Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.

According to Wikipedia, the Nemunas is a major Eastern European river beginning in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. The Nemunas marks the border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. It is the 14th largest river in Europe, the largest in Lithuania and the 3rd largest in Belarus, it is navigable for most of its 900-kilometer length.

Today we’ll start to learn how to use Lithuanian adjectives.  An adjective is a word that modifies a noun.  For example, a car is a noun.  What kind of car is it?  We need an adjective to describe this noun.  The car is expensive.  Expensive is an adjective.  An expensive car.  A red car.  An old car.  A fast car.

Lithuanian adjectives can be masculine, feminine or neuter.  Masculine adjectives are combined with masculine nouns and feminine adjectives are combined with feminine nouns.  The neuter is used when you’re referring to something inspecific.

Additionally, adjectives are plural when combined with plural nouns.  For today we’ll just focus on singular nouns combined with singular adjectives.

Lithuanian adjectives normally preceed the noun. Lithuanian adjectives are the only place you’ll see the neuter in Lithuanian. Lithuanian adjectives agree with the gender, number and case of the noun - except when you use the neuter.

Lithuanian adjectives have three basic endings; the first, -as or –a, the second, -us or –u, and the third, -is or –ė.

the first group -as or –a has three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter the neuter has no case and no number you use the neuter when you’re talking about something not identified you don’t combine nouns with neutral adjectives because nouns don’t have a neutral form you’ll see what we mean as we go through the next few episodes the plural of –as changes to –i, the plural of -a changes to –os but on this episode we’re only concerned with the singular forms

here are examples of –as and –a

small                       mažas / maža

soft                         minkštas / minkšta

hard                       kietas / kieta

the neuter form of this group ends in –a

maža minkšta kieta

the second group -us or –i has three genders – masculine, feminine and neuter the neuter has no case and no number the plural of –us changes to –ūs, the plural of -i changes to –ios on this episode we’re only concerned with the singular forms

here are examples of –us and –i

clean                       švarus / švari

cheap                     pigus / pigi

expensive               brangus / brangi

the neuter form of this group ends in –u švaru pigu brangu

the third group -is or –ė has only two genders – masculine and feminine this group doesn’t have a neuter form the plural of –is changes to –iai, the plural of -ė changes to –ės

here are examples of –is and –ė

icy                           ledinis / ledinė

silky                         šilkinis / šilkinė

synthetic                 sintetinis / sintetinė

neuter form: none

The singular masculine adjectives end in –as –us or –is.  Only –as and –us have a neuter ending.

The singular feminine adjectives end in –a –i or –ė.  Only –a and –i can have a neuter ending.

Now let’s go through some examples so this makes more sense.

small      mažas / maža

a small dog             mažas šuo

a small cat               mažas katinas

a small house         mažas namas

a small car               mažas automobilis

a small table           mažas stalas

a small country       maža šalis

a small boat           maža valtis

a small ant             maža skruzdėlė

a small fox             maža lapė

a small library         maža biblioteka

neuter example: 

how small!  kaip maža!

-soft      minkštas / minkšta

a soft armchair       minkštas fotelis

a soft bag               minkštas maišelis

a soft carpet           minkštas kilimas

a soft cheese         minkštas sūris

a soft rabbit           minkštas kiškis

a soft sofa             minkšta sofa

a soft blanket         minkšta antklodė

a soft chair             minkšta kėdė

a soft bed               minkšta lova

a soft pillow           minkšta pagalvė

neuter example: 

how soft!  kaip minkšta!

-hard      kietas / kieta

a hard muffin         kietas keksas

a hard cheese         kietas sūris

a hard stone           kietas akmuo

a hard armchair     kietas fotelis

a hard bench         kietas suolas

a hard sofa             kieta sofa

a hard chair             kieta kėdė

a hard bed               kieta lova

a hard pillow           kieta pagalvė

a hard bun             kieta bandelė

neuter example: 

how hard it is to sit here!  kaip kieta čia sėdėti!

-clean      švarus / švari

a clean beach       švarus pliažas

a clean bowl           švarus dubuo

a clean room           švarus kambarys

a clean house         švarus namas

a clean bedroom   švarus miegamasis

a clean bathtub       švari vonia

a clean kitchen       švari virtuvė

a clean stove         švari viryklė

a clean plate           švari lėkštė

a clean saucer         švari lėkštutė

neuter example: 

how clean it is in the house!  kaip švaru namuose!

-cheap      pigus / pigi

a cheap bicycle     pigus dviratis

a cheap camera       pigus fotoaparatas

a cheap overcoat     pigus paltas

a cheap pen           pigus tušinukas

a cheap ticket         pigus bilietas

a cheap dress         pigi suknelė

a cheap blouse       pigi bliuzelė

a cheap jacket         pigi striukė

a cheap guitar         pigi gitara

a cheap handbag     pigi rankinė

neuter example: 

in this store everything is cheap šioje parduotuvėje viskas pigu

-icy      ledinis / ledinė

an icy pond           ledinis tvenkinys

an icy pool               ledinis baseinas

an icy drink             ledinis gėrimas

an icy lake               ledinis ežeras

an icy bridge           ledinis tiltas

an icy river             ledinė upė

an icy sea               ledinė jūra

an icy street           ledinė gatvė

an icy puddle           ledinė bala

an icy stairway       ledinė laiptinė

neuter example:  there is none

-silky      šilkinis / šilkinė

a silky skirt           šilkinis sijonas

a silky necktie         šilkinis kaklaraištis

a silky sweater         šilkinis megztinis

a silky robe             šilkinis chalatas

a silky pillowcase   šilkinis užvalkalas

a silky dress           šilkinė suknelė

a silky blouse         šilkinė bliuzelė

a silky blanket         šilkinė antklodė

a silky sheet           šilkinė paklodė

a silky headscarf     šilkinė skarelė

neuter example:  there is none

-synthetic     sintetinis / sintetinė

a synthetic chemical sintetinis chemikalas

a synthetic coat     sintetinis paltas

a synthetic fur       sintetinis kailis

a synthetic sweater sintetinis megztinis

a synthetic tie         sintetinis kaklaraištis

a synthetic blouse sintetinė palaidinukė

a synthetic jacket   sintetinė striukė

a synthetic fabric     sintetinė medžiaga

a synthetic glove     sintetinės pirštinės

a synthetic resin     sintetinė derva

the adjective didelis is an oddball and it doesn’t follow the normal rules

-big, heavy, large     didelis / didelė

a big noise             didelis triukšmas

a big elephant       didelis dramblys

a big man               didelis vyras

a big mountain       didelis kalnas

a big house             didelis namas

a big structure       didelė struktūra

a big country         didelė šalis

a big sofa               didelė sofa

a big snowflake     didelė snaigė

a large book           didelė knyga

Šaunuoliai!  Excellent!  You made it to the end of another episode!  Puiku!