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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



profesor ius = professor

singular plural Nominative profesor ius profesor iai Genitive profesor iaus profesor ių Dative profesor iui profesor iams Accusative profesor ių profesor ius Instrumental profesor iumi profesor iais Locative profesor iuje profesor iuose Vocative profesor iau profesor iai



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



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



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

Into the room walked a vaik. This was the third vaikbecause there were already two vaikon the other side of the room. The vaikface looked worried, while the other two vaikfaces looked quite calm at first. On the one vaikwas very little money, while on the two vaikin the room there was quite a bit; they were from a rich family. The two vaikcalled to the one vaik. "Vaik, what are you doing here?" The one vaikresponded to the two vaik: "Vaik, I am here because your father sent me." What? The two vaikfather sent a new vaikto join them? Did he not love the two vaikhe already had? What was he attempting to do with this vaik? The new vaikthought to himself: "Use them, vaik. You may not like them but with these vaikand their family you may be able to accomplish great things..."Once upon a time there were three broli. The middle brolsaid to the eldest brol: "Brol, 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 broliface lit up as he had always wanted to make a name for himself. But the youngest brolsaid to them, "Broli, I still have one year left of school here. Let us wait just a bit longer." The other two brolifaces showed disappointment but they knew their little brolwas right. On the eldest brolwas a sword, and he went out back to practice it some more for when the time came. Meanwhile, on the two younger and weaker brolwere 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 brolcame a kind of hope. It was very likely that next year someone would hire the eldest brolto become a soldier, and certainly someone would hire the two younger and intelligent brolas scribes. In the beginning they would probably need to use the eldest brolto pay the bills, but eventually they would all become three great brolA: "What's your favourite animal?"B: "Well, I'm not sure but I think I like that arklover there."A: "That one? In general arklusually like humans, but that one arkldoesn't like people at all."B: "But I used to have two arklback home that looked like that one and they were both very nice. Here, let me try calling him. Arkl! ...."A: "Told you, he doesn't like people. With that arklyou won't even get over that ridge, let alone the next town."B: "Well, have you even tried sitting on the arkl? That arklibody looks like it was made for people to ride."A: "I don't know. It looks to me like pretty much all arklbodies are made for that. You might know arklbetter than I do."B: "I think I do. I used to give carrots to my two arklback home. My guess is that this arkllikes them. Here, let's try giving this arkla carrot or two."A: "So how far did you ride before using your two arkl?"B: "Pretty far. I would always have a big saddle with lots of equipment on my two arkl, and they enjoyed the ride. I would even take them together with a friend of mine sometimes. Just tell them arkl, to the city! and off they'd go."There are many types of motinin the animal kingdom, and indeed the human motinis actually quite similar to them. On the human motinis the same instrument for producing milk that one finds on other motinamong mammals. It's true that other mammals get stronger quickly by means of their motin, but a human baby will still develop quite a bit over time relying on its motintoo. Of course, there are also large differences. The human motinbody is only made to have a single baby every few years, while the bodies of cat motinare capable of giving birth to many kittens at a time. Also, I'm not sure if my kitten remembers his motinor not, but humans continue to talk with and see their motineven after they grow up. My friend still says "motin!" whenever he sees his motin. And so to the human motinand all the motinin the animal kingdom we say to them "Motin, good job!"A: "Look, there's a katon the street! Let's call it and see if it comes over."B: "Here katkatkat..."A: "No luck, he ran away. I hear there are a lot of katin this neighborhood."B: "There are. My sister always gives food to all the katthat live here, and sometimes pets those kattoo."A: "Yeah, I was hoping we could pet that kattoo."B: "Well, it takes time. A katpersonality isn't like that of a dog. You can't just go to where there's a group of katand say "Hey kat!" and expect them to come over.A: "So what about the kittens of these kač?"B: "Their mothers usually take care of them. I gave some food to a katon 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 katthe other day on the street - on that katwas a moustache that made it look like Hitler."B: "You should have taken a picture. If there is a moustache on those katthey're called "Kitlers" and with those katyou can get pretty famous online if it's funny enough."A: "Note to self - take picture of kat, use katto get famous..."In that house there is a husband and pat, newly married. It's not just your average couple though, because the pačhusband is overly attached to her, and another man secretly loves his pač. On the pačis a wedding ring that she wears out of obligation, as opposed to on other pačwho wear their wedding rings out of love and joy. She became a pača few years back, around the same time that most of her other friends became pačtoo. Those pačhusbands are generally pretty average people, and they are fairly happy pač. When those husbands proposed and gave rings to their pačthey were very happy, while when this husband gave his ring to his pačshe was secretly unhappy but accepted it nevertheless out of pity. This couple sees the other husbands and pačon the weekend sometimes, though this patwould rather spend the weekend alone. After the couples return home the husbands say "pat(or pač), did you have a good time?" and the answer is usually yes. But the one pačanswer is often no. The lesson here: pač, be careful about making such decisions lightly!Vagare very popular in role-playing games. Using a vaga team of players can get into areas they never could before without him. On your average vagis a set of lock-picking tools, and on many other vagare tools that let them disguise themselves as completely different people. A vagpersonality is also very interesting, as they are less altruistic than other characters. The moral character of these vagcan even be slanted towards evil. Using these vagin an adventure is also very exciting - you never know when you are going to hear "Hey, vag, stop! Somebody catch that vag!" If there is a vagin a bar and you want to approach that vagto join your team, it's best to think of what you have that the vagwould want. It's also good to remember that too many vagcan be a bad thing. In full out combat it's easy for monsters to injure those vagas they are individually quite weak, and if you are a group of vagyou're going to always have officials telling their guards "Go to those vagand 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, for the good of the state I hereby sentence you to death!"A: "You know what's interesting? My akcolour is a kind of weird green."B: "Don't you mean your akcolour? You have more than one, 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."B: "Sure, and many other animals use more than two akas well so they would look at our two akand think them to be pretty weird. Exactly the same way that we look at the one akof the Cyclops and wonder how he lived with that."A: "The akis pretty varied when you think about it. The akof birds are capable of seeing ultraviolet as well.B: "And even on your average akyou don't even find the same components either. On the akof insects you find a weird kind of honeycomb-type shape."A: "Yeah, those akare pretty weird. Well, to my akthey look weird, that is."B: "And to the akof the Cyclops your aklook weird too."A: "I suppose so. I wish I could use other aksometimes. I'd look at one of them and say "Ak, 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, don't fail me now!" when you're alone."Sūnplay an important role in mythology, history and popular culture. Alexander the Great's father once famously said to his sūn: "Sūn, 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 sūnfrom the Bible. Daedalus had a sūnnamed Icarus, and on his sūnwere the wings of feathers and wax he used to try to escape but flew too close to the sun. His sūnambition was too great and he ended up perishing in the ocean. Worf in Star Trek: the Next Generation is one of two sūnof Mogh. Mogh's sūngoal 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: "Sūn, 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 sūnwith honour again. Romulus and Remus from Roman mythology are also interesting. The river deity Tiberinus took these two sūnand kept them safe. Some say that later on one day there was a shovel on the first sūnRomulus, with which he killed his brother and became the sūnfor which the city was named. Other accounts say though that Romulus didn't kill his brother and that in these two sūnwas only love for each other."Profesor, come in." said Sherlock Holmes. In walked the profesor, who seemed quite nervous at being in the presence of the legendary detective. On the profesorwas a gold pocket watch, which Holmes expertly noted as he intently watched the profesor. Nervous, he began to speak. "I became a profesorjust five years ago, and am thus still new and do not know the other eight profesoriI work with as well as I should, though I engage in research daily with those those profesor. It really is quite the closed society and one cannot simply say "profesor, 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 profesoris 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. I did approach one profesorone day to ask, but he pretended as if I had never asked in the first place." There was silence, and finally Holmes spoke. "Nine profesorin one faculty, very interesting. There is a reason why they did not speak to you of the matter - those profesorgroup 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 profesorcountenance at the time, the one you dared to ask about the group that day..."Vandis common in most places on Earth, and humans as well as animals usually need to drink vandevery day. There are many types of vand, and using these various types of vand- for example vandfrom the sea, or vandfrom rivers, humans can do more than just drink. Humans take these vandand use them for scientific research as well. For these vandone needs a type of self-sustaining ecosystem, otherwise it would all disappear. For the vandin a river for example you need a mountain to provide a source. In these various vandyou can find humans doing different things, like bathing or exploring or even using those vandfeatures as weapons of war. In the fantasy desert world of Dark Sun, certain priests even worship these vand, saying things like "O vandof the past, please return and restore the green age that once was! I ask you to come forth now, rain vand!" Vandappearance to the people of that world is a very welcome one, as they do not even have enough of it to bathe in vandas people from other worlds can.A: "So I heard you're the only boy in the house and have two ses."B: "That's right. The first sesof mine was born before me, and two years after I was born we had the second so there are two sesin total."A: "What is your first sespersonality like?"B: "She's pretty responsible and feels almost like a mom so I don't even call her by her name, just ses."A: "And is the personality of both sesthe same?"B: "No, she's completely different. I watch my second sesand think just how little she resembles the first."A: "Do you talk to your sesa lot?"B: "Sure, but I talk to my second sesmore. She's become a really nice sesto me. Well, both of them have become nice sesof course, but the second is easier to talk to."A: "I noticed a new ring on your first sesthe other day."B: "Yeah, I've seen a lot of jewelry on both my sesfairly recently. I think they both have boyfriends or are just trying to show off. I sometimes ask them "Hey ses, what's up with all the jewelry?" but they never tell me of course. My sesare pretty secretive."There are a lot of duktof famous and powerful people throughout the world. The president of Uzbekistan has a duktthat is quite powerful and is often said to be interested in running the country after his death. Chelsea Clinton is the duktof Bill and Hillary Clinton, and she became a much more well-known duktduring the election campaign in 2008. On these duktis often found a type of dilemma where they have to balance being so famous with trying to live a normal life. A duktpersonality is largely shaped by the culture in which she grows up. Many countries still try to avoid having dukt, and this often results in these duktbecoming duktthat work extra hard to impress their family. These duktambitions often know no bounds, and this ambition is especially found in the duktof a family with no other children, as this child wants to become a duktthat the whole family can be proud of. To these duktI say "Dukt, you are absolutely correct!" It is actually a blessing in disguise for a duktlike this to be given such responsibility, as it is far better than a life without ambition. So do not despair, dukt, your life is what you make it.