Present -n- and -st-

Present Stems with -n- and -st-

Level 3

rasti → randa → rado (find). pykti → pyksta → pyko (get angry). The extra n, m or st lives only in the present.

How It Works

Why this matters. The dictionary form does not tell you the present. That is why Lithuanian verbs are learned as three principal parts: infinitive, present and past. For these verbs, the present is the odd one out.

Type 1: a nasal inside the root. An n appears before d, t, k and g, and an m appears before p and b.

  • rasti, randa, rado (find)
  • kristi, krinta, krito (fall)
  • tapti, tampa, tapo (become)
  • tekti, tenka, teko (fall to someone, have to)
  • pabusti, pabunda, pabudo (wake up)
Before l or r you hear a longer vowel instead: šalti, šąla, šalo (freeze), kilti, kyla, kilo (rise). The weather verb sninga (snigti, sninga, snigo) is another one.

Type 2: -st- after the root.

  • pykti, pyksta, pyko (get angry)
  • tirpti, tirpsta, tirpo (melt)
  • pavargti, pavargsta, pavargo (get tired)
  • trūkti, trūksta, trūko (be missing)
  • gimti, gimsta, gimė (be born)
Some presents show a long vowel together with -st-: pažinti, pažįsta, pažino (know someone).

All of them follow -a. These presents take the -a endings: aš randu, tu randi, jis randa, mes randame; aš pykstu, tu pyksti, ji pyksta.

Past and future go back to the plain stem. Radau (I found), rasiu (I will find), tapo (became), taps (will become). Prefixes do not change anything: surasti, suranda, surado.

One variant to know. Next to krinta you will also hear krenta. Both are accepted; this entry uses krinta.

Examples (6)

  1. Niekada nerandu savo raktų.

    I can never find my keys.

    Word by Word: Never not-find own keys.

    Present nerandu has the n; after a negative verb, raktų is genitive.

  2. Vakar radau piniginę gatvėje.

    Yesterday I found a wallet in the street.

    The past radau has no n.

  3. Rudenį lapai krinta.

    In autumn the leaves fall.

  4. Mama pyksta, kai vėluoju.

    Mom gets angry when I'm late.

  5. Kasryt pabundu septintą valandą.

    Every morning I wake up at seven.

    Pabusti, pabunda, pabudo: the n appears only in the present.

  6. Pavasarį sniegas tirpsta.

    In spring the snow melts.

Common Mistakes

  • Building the present straight from the infinitive.

    Jis visada rada raktus.
    Jis visada randa raktus.

    Rasti adds n in the present: randa. The infinitive does not show this, so learn rasti, randa, rado together.

  • Carrying the n into the past tense.

    Vakar randau piniginę.
    Vakar radau piniginę.

    The extra sound belongs only to the present. The past is built from the plain stem: rado, radau.

  • Carrying the n or m into the future.

    Jis greitai tamps gydytoju.
    Jis greitai taps gydytoju.

    The future is built from the infinitive stem, tap-ti, so it is taps. Tampa is only the present.

How It Connects

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

Present -n- and -st-Level 3Present Stems with -n- and -st-

Learn This First

Some verbs add -n- or -st- specifically in their present stem.

Words in This Pattern

pykti