This method would work with other heavily declined languages as well. The thought occurred to me the other day that when explaining declension in Lithuanian, there really is no need to explain it using sentences that are written completely in Lithuanian, as this may tend to confuse the learner who is forced to take everything on in one go (verb conjugation, unfamiliar words, declension, different word order, everything). So when teaching declension why not just write out sentences almost entirely in English (or whatever the mother tongue of the student happens to be), with only the words being used to show declension in Lithuanian?
To demonstrate this, I've taken each of the words in the Lithuanian declension page from Wikipedia used to show how all five declensions work, and have created a short story or conversation using each and every form in both singular and plural, at least once. I've also done my best to make them as memorable as possible, as imparting the information in a specific story may make it easier to retain than just one dry sentence after another.
I've just finished writing it out so there may still be a typo or two, and hopefully lyzazel will take a look at it. Also note that this is more of a memorization exercise than a perfect demonstration of cases in Lithuanian, so not all instances will match up to their Lithuanian equivalents.
The next "level" after this would be declination of adjectives as well, but adjectives are much easier so the stories for those shouldn't take very long to create.
| vaikas = child |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | vaikas | vaikai |
| Genitive | vaiko | vaikų |
| Dative | vaikui | vaikams |
| Accusative | vaiką | vaikus |
| Instrumental | vaiku | vaikais |
| Locative | vaike | vaikuose |
| Vocative | vaike | vaikai |
Into the room walked a vaik
as. This was the third vaik
as because there were already two vaik
ai on the other side of the room. The vaik
o face looked worried, while the other two vaik
ų faces looked quite calm at first. On the one vaik
e was very little money, while on the two vaik
uose in the room there was quite a bit; they were from a rich family. The two vaik
ai called to the one vaik
ui. "Vaik
e, what are you doing here?" The one vaik
as responded to the two vaik
ams: "Vaik
ai, I am here because your father sent me." What? The two vaik
ų father sent a new vaik
ą to join them? Did he not love the two vaik
us he already had? What was he attempting to do with this vaik
u? The new vaik
as thought to himself: "Use them, vaik
e. You may not like them but with these vaik
ais and their family you may be able to accomplish great things..."
| brolis = brother |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | brolis | broliai |
| Genitive | brolio | brolių |
| Dative | broliui | broliams |
| Accusative | brolį | brolius |
| Instrumental | broliu | broliais |
| Locative | brolyje | broliuose |
| Vocative | broli | broliai |
Once upon a time there were three broli
ai. The middle brol
is said to the eldest brol
iui: "Brol
i, I am bored of our life here in this small village. Let us set out to the city to see what opportunity awaits us." The eldest broli
o face lit up as he had always wanted to make a name for himself. But the youngest brol
is said to them, "Broli
ai, I still have one year left of school here. Let us wait just a bit longer." The other two broli
ų faces showed disappointment but they knew their little brol
is was right. On the eldest brol
yje was a sword, and he went out back to practice it some more for when the time came. Meanwhile, on the two younger and weaker brol
iuose were books, and they took them out to study by the firelight in the house. But while they had a year to wait, to all three brol
iams came a kind of hope. It was very likely that next year someone would hire the eldest brol
į to become a soldier, and certainly someone would hire the two younger and intelligent brol
ius as scribes. In the beginning they would probably need to use the eldest brol
iu to pay the bills, but eventually they would all become three great brol
iais.
| arklys = horse |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | arklys | arkliai |
| Genitive | arklio | arklių |
| Dative | arkliui | arkliams |
| Accusative | arklį | arklius |
| Instrumental | arkliu | arkliais |
| Locative | arklyje | arkliuose |
| Vocative | arkly | arkliai |
A: "What's your favourite animal?"
B: "Well, I'm not sure but I think I like that arkl
į over there."
A: "That one? In general arkl
iai usually like humans, but that one arkl
ys doesn't like people at all."
B: "But I used to have two arkl
ius back home that looked like that one and they were both very nice. Here, let me try calling him. Arkl
y! ...."
A: "Told you, he doesn't like people. With that arkl
iu you won't even get over that ridge, let alone the next town."
B: "Well, have you even tried sitting on the arkl
yje? That arkli
o body looks like it was made for people to ride."
A: "I don't know. It looks to me like pretty much all arkl
ių bodies are made for that. You might know arkl
ius better than I do."
B: "I think I do. I used to give carrots to my two arkl
iams back home. My guess is that this arkl
ys likes them. Here, let's try giving this arkl
iui a carrot or two."
A: "So how far did you ride before using your two arkl
iais?"
B: "Pretty far. I would always have a big saddle with lots of equipment on my two arkl
iuose, and they enjoyed the ride. I would even take them together with a friend of mine sometimes. Just tell them arkl
iai, to the city! and off they'd go."
| motina = mother |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | motina | motinos |
| Genitive | motinos | motinų |
| Dative | motinai | motinoms |
| Accusative | motiną | motinas |
| Instrumental | motina | motinomis |
| Locative | motinoje | motinose |
| Vocative | motina | motinos |
There are many types of motin
os in the animal kingdom, and indeed the human motin
a is actually quite similar to them. On the human motin
oje is the same instrument for producing milk that one finds on other motin
ose among mammals. It's true that other mammals get stronger quickly by means of their motin
omis, but a human baby will still develop quite a bit over time relying on its motin
a too. Of course, there are also large differences. The human motin
os body is only made to have a single baby every few years, while the bodies of cat motin
ų are capable of giving birth to many kittens at a time. Also, I'm not sure if my kitten remembers his motin
ą or not, but humans continue to talk with and see their motin
as even after they grow up. My friend still says "motin
a!" whenever he sees his motin
ą. And so to the human motin
ai and all the motin
oms in the animal kingdom we say to them "Motin
os, good job!"
| katė = cat |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | katė | katės |
| Genitive | katės | kačių |
| Dative | katei | katėms |
| Accusative | katę | kates |
| Instrumental | kate | katėmis |
| Locative | katėje | katėse |
| Vocative | kate | katės |
A: "Look, there's a kat
ė on the street! Let's call it and see if it comes over."
B: "Here kat
e kat
e kat
e..."
A: "No luck, he ran away. I hear there are a lot of kat
ės in this neighborhood."
B: "There are. My sister always gives food to all the kat
ėms that live here, and sometimes pets those kat
es too."
A: "Yeah, I was hoping we could pet that kat
ę too."
B: "Well, it takes time. A kat
ės personality isn't like that of a dog. You can't just go to where there's a group of kat
ės and say "Hey kat
ės!" and expect them to come over.
A: "So what about the kittens of these kač
ių?"
B: "Their mothers usually take care of them. I gave some food to a kat
ei on the street the other day and it turned out that she was the mother and carried the food all the way back to them."
A: "I saw a kat
ę the other day on the street - on that kat
ėje was a moustache that made it look like Hitler."
B: "You should have taken a picture. If there is a moustache on those kat
ėse they're called "Kitlers" and with those kat
ėmis you can get pretty famous online if it's funny enough."
A: "Note to self - take picture of kat
ę, use kat
e to get famous..."
| pati = wife |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | pati | pačios |
| Genitive | pačios | pačių |
| Dative | pačiai | pačioms |
| Accusative | pačią | pačias |
| Instrumental | pačia | pačiomis |
| Locative | pačioje | pačiose |
| Vocative | pati (or pačia) | pačios |
In that house there is a husband and pat
i, newly married. It's not just your average couple though, because the pač
ios husband is overly attached to her, and another man secretly loves his pač
ią. On the pač
ioje is a wedding ring that she wears out of obligation, as opposed to on other pač
iose who wear their wedding rings out of love and joy. She became a pač
ia a few years back, around the same time that most of her other friends became pač
iomis too. Those pač
ių husbands are generally pretty average people, and they are fairly happy pač
ios. When those husbands proposed and gave rings to their pač
ioms they were very happy, while when this husband gave his ring to his pač
iai she was secretly unhappy but accepted it nevertheless out of pity. This couple sees the other husbands and pač
ias on the weekend sometimes, though this pat
i would rather spend the weekend alone. After the couples return home the husbands say "pat
i (or pač
ia), did you have a good time?" and the answer is usually yes. But the one pač
ios answer is often no. The lesson here: pač
ios, be careful about making such decisions lightly!
| vagis = thief (masculine) |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | vagis | vagys |
| Genitive | vagies | vagių |
| Dative | vagiui | vagims |
| Accusative | vagį | vagis |
| Instrumental | vagimi | vagimis |
| Locative | vagyje | vagyse |
| Vocative | vagie | vagys |
Vag
ys are very popular in role-playing games. Using a vag
imi a team of players can get into areas they never could before without him. On your average vag
yje is a set of lock-picking tools, and on many other vag
yse are tools that let them disguise themselves as completely different people. A vag
ies personality is also very interesting, as they are less altruistic than other characters. The moral character of these vag
ių can even be slanted towards evil. Using these vag
imis in an adventure is also very exciting - you never know when you are going to hear "Hey, vag
ie, stop! Somebody catch that vag
į!" If there is a vag
is in a bar and you want to approach that vag
iui to join your team, it's best to think of what you have that the vag
is would want. It's also good to remember that too many vag
ys can be a bad thing. In full out combat it's easy for monsters to injure those vag
is as they are individually quite weak, and if you are a group of vag
ys you're going to always have officials telling their guards "Go to those vag
ims and arrest them all; they're criminals so we'll take them out in one fell swoop." You certainly don't want an adventure to end with the words "Vag
ys, for the good of the state I hereby sentence you to death!"
| akis = eye (feminine) |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | akis | akys |
| Genitive | akies | akių |
| Dative | akiai | akims |
| Accusative | akį | akis |
| Instrumental | akimi | akimis |
| Locative | akyje | akyse |
| Vocative | akie | akys |
A: "You know what's interesting? My ak
ies colour is a kind of weird green."
B: "Don't you mean your ak
ių colour? You have more than one
akį, you know."
A: "Oh yeah. I was just reading about the Cyclops in Greek mythology so maybe that's what did it. The Cyclops did pretty well just using one ak
imi."
B: "Sure, and many other animals use more than two ak
imis as well so they would look at our two ak
is and think them to be pretty weird. Exactly the same way that we look at the one ak
į of the Cyclops and wonder how he lived with that."
A: "The ak
is is pretty varied when you think about it. The ak
ys of birds are capable of seeing ultraviolet as well.
B: "And even on your average ak
yje you don't even find the same components either. On the ak
yse of insects you find a weird kind of honeycomb-type shape."
A: "Yeah, those ak
ys are pretty weird. Well, to my ak
ims they look weird, that is."
B: "And to the ak
iai of the Cyclops your ak
ys look weird too."
A: "I suppose so. I wish I could use other ak
is sometimes. I'd look at one of them and say "Ak
ie, come here! Time to try you out.""
B: "Talking to inanimate objects already I see. I bet when you get older you'll say things like "Ak
ys, don't fail me now!" when you're alone."
| sūnus = son |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | sūnus | sūnūs |
| Genitive | sūnaus | sūnų |
| Dative | sūnui | sūnums |
| Accusative | sūnų | sūnus |
| Instrumental | sūnumi | sūnumis |
| Locative | sūnuje | sūnuose |
| Vocative | sūnau | sūnūs |
Sūn
ūs play an important role in mythology, history and popular culture. Alexander the Great's father once famously said to his sūn
ui: "Sūn
au, ask for thyself another kingdom, for that which I leave is too small for thee." There is of course also the story of the prodigal sūn
us from the Bible. Daedalus had a sūn
ų named Icarus, and on his sūn
uje were the wings of feathers and wax he used to try to escape but flew too close to the sun. His sūn
aus ambition was too great and he ended up perishing in the ocean. Worf in Star Trek: the Next Generation is one of two sūn
ūs of Mogh. Mogh's sūn
ų goal was to regain their family honour. Though Mogh perished honorably in battle, he was accused of being a traitor after death and he surely would have liked to say to his sūn
ums: "Sūn
ūs, I did not betray the two of you; I died defending the Empire." if he could. Eventually though they were able to expose the plot that made their father look like a traitor and they became sūn
umis with honour again. Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology are also interesting. The river deity Tiberinus took these two sūn
us and kept them safe. Some say that later on one day there was a shovel on the first sūn
uje Romulus, with which he killed his brother and became the sūn
umi for which the city was named. Other accounts say though that Romulus didn't kill his brother and that in these two sūn
uose was only love for each other.
| profesorius = professor |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | profesorius | profesoriai |
| Genitive | profesoriaus | profesorių |
| Dative | profesoriui | profesoriams |
| Accusative | profesorių | profesorius |
| Instrumental | profesoriumi | profesoriais |
| Locative | profesoriuje | profesoriuose |
| Vocative | profesoriau | profesoriai |
"Profesor
iau, come in." said Sherlock Holmes. In walked the profesor
ius, who seemed quite nervous at being in the presence of the legendary detective. On the profesor
iuje was a gold pocket watch, which Holmes expertly noted as he intently watched the profesor
ių. Nervous, he began to speak. "I became a profesor
iumi just five years ago, and am thus still new and do not know the other eight profesori
us I work with as well as I should, though I engage in research daily with those those profesor
iais. It really is quite the closed society and one cannot simply say "profesor
iai, I am one of your circle now and should be privy to your secrets" just by having the same academic degree. In fact, on those profesor
iuose is a certain seal that they own but I do not, and I have never been able to ascertain what sort of meaning it has to those profesor
iams. I did approach one profesor
iui one day to ask, but he pretended as if I had never asked in the first place." There was silence, and finally Holmes spoke. "Nine profesor
iai in one faculty, very interesting. There is a reason why they did not speak to you of the matter - those profesor
ių group is one only known to a few and never has more than eight members. But we can discern something about the group nevertheless. Tell me about the profesor
iaus countenance at the time, the one you dared to ask about the group that day..."
| vanduo = water |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | vanduo | vandenys |
| Genitive | vandens | vandenų |
| Dative | vandeniui | vandenims |
| Accusative | vandenį | vandenis |
| Instrumental | vandeniu | vandenimis |
| Locative | vandenyje | vandenyse |
| Vocative | vandenie | vandenys |
Vand
uo is common in most places on Earth, and humans as well as animals usually need to drink vand
enį every day. There are many types of vand
enys, and using these various types of vand
enimis - for example vand
eniu from the sea, or vand
eniu from rivers, humans can do more than just drink. Humans take these vand
enis and use them for scientific research as well. For these vand
enims one needs a type of self-sustaining ecosystem, otherwise it would all disappear. For the vand
eniui in a river for example you need a mountain to provide a source. In these various vand
enyse you can find humans doing different things, like bathing or exploring or even using those vand
enų features as weapons of war. In the fantasy desert world of Dark Sun, certain priests even worship these vand
enis, saying things like "O vand
enys of the past, please return and restore the green age that once was! I ask you to come forth now, rain vand
enie!" Vand
ens appearance to the people of that world is a very welcome one, as they do not even have enough of it to bathe in vand
enyje as people from other worlds can.
| sesuo = sister |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | sesuo | seserys |
| Genitive | sesers | seserų |
| Dative | seseriai | seserims |
| Accusative | seserį | seseris |
| Instrumental | seserimi | seserimis |
| Locative | seseryje | seseryse |
| Vocative | seserie | seserys |
A: "So I heard you're the only boy in the house and have two ses
eris."
B: "That's right. The first ses
uo of mine was born before me, and two years after I was born we had the second so there are two ses
erys in total."
A: "What is your first ses
ers personality like?"
B: "She's pretty responsible and feels almost like a mom so I don't even call her by her name, just ses
erie."
A: "And is the personality of both ses
erų the same?"
B: "No, she's completely different. I watch my second ses
erį and think just how little she resembles the first."
A: "Do you talk to your ses
erims a lot?"
B: "Sure, but I talk to my second ses
eriai more. She's become a really nice ses
erimi to me. Well, both of them have become nice ses
erimis of course, but the second is easier to talk to."
A: "I noticed a new ring on your first ses
eryje the other day."
B: "Yeah, I've seen a lot of jewelry on both my ses
eryse fairly recently. I think they both have boyfriends or are just trying to show off. I sometimes ask them "Hey ses
erys, what's up with all the jewelry?" but they never tell me of course. My ses
erys are pretty secretive."
| duktė = daughter |
|---|
| singular | plural |
| Nominative | duktė | dukterys |
| Genitive | dukters | dukterų |
| Dative | dukteriai | dukterims |
| Accusative | dukterį | dukteris |
| Instrumental | dukterimi | dukterimis |
| Locative | dukteryje | dukteryse |
| Vocative | dukterie | dukterys |
There are a lot of dukt
erys of famous and powerful people throughout the world. The president of Uzbekistan has a dukt
erį that is quite powerful and is often said to be interested in running the country after his death. Chelsea Clinton is the dukt
ė of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and she became a much more well-known dukt
erimi during the election campaign in 2008. On these dukt
eryse is often found a type of dilemma where they have to balance being so famous with trying to live a normal life. A dukt
ers personality is largely shaped by the culture in which she grows up. Many countries still try to avoid having dukt
eris, and this often results in these dukt
erys becoming dukt
erimis that work extra hard to impress their family. These dukt
erų ambitions often know no bounds, and this ambition is especially found in the dukt
eryje of a family with no other children, as this child wants to become a dukt
erimi that the whole family can be proud of. To these dukt
erims I say "Dukt
erys, you are absolutely correct!" It is actually a blessing in disguise for a dukt
eriai like this to be given such responsibility, as it is far better than a life without ambition. So do not despair, dukt
erie, your life is what you make it.
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