Genitive After Negation

Level 2

Add ne- to a verb, and its accusative object becomes genitive: Matau namą → Nematau namo (I do not see the house).

How It Works

1. Positive and negative pairs.

  • Matau namą. → Nematau namo. (I see / do not see the house.)
  • Turiu brolį. → Neturiu brolio. (I have / do not have a brother.)
  • Valgau mėsą. → Nevalgau mėsos. (I eat / do not eat meat.)

The negation is written as one word with the verb (see ne- with verbs). The same happens after negative words: Niekada nemačiau jūros (I have never seen the sea). Watch out for namo: it is the genitive of namas, and also the word for going home.

2. Objects of an infinitive. When a negated verb such as noriu or galiu is followed by an infinitive, the infinitive's object is usually in the genitive too: Nenoriu gerti kavos (I do not want to drink coffee), Negaliu rasti rakto (I cannot find the key). The accusative is sometimes heard here in casual speech, but the genitive is the standard choice.

3. What does not change.

  • Dative objects: Jis man nepadėjo (He did not help me).
  • Instrumental objects: Nesidomiu futbolu (I am not interested in football).
  • Accusatives of time and measure, which are not objects: Visą naktį nemiegojau (I did not sleep all night). See the accusative of time.
  • Sentences where ne negates the noun, not the verb: Pirkau ne duoną, o pieną (I bought not bread, but milk).

4. Nėra. The negative of yra works in a similar way for things that are absent: Čia nėra kavinės (There is no café here).

Examples (6)

  1. Atsiprašau, neturiu laiko.

    Sorry, I don't have time.

    Laikas → laiko after neturiu.

  2. Aš nevalgau mėsos.

    I don't eat meat.

    Valgau mėsą becomes nevalgau mėsos.

  3. Dar neskaičiau šios knygos.

    I haven't read this book yet.

    Knyga → knygos, and šios agrees with it in the genitive.

  4. Jis nepažįsta mano brolio.

    He doesn't know my brother.

    Brolį → brolio after the negated verb.

  5. Nenoriu gerti kavos.

    I don't want to drink coffee.

    The object of gerti is in the genitive because noriu is negated.

  6. Visą naktį nemiegojau.

    I didn't sleep all night.

    Visą naktį tells how long, so it stays in the accusative.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the accusative after a negated verb.

    Neturiu laiką.
    Neturiu laiko.

    Neturiu is negated, so its object must be in the genitive: laikas → laiko.

  • Forgetting the change after a negated verb of seeing.

    Nematau tavo telefoną.
    Nematau tavo telefono.

    Telefoną becomes telefono after nematau. Tavo does not change.

  • Changing the dative to genitive when you mean “I did not help him”.

    Nepadėjau jo.
    Nepadėjau jam.

    Padėti meaning “help” takes the dative, which stays jam after ne-. Nepadėjau jo can mean that you did not put him or it down; it does not express helping him.

How It Connects

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Genitive After NegationLevel 2

Learn This First

Negating a verb normally changes its accusative direct object to the genitive.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.