kiek + genitive

How Many and How Much

Level 2

Kiek means how many or how much. The noun after it goes in the genitive: Kiek tau metų? (How old are you?), Kiek žmonių? (How many people?).

How It Works

Counting and measuring

Kiek is the question word for quantity. It works like the quantity words daug (a lot) and mažai (a little): the noun after it moves into the genitive. See Genitive After Quantity Words.

  • Things you can count take the genitive plural: Kiek turi brolių ir seserų? (How many brothers and sisters do you have?), Kiek žmonių buvo koncerte? (How many people were at the concert?).
  • Things you measure take the genitive singular: Kiek laiko? (How much time?), Kiek cukraus? (How much sugar?).
  • Some nouns are plural only, so they are always plural: metai → metų (years), pinigai → pinigų (money).

Asking someone's age

Lithuanian asks age with the dative and kiek: Kiek tau metų? (How old are you?), and politely Kiek jums metų? The answer uses the dative too: Man dvidešimt metų. See Saying Your Age.

When kiek asks about the verb

With verbs such as kainuoti (to cost), kiek asks how much about the action, and the noun is the ordinary subject in the nominative: Kiek kainuoja bilietas? (How much does the ticket cost?). Compare Kiek laiko gyveni Vilniuje?: laiko is the genitive after kiek, and gyveni is a normal verb.

Answering

Answers follow the number rules. The numbers one to nine agree with the noun: du broliai, dvi seserys. Ten and eleven to nineteen take a genitive plural noun: dešimt žmonių. See Numbers One to Nine and Ten and Up With the Genitive.

Examples (6)

  1. Kiek tau metų?

    How old are you?

    Word by Word: How-many to-you of-years?

    metai becomes metų, the genitive plural, after kiek.

  2. Kiek turi brolių ir seserų?

    How many brothers and sisters do you have?

    Word by Word: How-many (you) have of-brothers and of-sisters?

    Counted people take the genitive plural: brolių, seserų.

  3. Kiek žmonių buvo koncerte?

    How many people were at the concert?

    Word by Word: How-many of-people was at-concert?

    žmonės becomes žmonių. The verb buvo stays third person.

  4. Kiek laiko gyveni Vilniuje?

    How long have you lived in Vilnius?

    Word by Word: How-much of-time (you) live in-Vilnius?

    Time is measured, not counted, so laikas takes the genitive singular laiko.

  5. Kiek pinigų tau reikia?

    How much money do you need?

    Word by Word: How-much of-money to-you is-needed?

    pinigai is plural only, so its genitive is pinigų.

  6. Kiek kainuoja bilietas?

    How much does the ticket cost?

    Word by Word: How-much costs ticket?

    Here kiek asks about the price, so bilietas stays in the nominative.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the nominative after kiek when asking age.

    Kiek tau metai?
    Kiek tau metų?

    After kiek, the noun you count goes in the genitive: metai becomes metų. The nominative metai appears in some answers, such as Man penkeri metai, but never after kiek.

  • Counting with the nominative plural.

    Kiek jūs turite vaikai?
    Kiek turite vaikų?

    The counted noun must be in the genitive plural: vaikai becomes vaikų. The pronoun jūs can be dropped because turite already shows the person.

How It Connects

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kiek + genitiveLevel 2How Many and How Much

Learn This First

Kiek selects genitive forms for counted things and measured amounts.

Words in This Pattern