Group Numbers

Level 5

Lithuanian has a set of group numbers from 2 to 9: dvejetas, trejetas, ketvertas, penketas, šešetas, septynetas, aštuonetas, devynetas. They count people or things as one group, and the counted word goes into the genitive plural: penketas draugų (five friends).

How It Works

The forms

  • 2 dvejetas, 3 trejetas, 4 ketvertas, 5 penketas
  • 6 šešetas, 7 septynetas, 8 aštuonetas, 9 devynetas

Watch the number 4: it is ketvertas, not keturetas.

With the genitive plural
The counted word always goes into the genitive plural, as after other words of quantity: dvejetas vaikų, trejetas dienų, ketvertas arklių. See Genitive After Quantity Words. The group number itself takes whatever case the sentence needs: Susitikau su penketu draugų. (I met up with five friends.)

What they mean

  • A group seen as one whole, most often people or animals: Pas mus atvažiavo penketas svečių. (Five guests came to see us.)
  • A rough amount: Liko trejetas kilometrų. (There are about three kilometres left.)
  • A set with its own name: geriausiųjų penketas (the top five), a basketball team's penketas (the five players on court), and school marks: Gavau devynetą. (I got a nine.)

Dviese, trise, keturiese ...
These adverbs say how many people do something together: dviese, trise, keturiese, penkiese, šešiese, septyniese, aštuoniese, devyniese. They do not change form or agree with a noun: Gyvename trise. (There are three of us living together.) Vakarieniavome keturiese. (The four of us had dinner together.)

Do not confuse

  • Ordinary numbers simply count: du vaikai (two children). Dvejetas vaikų presents them as a small group. See Numbers One to Nine.
  • Plural-only nouns use a different set: dveji marškiniai (two shirts), treji metai (three years). See Numbers for Plural-Only Nouns.

Examples (6)

  1. Kieme žaidė dvejetas vaikų.

    Two children were playing in the yard.

    Word by Word: In-yard played pair of-children.

  2. Pas mus atvažiavo penketas svečių.

    Five guests came to see us.

    Word by Word: To us came group-of-five of-guests.

  3. Iki kaimo liko trejetas kilometrų.

    There are about three kilometres left to the village.

    Word by Word: Until village remained group-of-three of-kilometres.

    Here the group number gives a rough amount rather than an exact count.

  4. Ėjome dviese.

    The two of us went together.

    Word by Word: We-went as-two.

  5. Šį darbą padarysime trise.

    The three of us will do this job together.

    Word by Word: This work we-will-do as-three.

  6. Iš matematikos gavau devynetą.

    I got a nine in maths.

    Word by Word: From maths I-got nine.

    Here devynetas names a school mark of nine.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the counted word in the nominative.

    Pas mus atvažiavo penketas svečiai.
    Pas mus atvažiavo penketas svečių.

    A group number is a noun of quantity, so the counted word must be in the genitive plural: svečių, not svečiai.

  • Building the number 4 on keturi.

    Kambaryje sėdėjo keturetas vyrų.
    Kambaryje sėdėjo ketvertas vyrų.

    The group number for four is ketvertas. There is no form keturetas.

  • Using the noun dvejetas to say how many people did something together.

    Mes ėjome dvejetas.
    Mes ėjome dviese.

    Dvejetas is a noun meaning a group of two. To say that two people did something together, use the adverb dviese.

How It Connects

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Group NumbersLevel 5

Learn This First

Group-number nouns take ordinary masculine case endings and a genitive plural complement.

Words in This Pattern

dvejetastrejetaspenketas