Nasal Letters ą, ę, į, ų

The Nasal Letters Ą, Ę, Į and Ų

Level 1

The hook under ą, ę, į, ų once meant a nasal sound. Today these letters are simply long vowels: knygą ends in a long a.

How It Works

These four letters are called nosinės raidės, "nasal letters". Long ago, Lithuanian said an, en, in, un in these places. Today the n has disappeared and left a long vowel behind:

  • ą = long a, as in knygą
  • ę = long open e, close to the a in English bad held longer, as in upę
  • į = long i, the same sound as y, as in brolį
  • ų = long u, the same sound as ū, as in vyrų

In quick everyday speech, these endings are often said a little shorter, but the letter is always written.

Where you meet them. Most of the time the nasal letters are case endings:

  • The object form of a regularly declined singular noun ends in -ą, -ę, -į or -ų: knyga → knygą, upė → upę, brolis → brolį, sūnus → sūnų. See the accusative direct object.
  • The "of" form of regularly declined plural nouns ends in -ų: vyrų (of the men), knygų (of the books), draugų (of the friends).
  • The little word į means "into, to": į parką (to the park). See into and to with į.

They also appear inside some words, and there they often switch with an, en, in, un in related forms: siųsti (to send) but siunčia (sends). This is a helpful clue for spelling.

Because į and y, and ų and ū, sound the same, you cannot tell them apart by ear. Let the grammar decide: an object ending is -į, never -y, and a plural "of" ending is -ų, never -ū.

Examples (6)

  1. Aš skaitau knygą.

    I'm reading a book.

    Word by Word: I read book.

    The ending -ą shows that the book is the object. The subject form is knyga.

  2. Mes turime katę.

    We have a cat.

    Word by Word: We have cat.

    Katė becomes katę when it is the object.

  3. Jonas turi brolį.

    Jonas has a brother.

    Word by Word: Jonas has brother.

    Brolis becomes brolį. The į sounds exactly like y.

  4. Tai mano draugų namas.

    This is my friends' house.

    Word by Word: This my friends-of house.

    The regular plural "of" ending is -ų.

  5. Einu į parką.

    I'm going to the park.

    Word by Word: I-go into park.

    Here į is a separate word meaning "to", and parką ends in -ą.

  6. Noriu siųsti laišką.

    I want to send a letter.

    Word by Word: I-want to-send letter.

    The ų in siųsti matches the un in siunčia (sends), a trace of the old nasal sound.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the plain vowel instead of the object ending.

    Aš skaitau knyga.
    Aš skaitau knygą.

    Knyga is the subject form. When the book is the object, write knygą, even if the two sound alike in fast speech.

  • Writing y instead of į in an ending.

    Jonas turi broly.
    Jonas turi brolį.

    Y and į sound the same, but the object form of brolis is brolį, with -į.

  • Writing u instead of ų in the plural "of" form.

    Tai mano draugu namas.
    Tai mano draugų namas.

    The plural "of" ending is -ų. Draugu is a different form that means "with a friend".

How It Connects

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

Nasal Letters ą, ę, į, ųLevel 1The Nasal Letters Ą, Ę, Į and Ų

Learn This First

The nasal-letter spellings extend the alphabet and represent long vowels in modern Lithuanian.