The Seven Cases

Level 1

Lithuanian nouns change their endings to show their job. There are seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative. Brolis (brother) can be brolio, broliui, brolį, broliu, brolyje or broli.

How It Works

The seven cases and their main jobs
Lithuanian schools name each case and give it a question word.

  • Vardininkas (nominative), kas?: the subject and the dictionary form. Brolis dirba. See Nominative Subject.
  • Kilmininkas (genitive), ko?: the owner, "of", and objects after negation. Brolio namas. See Genitive of Possession.
  • Naudininkas (dative), kam?: the receiver, "to" or "for". Duodu broliui knygą. See Dative Recipient.
  • Galininkas (accusative), ką?: the direct object. Matau brolį. See Accusative Direct Object.
  • Įnagininkas (instrumental), kuo?: the tool or means, and "with" after su. Einu su broliu. See With: Su.
  • Vietininkas (locative), kur? kame?: the place where something is. Gyvenu Vilniuje. See Locative of Place.
  • Šauksmininkas (vocative): calling or addressing someone. Broli, ateik! See Vocative Address.

One noun in every case

  • brolis (brother): brolis, brolio, broliui, brolį, broliu, brolyje, broli
  • knyga (book): knyga, knygos, knygai, knygą, knyga, knygoje, knyga

Some forms look the same in writing. For knyga, the nominative, the instrumental and the vocative are all spelled knyga, and the rest of the sentence shows which one is meant.

Why cases matter
Because the endings show who does what, word order is flexible: Brolis mato Tomą and Tomą mato brolis both mean "My brother sees Tomas". Prepositions choose a case too: į takes the accusative and iš takes the genitive. Adjectives and pronouns follow the case of their noun. Learn each case through its most common uses rather than all at once.

Examples (6)

  1. Brolis dirba banke.

    My brother works at a bank.

    Word by Word: Brother works in-bank.

    Brolis is nominative (the subject), and banke is locative (the place).

  2. Tai brolio automobilis.

    This is my brother's car.

    Word by Word: This brother's car.

    Brolio is genitive: it shows the owner.

  3. Nupirkau broliui dovaną.

    I bought my brother a present.

    Word by Word: Bought to-brother present.

    Broliui is dative (who gets it), and dovaną is accusative (what I bought).

  4. Matau brolį.

    I see my brother.

    Word by Word: See brother.

    Brolį is accusative: the direct object.

  5. Einu į kiną su broliu.

    I am going to the cinema with my brother.

    Word by Word: Go into cinema with brother.

    Su takes the instrumental broliu.

  6. Broli, ateik čia!

    Brother, come here!

    Word by Word: Brother, come here!

    Broli is vocative: the form for calling someone.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving a place name in the dictionary form instead of the locative.

    Gyvenu Vilnius.
    Gyvenu Vilniuje.

    To say where you are or live, use the locative case: Vilnius becomes Vilniuje. No word for "in" is needed.

  • Using the dictionary form for the object.

    Matau brolis.
    Matau brolį.

    The thing or person you see is the direct object, so it takes the accusative: brolį.

  • Calling someone by the dictionary form of their name.

    Labas, Tomas!
    Labas, Tomai!

    When you speak to someone, use the vocative. Names in -as change to -ai: Tomai.

How It Connects

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

The Seven CasesLevel 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 5 more in the full list.