Counting in Lithuanian

Language overview

Forty-two in Lithuanian Lithuanian language (lietuvių kalba) belongs to the Baltic group of the Indo-European family. Official language of Lithuania, it counts about 3.5 million speakers.

Lithuanian numbers list

  • 1 – vienas
  • 2 – du
  • 3 – trys
  • 4 – keturi
  • 5 – penki
  • 6 – šeši
  • 7 – septyni
  • 8 – aštuoni
  • 9 – devyni
  • 10 – dešimt
  • 11 – vienuolika
  • 12 – dvylika
  • 13 – trylika
  • 14 – keturiolika
  • 15 – penkiolika
  • 16 – šešiolika
  • 17 – septyniolika
  • 18 – aštuoniolika
  • 19 – devyniolika
  • 20 – dvidešimt
  • 30 – trisdešimt
  • 40 – keturiasdešimt
  • 50 – penkiasdešimt
  • 60 – šešiasdešimt
  • 70 – septyniasdešimt
  • 80 – aštuoniasdešimt
  • 90 – devyniasdešimt
  • 100 – šimtas
  • 1,000 – tūkstantis
  • one million – milijonas
  • one billion – milijardas
  • one trillion – trilijonas

Lithuanian numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

  • Digits from zero to nine have two forms when followed by a noun, a masculine form and a feminine one. In that case, both number and noun are declined. Masculine numbers are: nulis [0], vienas [1], du [2], trys [3], keturi [4], penki [5], šeši [6], septyni [7], aštuoni [8], and devyni [9]. As for feminine numbers, they are: nulis [0], viena [1], dvi [2], trys [3], keturios [4], penkios [5], šešios [6], septynios [7], aštuonios [8], and devynios [9].
  • From ten (which is dešimt) up, there is only one gender and the following noun is always set to genitive (the noun remains subject to declension).
  • From eleven to nineteen, cardinal numbers end with -lika, which means more or less “something that remains beyond ten”: vienuolika [11], dvylika [12], trylika [13], keturiolika [14], penkiolika [15], šešiolika [16], septyniolika [17], aštuoniolika [18], and devyniolika [19].
  • Tens end with -dešimt preceded by the ten digit, except for ten: dešimt [10], dvidešimt [20], trisdešimt [30], keturiasdešimt [40], penkiasdešimt [50], šešiasdešimt [60], septyniasdešimt [70], aštuoniasdešimt [80], and devyniasdešimt [90].
  • Hundreds are formed by putting the word hundred (šimtas) after the multiplier unit, with the exception of one hundred: šimtas [100] (šimtai, in plural form), du šimtai [200], trys šimtai [300], keturi šimtai [400]…
  • Thousands are formed the same way, by putting the word thousand (tūkstantis) after the multiplier unit, with the exception of one thousand: tūkstantis [1,000] (tūkstančiai, in plural form), du tūkstančiai [2,000], trys tūkstančiai [3,000], keturi tūkstančiai [4,000]…
  • Compound numbers are formed by putting the ten before the unit (e.g.: trisdešimt du [32], keturiasdešimt trys [43], penkiasdešimt keturi [54]), the hundred before the ten and the unit (e.g.: du šimtai trisdešimt penki [235], trys šimtai vienas [301]), the thousand before the hundred, the ten and the unit (e.g.: tūkstantis devyni šimtai septyniasdešimt vienas [1,971], du tūkstančiai keturi [2,004]).
  • Lithuanian uses the short scale system as English to create big numbers: each number name bigger than one million is one thousand times bigger than the previous one. Thus, we have milijardas (one billion, 109), then trilijonas (one trillion, 1012), kvadrilijonas (one quadrillion, 1015)…

Write a number in full in Lithuanian

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Lithuanian. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Lithuanian-English/English-Lithuanian Dictionary & Phrasebook Lithuanian-English/English-Lithuanian Dictionary & Phrasebook
by , editors Hippocrene Books (2004)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Beginner’s Lithuanian Beginner’s Lithuanian
by , editors Hippocrene Books (1998)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Guide de conversation lituanien Guide de conversation lituanien
by , editors Assimil (2011)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Le lituanien de poche Le lituanien de poche
by , editors Assimil (2005)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Parlons lituanien : une langue Balte Parlons lituanien : une langue Balte
by , editors L’Harmattan (2003)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Baltic languages

Latvian, and Lithuanian.

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.