikytivadinti