Partitive Genitive

Level 2

With the genitive, you get some: Nusipirkau duonos (I bought some bread). With the accusative, you get the whole thing or a specific one: Nusipirkau duoną (I bought the loaf).

How It Works

1. Some versus the whole.

  • Išgėriau vandens. (I drank some water.)
  • Išgėriau vandenį. (I drank the water, all of it.)
  • Mama atnešė obuolių. (Mom brought some apples.)
  • Mama atnešė obuolius. (Mom brought the apples.)

2. Where it is common. The partitive genitive is most natural with verbs of buying, bringing, taking, giving, eating and drinking, especially in their completed forms: nusipirkti, atnešti, paimti, duoti, išgerti, suvalgyti. It is also typical in offers and requests: Ar nori sūrio? (Would you like some cheese?), Įpilk man arbatos (Pour me some tea).

3. Genitive endings. duona → duonos, pienas → pieno, vanduo → vandens, arbata → arbatos, and in the plural obuoliai → obuolių, sausainiai → sausainių.

4. Related genitives. The verb norėti itself requires a genitive object, whether it is specific or unspecified, as in Noriu kavos. Genitive also follows quantity words such as daug (see genitive after quantity words). A subject can also be partitive: Atėjo svečių (Some guests came), covered in genitive subjects meaning some.

5. Abstract nouns. With abstract words, the choice can be a matter of degree: turi naudos (has some benefit) versus turi naudą (has the benefit).

Examples (6)

  1. Nusipirkau duonos ir pieno.

    I bought some bread and milk.

    Duonos and pieno are genitive: an unspecified amount.

  2. Išgėriau vandens.

    I drank some water.

    Vanduo → vandens, the genitive.

  3. Įpilk man arbatos, prašau.

    Pour me some tea, please.

    Requests for some of a drink or food use the genitive.

  4. Nusipirkau duoną.

    I bought the bread.

    The accusative duoną means a whole loaf or the bread you both know about.

  5. Mama atnešė obuolių.

    Mom brought some apples.

    Obuoliai → obuolių: some apples, number not given.

  6. Ar nori sūrio?

    Would you like some cheese?

    Sūris → sūrio after norėti, meaning some cheese.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the object in the nominative.

    Nusipirkau pienas.
    Nusipirkau pieno.

    Pienas is not the object form needed after nusipirkau. For some milk, use the genitive pieno. For a specific carton, use the accusative pieną.

  • Using the nominative in a request.

    Duok man vanduo.
    Duok man vandens.

    To ask for some water, use the genitive: vanduo → vandens.

  • Using the accusative when you mean only some.

    Imk pyragą!
    Imk pyrago!

    Imk pyragą! is correct Lithuanian, but it presents the cake as an identified item, often a whole cake. To offer some cake, use the genitive: Imk pyrago!

How It Connects

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Partitive GenitiveLevel 2

Learn This First

The genitive can express an unspecified part or amount.

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Patterns that build on this one.