Instrumental of Time
Šeštadieniais means on Saturdays, and vakarais means in the evenings. The plural instrumental tells when something happens again and again.
How It Works
Times that repeat
The plural instrumental answers when, as a habit?
- Days: pirmadieniais, antradieniais, trečiadieniais, ketvirtadieniais, penktadieniais, šeštadieniais, sekmadieniais
- Parts of the day: rytas → rytais, vakaras → vakarais, diena → dienomis, naktis → naktimis
- Seasons: žiema → žiemomis, vasara → vasaromis, pavasaris → pavasariais, ruduo → rudenimis
One time or every time
The accusative singular can name one occasion: Šeštadienį eisiu į kiną. (On Saturday I will go to the cinema.) The plural instrumental names a habit: Šeštadieniais einu į baseiną. (On Saturdays I go to the pool.) See Accusative of Time.
Years
Metai (year) is plural only, so its instrumental is metais: šiais metais (this year), praėjusiais metais (last year), kitais metais (next year). With a number, write 2026 metais and read the last number word as a definite ordinal: du tūkstančiai dvidešimt šeštaisiais metais. See Years With Definite Ordinals.
Other time phrases
A few fixed phrases also use the instrumental: tuo metu (at that time), tais laikais (in those days), šiomis dienomis (these days).
Weeks and months are different. They take the accusative: šią savaitę (this week), kitą mėnesį (next month).
Examples (6)
- Šeštadieniais dirbu kavinėje.
On Saturdays I work in a café.
Word by Word: Saturdays-INS (I) work in-café.
The plural instrumental shows a habit: every Saturday.
- Vakarais mėgstu skaityti.
In the evenings I like to read.
Word by Word: Evenings-INS (I) like to-read.
- Vasaromis važiuojame prie jūros.
Every summer we go to the seaside.
Word by Word: Summers-INS (we) go by sea.
- Šiais metais pradėjau mokytis lietuvių kalbos.
This year I started learning Lithuanian.
Word by Word: This-INS year-INS (I) started to-learn Lithuanian language-GEN.
metai is plural only, so this becomes šiais metais.
- Mano sesuo gimė 2010 metais.
My sister was born in 2010.
Word by Word: My sister was-born 2010 year-INS.
Read aloud as du tūkstančiai dešimtaisiais metais.
- Tuo metu gyvenau Kaune.
At that time I lived in Kaunas.
Word by Word: That-INS time-INS (I) lived in-Kaunas.
Common Mistakes
Using the locative for repeated days.
Šeštadieniuose dirbu kavinėje.Šeštadieniais dirbu kavinėje.The locative plural šeštadieniuose would mean inside the Saturdays, which is not how Lithuanian marks a habit. Use the plural instrumental: šeštadieniais.
Using the locative for a year.
Šiuose metuose daug keliavau.Šiais metais daug keliavau.Years take the instrumental, not the locative: šiais metais, praėjusiais metais, 2026 metais.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The instrumental expresses repeated times and the year of an event.
Related Patterns
- Accusative of Time
Compare one Saturday in the accusative with recurring Saturdays in the instrumental.
Level 2 - Locative of Time
Other periods, such as vakare and vaikystėje, take the locative.
Level 3 - Years With Definite Ordinals
How to say and read a year with a definite ordinal.
Level 3 - kas + accusativeEvery with Kas
Kas savaitę and kas rytą are another way to say every week or every morning.
Level 4
Practice Instrumental of Time in Bubblegum
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