Numbers for Plural-Only Nouns

Level 3

Nouns that exist only in the plural, like metai (year, years) and durys (door), use their own numbers: dveji metai, trejos durys.

How It Works

1. Why special numbers. Plural-only nouns such as metai (year), durys (door), kelnės (trousers), marškiniai (shirt) and žirklės (scissors) have no singular. The ordinary du, trys count single things, so these nouns take their own set of numbers.

2. The forms.

  • 1: vieni / vienos or vieneri / vienerios
  • 2: dveji / dvejos
  • 3: treji / trejos
  • 4: ketveri / ketverios
  • 5-9: penkeri, šešeri, septyneri, aštuoneri, devyneri (feminine penkerios and so on)

Masculine nouns take the first form: dveji metai, treji marškiniai. Feminine nouns take the -os form: dvejos durys, trejos kelnės. For one, both vieni metai and vieneri metai are used.

3. Cases. These numbers decline like plural adjectives: dvejus metus (accusative), dvejų metų (genitive), dvejas kelnes (feminine accusative). Lietuvoje gyvenu dvejus metus uses the accusative of time.

4. Ten and up. Ten, the teens and round tens use ordinary numbers with the genitive plural: dešimt metų, penkiolika metų. In compound numbers, the last word still decides: dvidešimt dveji metai, trisdešimt metų.

5. Age. Because age is counted in metai, these forms are used when the last component is one to nine, excluding the teens, as you say your age: Man dvidešimt dveji metai (I am 22).

Examples (6)

  1. Lietuvoje gyvenu jau dvejus metus.

    I have been living in Lithuania for two years now.

    Dvejus metus is the accusative of time.

  2. Nusipirkau dvejas kelnes.

    I bought two pairs of trousers.

    Kelnės is feminine, so the number is dvejas in the accusative.

  3. Kambaryje buvo trejos durys.

    The room had three doors.

    Durys is feminine, so the form is trejos.

  4. Po ketverių metų jie grįžo į Lietuvą.

    Four years later they returned to Lithuania.

    Po takes the genitive, so both words are genitive plural.

  5. Į kelionę įsidėjau tik vienerius marškinius.

    I packed only one shirt for the trip.

    Vienerius marškinius means one shirt. Vienus marškinius is also correct.

  6. Man dvidešimt dveji metai.

    I am 22.

    The last word decides: dveji.

Common Mistakes

  • Counting a plural-only noun with the ordinary number.

    du metai
    dveji metai

    Metai has no singular, so it takes dveji, not du.

  • Using the masculine form with a feminine noun.

    dveji durys
    dvejos durys

    Durys is feminine, so the number takes the -os form.

  • Forgetting the special number at the end of a compound number.

    Man dvidešimt du metai.
    Man dvidešimt dveji metai.

    The last word of the number still has to be the special form.

How It Connects

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

Numbers for Plural-Only NounsLevel 3

Learn This First

Plural-only nouns use special number forms for one to nine.

Words in This Pattern

metaidurysmarškiniaidešimtkeleri