Kiek dabar valandų?, simply translating to “What time is it?”, is one of the most useful sentences you may need while walking the beautiful streets of Vilnius. Knowing how to tell time and dates while traveling in a country where they don’t speak your native language is very important. The last thing you want is to miss your important meeting or appointment because you misread the time and date!
In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about telling time and dates in Lithuanian and make sure you always stay on time! Before diving head first into learning more about the Lithuanian language, you should probably have some notions on how to read and write numbers.
Let’s Start From The Top: Time And Dates In Lithuanian
Now that you know how to say your numbers, you’re ready to dig deeper into a new vocabulary. Here, I’ll teach important words and phrases that you’ll use to tell both the time and the dates in Lithuanian.
How To Write The Months In Lithuanian
What should you learn first when you’re learning the time and dates in Lithuanian? In the Lithuanian calendar, the Gregorian method is followed, so the process of learning the months in this language is a simple task of translation. Although the similarities with English cannot be seen, once you get the hang of these words, you’ll see how easy they are to memorize.
- Sausis – January
Meaning “dry” due to the fact that the month of January is in the middle of the winter, which usually is very cold and dry.
- Vasaris – February
Coming from the word vasara which means summer, this refers to the wish of people that summer comes and winter ends.
- Kovas – March
References to the bird rook that starts to return to the country during this month.
- Balandis – April
Straight translation to “pigeon.” In April, winter starts to turn to spring, Lithuanian animals come out from hiding, and birds start to chirp. Pigeons remind people of that.
- Gergužė – May
“Cuckoo” in Lithuanian, marking their return to the country.
- Birželis – June
Comes from the word biržis, a mark on the ground where a plant should be planted.
- Liepa – July
Meaning “Linden tree.”
- Rugpjūtis – August
Which is “ryes” in Lithuanian when the ryes from the previous year are being harvested
- Rugsėjis – September
Also related to ryes, literally means “sowing rye” where the ryes for the next harvest are being planted.
- Spalis – October
Meaning “fragments of the husk of flax”
- Lapkritis – November
Simply meaning the time of the year when leaves start to fall.
- Gruodis – December
It came from the word “gruodas,” which means lumpy frozen land when cold winter days are about to start.
How Do You Write Years In Lithuanian?
As in many other European countries near Lithuania, years are read exactly as they are written, each number one by one: for example, 1990 will be read as “one thousand, nine hundred and ninety,” or tūkstantis devyni šimtai devyniasdešimt. To help us figure this out, let’s break it into parts:
– 1000 – tūkstantis
– 900 – devyni šimtai
– 90 – devyniasdešimt
Here are a few examples of how to read years:
- 1800 – tūkstantis aštuoni šimtai
- 1925 – tūkstantis devyni šimtai dvidešimt penki
- 1911 – tūkstantis devyni šimtai vienuolika
- 2004 – du tūkstančiai keturi
- 1201 – tūkstantis du šimtai vienas
- 2022 – du tūkstančiai dvidešimt du
How To Write The Days Of The Week In Lithuanian
Saying the days of the week is also one of the fundamental skills you learn when dealing with a new language.
Lithuanian language is what I call a very pragmatic language, and one of these examples is how weekdays are written. Basically, Monday – that is the first day of the week – is written just like that “first day,” or pirmadienis. Is there an easier way to write the days of the week in Lithuanian? You just take the word pirmas (first) and add dienis (day). The same logic follows for the remaining days.
English | Lithuanian |
---|---|
Monday | pirmadienis |
Tuesday | antradienis |
Wednesday | trečiadienis |
Thursday | ketvirtadienis |
Friday | penktadienis |
Saturday | šeštadienis |
Sunday | sekmadienis |
How To Write The Seasons In Lithuanian
Just like the days of the week in Lithuanian, learning how to say the different seasons in Lithuanian is also a fundamental vocabulary asset that you should master.
- Spring – pavasaris
- Summer – vasara
- Autumn – ruduo
- Winter – ziema
How To Write The Date In Lithuanian
The date in Lithuania is given in a different format than usual: the year comes first, and a letter m is added (m for metal, or year). Next is written the month, and it is followed by the day, where the letter d is also added (d for diena, or day). The logic behind this format is to narrow it down as long as we keep telling it, starting with the most general information and ending with a specific day.
Sound easy? Well, this is when I’m here to say that nothing is as easy as it sounds!
Let’s start with an example: March 1st, 1990. This would be written as 1990 m. kovo 1 d. Notice how the month of March is written as Kovo instead of Kovas as I taught you in the Vocabulary section. This is exactly the same word. The only difference is that as this is being used in the date, the word Kovas is being used in the genitive form Kovo instead of the nominative form.
For telling dates, months should be written as follows:
- Sausio (gen.) – Sausis (nom.) – January
- Vasario – Vasaris – February
- Kovo – Kovas – March
- Balandžio – Balandis – April
- Gegužės – Gergužė – May
- Birželio – Birželis – June
- Liepos – Liepa – July
- Rugpjūčio – Rugpjūtis – August
- Rugsėjo – Rugsėjis – September
- Spalio – Spalis – October
- Lapkričio – Lapkritis – November
- Gruodžio – Gruodis – December
So how do you pronounce this date? In this case, 1990 m. kovo 1 d is read as tūkstantis devyni šimtai devyniasdešimt metais kovo pirmą, or “March 1st in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety” in English.
How To Tell Time In Lithuanian
Laikas is the translation of the word for Time. In Lithuania, like in the great majority of European countries, time is told in a 24-hour format. Although AM and PM formats are not used, it is fairly easy to identify if a time is in the morning, afternoon, or night.
Time is told exactly as read. However, it can be told in several different ways. For example, to say 12:10, you can either say “twelve hours and ten minutes” (dvylika valandų ir dešimt minučių), “ten minutes past twelve” (Dešimt minučių po dvylikos) or even “after twelve ten” (Po dvylikos dešimt).
Here are afew more important terms related to time:
- Hour – valanda
- Minute – minutė
- Second – sekundes
- Noon – vidurdienis
- Midnight – vidurnaktis
- Afternoon – popietę
- Morning – ryto
- Evening – vakaro
- Night – naktis
How to Understand Half-past, Quarter To, And Quarter Past
Half Past
The term “Half Past” is said as “thirty minutes after…” or “half an hour after…”. For example, if you want to say the time 10:30, you would say either “thirty minutes after ten” (trisdešimt minučių po dešimties) or “Half an hour after ten” (pusvalandį po dešimties). Another example is the time 12:30 which is read as pusę pirmos – half past the first hour.
Quarter To
The term “quarter to” is not used. Instead, the word penkiolika, or fifteen, is used to express either it is passing within the hour or its absence for a specific hour. For example, to say the time 12:45, you would say “without fifteen (minutes) one” or be penkiolikos (minučių) viena/pirma.
Quarter Past
Just like “Quarter To,” the term “Quarter Past” is not used. For example, to say 9:15, you would say “nine hours and fifteen minutes” (devynias valandų ir penkiolika minučių), “Fifteen minutes past nine” (penkiolika minučių po devynių) or “After nine fifteen” (po devynių penkiolikos).
Here are some examples:
Time | Lithuanian |
---|---|
12:30 | pusę pirmos |
11:15 | po vienuolikos penkiolika |
8:48 | be dvylikos devynių |
12:00 | dvylika |
00:05 | penkios minutės po vidurnakčio |
23:55 | be penkių vidurnakčio |
19:22 | dvidešimt dvi minutės po devyniolikos |
14:30 | pusvalandį po keturiolikos |
4:40 | keturias valandų ir keturiasdešimt minučių |
11:45 | be penkiolikos dvylika |
Asking “What time is it?” is not as straightforward as you may think. Although the translation for this sentence may be koks dabar laikas, this is not used, and instead, you should ask, “How many hours?” or Kiek dabar valandų?
Cheatsheet To Telling And Asking About Time In Lithuanian
Here are a few important Lithuanian phrases, sentences, and words that might come in handy when talking about time.
English | Lithuanian |
---|---|
It’s time. | Jau laikas |
What time is it? | Kiek dabar valandų? |
It is ___. | Tai yra__ |
__quarter past noon. | __po vidurdienio penkiolikos |
__ten o’clock. | __dešimta valanda |
How much longer? | Kiek ilgesnis? |
I am free tomorrow. | Rytoj aš laisva. |
Are you available today? | Ar šiandien esate laisvas? |
How much time do you need? | Kiek laiko reikia? |
I am late. | Aš vėluoju. |
I am early. | Aš anksti. |
I don’t have time. | Aš neturiu laiko. |
Can we schedule to Saturday? | Ar galime suplanuoti šeštadienį? |
Lithuanian Related Adverbs For Time And Date
Besides important sentences, here is a list of a few important adverbs of time.
English | Lithuanian |
---|---|
Afternoon | popietę |
Morning | ryto |
Month | mėnuo |
Week | savaitę |
Year | metų |
Century | amžiaus |
Millenium | tūkstantmetis |
Night | naktis |
Soon | greitai |
Tomorrow | rytoj |
Yesterday | vakar |
Present | Pateikti |
Past | Praeitis |
Future | Ateitis |
When? | Kada? |
That’s All, Folks! Continue Learning Lithuanian With The Ling App
And that’s it! Getting familiar with time and dates in Lithuanian is just the beginning. You’re officially starting your journey to learn more about this beautiful language! But why just stick to this when you can learn Lithuanian and so much more? I have the perfect place for you!
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