Daugiskaita

Daugiskaita is the grammatical category in Lithuanian that marks plurality. It is the counterpart to vienaskaita (singular) and applies to several parts of speech, including nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals, and, in a broader sense, the verbs that agree with the subject. The basic distinction in standard Lithuanian is between singular and plural.

Nouns change their form in the plural and also across cases, so the plural form differs depending on the declension and grammatical case. Examples of standard plural forms include žmogaus → žmonės (plural for people) and moteris → moterys (women). Adjectives agree with the noun in number (and gender) in all cases, so a plural noun takes a plural adjective, such as geras žmogus → geri žmonės (a good man → good people).

Numerals and quantifiers also participate in daugiskaita by combining with plural nouns. For example, the masculine numeral form duo is used with masculine nouns (du vaikai, two boys), while the feminine form dvi is used with feminine nouns (dvi mergaitės, two girls). This gender-based numeral agreement is a feature of Lithuanian grammar.

Verbs reflect number through conjugation, with plural subjects typically requiring a plural verb form. In sentences with a plural subject, the verb usually takes the plural form, whereas a singular subject uses the singular form.

Overall, daugiskaita is central to Lithuanian morphology and syntax, governing how nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, and verbs align with more than one referent.