aš, tu, jis, ji, mes, jūs, jie, jos

Personal Pronouns

Level 1

aš I · tu you · jis he · ji she · mes we · jūs you · jie they (men or mixed) · jos they (women)

How It Works

The forms. Singular: aš (I), tu (you, one friend), jis (he, it), ji (she, it). Plural: mes (we), jūs (you, a group or one person politely), jie (they), jos (they, all feminine). Unlike English "I", aš is written with a small letter in the middle of a sentence.

There is no separate word for "it". The personal pronoun for a named object normally follows the noun’s gender. Forms such as tai can instead refer to a situation or identify something. A noun is replaced by the pronoun of its own gender: Kur telefonas? – Jis ant stalo. (Where is the phone? – It is on the table.) Kur knyga? – Ji ant stalo. (Where is the book? – It is on the table.) See noun gender.

Jie or jos? Jos is only for a group in which every member is feminine (women, girls, or feminine nouns such as knygos). Jie is for men and for any mixed group: Tomas ir Rūta – jie.

Dropping the pronoun. The verb ending already tells you the person, so aš, tu, mes and jūs are often left out: Dirbu banke. (I work at a bank.) Keep the pronoun for contrast or emphasis: Aš dirbu, o tu ilsiesi. (I am working, and you are resting.) The third person is kept more often, because dirba could mean he, she or they.

Tu or jūs? Tu is informal and for one person; jūs is for groups and for polite address. See informal tu and polite jūs. Pronouns also change for case (man, mane, manęs), covered in personal pronoun case forms.

Examples (6)

  1. Aš gyvenu Vilniuje.

    I live in Vilnius.

    Aš is capitalized here because it starts the sentence; in the middle of a sentence it is normally lowercase.

  2. Dirbu banke.

    I work at a bank.

    Word by Word: Work-I in-bank.

    No pronoun is needed: the ending -u already means "I".

  3. Kur mano telefonas? – Jis ant stalo.

    Where is my phone? – It is on the table.

    Telefonas is masculine, so "it" is jis.

  4. Mes esame draugai.

    We are friends.

  5. Kur mergaitės? – Jos kieme.

    Where are the girls? – They are in the yard.

    All the girls are female, so "they" is jos.

  6. Tomas ir Rūta – studentai. Jie mokosi Kaune.

    Tomas and Rūta are students. They study in Kaunas.

    A mixed group of a man and a woman takes jie.

Common Mistakes

  • Capitalizing aš like English "I".

    Šiandien Aš dirbu namie.
    Šiandien aš dirbu namie.

    Aš is an ordinary word. It takes a capital letter only at the start of a sentence.

  • Using jie for a group of women.

    Mano sesuo ir mama namie. Jie gamina pietus.
    Mano sesuo ir mama namie. Jos gamina pietus.

    When every person in the group is female, "they" is jos. Jie is for men or mixed groups.

How It Connects

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aš, tu, jis, ji, mes, jūs, jie, josLevel 1Personal Pronouns

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Subject pronouns refer to people and to nouns of the appropriate gender.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

jisjijos