kol

While and Until with Kol

Level 3

Kol has two meanings. While, as long as: Kol tu miegojai, aš dirbau. Until: Palauk, kol grįšiu (Wait until I get back).

How It Works

1. While, as long as. Both actions go on together:

  • Kol tu miegojai, aš dirbau. (While you were sleeping, I worked.)
  • Kol gyvensiu, prisiminsiu šią dieną. (As long as I live, I will remember this day.)

2. Until. The main action continues up to the kol event:

  • Palauk, kol grįšiu. (Wait until I get back.)
  • Laukėme, kol nustos lyti. (We waited until it stopped raining.)

For a later event, Lithuanian uses the future tense where English uses the present: kol grįšiu, literally until I will return. Even in a past story the future can show that the event was still ahead, as in Laukėme, kol nustos lyti.

3. Making until clear. Because kol can mean both things, speakers often say iki tol, kol to stress until: Dirbsime iki tol, kol baigsime (We will work until we finish).

4. Kol kas. The phrase kol kas means for now or so far: Kol kas viskas gerai (So far everything is fine).

5. Kol versus kai. Kai marks a moment or a whole event (when). Kol stresses how long something lasts. For the preposition until before a noun, use iki: iki vakaro (until the evening).

Examples (5)

  1. Kol tu miegojai, aš dirbau.

    While you were sleeping, I worked.

    Both actions happened at the same time.

  2. Palauk, kol grįšiu.

    Wait until I get back.

    Word by Word: Wait, until I-will-return.

    The future grįšiu marks the moment the waiting ends.

  3. Kol gyvensiu, prisiminsiu šią dieną.

    As long as I live, I will remember this day.

    Here kol means as long as.

  4. Laukėme, kol nustos lyti.

    We waited until it stopped raining.

    The future shows the end of the rain was still ahead while they waited.

  5. Kol kas viskas gerai.

    So far everything is fine.

    Kol kas is a fixed phrase meaning for now or so far.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the comma before or after the kol clause.

    Palauk kol grįšiu.
    Palauk, kol grįšiu.

    A kol clause is a subordinate clause, so a comma always separates it from the main clause.

  • Using kol for a single moment, meaning when.

    Kol grįžau namo, paskambinau mamai.
    Kai grįžau namo, paskambinau mamai.

    The intended meaning is when I got home, I called Mom. Kol means while or until and stresses how long something lasts. For the moment when something happened, use kai.

How It Connects

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kolLevel 3While and Until with Kol

Learn This First

Kol expresses simultaneous duration or an endpoint.

Words in This Pattern

kol