pradėti / baigti / nustoti + infinitive
Starting and Stopping
Where English says start doing or stop doing, Lithuanian uses an infinitive: Pradėjo lyti, Baigiau dirbti, Nustok verkti.
How It Works
1. The verbs.
- pradėti (pradeda, pradėjo): to start. Present: pradedu, pradedi, pradeda.
- baigti (baigia, baigė): to finish. Present: baigiu, baigi, baigia.
- nustoti (nustoja, nustojo): to stop. Present: nustoju, nustoji, nustoja.
2. With an infinitive. The action goes into the infinitive, just as after norėti and galėti: Rytoj pradedu mokytis lietuvių kalbos (Tomorrow I'm starting to learn Lithuanian), Kada baigsi valgyti? (When will you finish eating?), Jis nustojo rūkyti (He stopped smoking). The infinitive keeps its own object and case: mokytis takes the genitive, lietuvių kalbos.
3. Weather. Weather verbs have no subject, and neither does the phase verb before them: Pradėjo lyti (It started to rain), Nustojo snigti (It stopped snowing).
4. Commands. The imperatives are pradėk, baik, nustok: Nustok verkti (Stop crying), Baik žaisti ir eik miegoti (Stop playing and go to sleep). A negative command uses ne-: Nenustok svajoti (Don't stop dreaming).
5. With nouns. Pradėti and baigti can also take a noun in the accusative: pradėti darbą (to start work), baigti mokyklą (to finish school). For stopping an activity, use nustoti with an infinitive. To say that something no longer happens, you can also use nebe-: Jis neberūko (He no longer smokes).
Examples (6)
- Pradėjo lyti.
It started to rain.
Like lyti itself, pradėjo has no subject here.
- Baigiau dirbti šeštą valandą.
I finished working at six o'clock.
Šeštą valandą is the accusative of time.
- Nustok verkti.
Stop crying.
Nustok is the command form of nustoti.
- Rytoj pradedu mokytis lietuvių kalbos.
Tomorrow I'm starting to learn Lithuanian.
Mokytis keeps its own genitive object.
- Kada baigsi valgyti?
When will you finish eating?
Only baigti is in the future tense; valgyti stays an infinitive.
- Jis nustojo rūkyti prieš metus.
He stopped smoking a year ago.
Common Mistakes
Conjugating the second verb too.
Pradėjau dirbu.Pradėjau dirbti.Only the first verb changes. The action after it stays in the infinitive.
Building the present of pradėti from the infinitive.
Aš pradėju mokytis.Aš pradedu mokytis.The present stem of pradėti is pradeda-, so the first person is pradedu.
Using a noun for the action, as with English -ing.
Jis nustojo rūkymą.Jis nustojo rūkyti.Nustoti is followed by an infinitive, not by a noun in the accusative.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A beginning, finishing or stopping verb takes an infinitive activity.
Related Patterns
- Infinitive -tiThe Infinitive in -ti
The infinitive that follows these verbs.
Level 1 - lyja / sningaWeather Verbs Without a Subject
Weather verbs, which often follow pradėti and nustoti.
Level 2 - nebe-No Longer with Nebe-
Another way to say something no longer happens.
Level 3 - Ongoing Versus Completed Actions
Distinguishes an activity from its completion; choose the infinitive that names the intended activity.
Level 2 - Commands: -k, -kiteCommands with -k and -kite
The command forms pradėk, baik and nustok.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice pradėti / baigti / nustoti + infinitive in Bubblegum
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