Pasakojant

Pasakojant is a Lithuanian present active participle derived from the verb pasakoti, meaning to tell or narrate. It is a non-finite verb form used to express a surrounding or accompanying action, typically functioning as an adverbial participle that indicates temporal or manner information in relation to the main clause. The form is commonly found in narrative and descriptive prose to add detail about how something is told or related.

Morphology and use: Pasakojant is formed from the stem pasako- with the present participle suffix -jant. When used adverbially, it generally does not inflect for gender or number and is separated from the main clause by a comma. It can also appear in attributive or descriptive positions in more complex sentences, often in combination with other non-finite verb forms to convey background information.

Syntactic function: As an adverbial participle, pasakojant provides circumstantial information about the main action, usually signaling that the telling occurred simultaneously with or as the main action unfolds. It can introduce a subordinate sense or add color to a narrative, similar to how English uses “while telling” or “telling about.”

Examples:

- Jis pradėjo kalbėti, pasakojant apie įvykius. (He began to speak, while telling about the events.)

- Pasakojant istoriją, mama nusišypsojo. (While telling the story, the mother smiled.)

- Ji, pasakojant apie kelionę, prisiminė senus draugus. (She, while telling about the trip, remembered old friends.)

Notes: Pasakojant is most common in literary and descriptive styles. In formal or technical Lithuanian, writers may replace it with explicit subordinate clauses. Related forms include other present active participles such as kalbant, rašant, and pasakantis, which can function similarly with different verbs.