būta

Evidential Būta

Level 6

Čia būta vilkų means Wolves have evidently been here: you did not see them, but you see their tracks.

How It Works

1. How it is built. Take the neuter form of the past passive participle (often ending in -ta, without agreement for gender): būti → būta, lyti → lyta, miegoti → miegota. The doer is not a nominative subject. It goes into the genitive, as in the passive agent:

  • Čia būta vilkų. (Wolves have evidently been here.)
  • Čia kažkieno miegota. (Someone has evidently slept here.)

Weather verbs have no doer at all: Naktį lyta (It must have rained in the night).

2. What it means. In the inferential use taught here, the speaker concludes what happened from what is left behind: tracks, wet ground, a messy bed. Compare:

  • Čia buvo vilkai. (Wolves were here. I know it or saw it.)
  • Čia būta vilkų. (Wolves have been here. I can tell from the signs.)

3. "It turned out". With būta, a noun or adjective that describes the person also goes into the genitive. This often expresses a discovery: Jo būta protingo žmogaus (He turned out to be a clever man). In everyday speech you would more often say Pasirodo, jis protingas.

4. Style. This construction belongs to written and literary Lithuanian, and to storytelling. It is related to the neuter passive in Buvo nuspręsta, which also has no nominative subject.

Examples (5)

  1. Čia būta vilkų.

    Wolves have evidently been here.

    Word by Word: Here been wolves-of.

    Vilkų is genitive plural. The speaker sees tracks, not the wolves.

  2. Jo būta protingo žmogaus.

    He turned out to be a clever man.

    Both the person (jo) and the description (protingo žmogaus) are in the genitive.

  3. Naktį būta šalnos.

    There was evidently frost in the night.

    Said when you see white grass in the morning.

  4. Matyt, naktį lyta.

    It must have rained in the night.

    Lyta comes from lyti (to rain). Weather verbs need no doer.

  5. Čia kažkieno miegota.

    Someone has evidently slept here.

    Kažkieno is the genitive of kažkas (someone).

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the doer in the nominative.

    Čia būta vilkai.
    Čia būta vilkų.

    Būta has no nominative subject. The doer goes into the genitive. With a nominative, use a normal verb: Čia buvo vilkai.

  • Putting the description in the nominative after jo būta.

    Jo būta protingas žmogus.
    Jo būta protingo žmogaus.

    In this construction the noun and adjective that describe the person are genitive too, matching jo.

How It Connects

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

būtaLevel 6Evidential Būta

Learn This First

Evidential būta uses a neuter passive form to report an inference from evidence.

Words in This Pattern

būti