Mastering the Past Frequentative Tense and Reflexive Verbs

Opening Context

When you want to tell a story about your childhood, describe a past summer, or talk about habits you no longer have, you need a way to say "I used to..." or "We would always..." In many languages, this requires complex phrasing or relying entirely on context. Lithuanian, however, has a dedicated tense just for this: the past frequentative tense (būtasis dažninis laikas).

Combining this unique tense with reflexive verbs—verbs that reflect an action back onto the subject or indicate mutual action—allows you to describe daily routines, personal habits, and recurring social interactions from the past with precision and natural fluency.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Form the past frequentative tense for regular verbs to describe repeated past actions.
• Conjugate non-prefixed reflexive verbs in the past frequentative tense.
• Correctly place the reflexive particle in prefixed verbs when using the past frequentative.
• Describe past routines and habits using a combination of these verb types.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with the present and simple past tenses in Lithuanian.
• Understanding of how to find the infinitive stem of a Lithuanian verb (removing the -ti ending).
• Basic knowledge of what a reflexive verb is (verbs ending in -s or -si in their infinitive form).

Core Concepts

1. The Past Frequentative Tense (Regular Verbs)

The past frequentative tense is used exclusively for actions that happened repeatedly or habitually in the past. It translates to "used to [verb]" or "would [verb]" in English.

To form this tense, take the infinitive of the verb, remove the -ti to get the stem, and add the infix -dav-, followed by the specific past frequentative endings.

The endings are highly regular across all verb groups:

• aš (I): -au
• tu (you, sg.): -ai
• jis/ji (he/she): -o
• mes (we): -ome
• jūs (you, pl.): -ote
• jie/jos (they): -o

Example with skaityti (to read): Stem: skaity-

• aš skaitydavau (I used to read)
• tu skaitydavai (You used to read)
• jis/ji skaitydavo (He/she used to read)
• mes skaitydavome (We used to read)
• jūs skaitydavote (You used to read)
• jie/jos skaitydavo (They used to read)

2. Non-Prefixed Reflexive Verbs in the Past Frequentative

Reflexive verbs indicate that the subject is performing the action on themselves (e.g., washing oneself) or that the action is mutual (e.g., meeting each other). In their infinitive form, they end in -tis.

When a reflexive verb does not have a prefix (like praustis - to wash oneself, or juoktis - to laugh), the reflexive particle attaches to the very end of the conjugated verb.

The endings for non-prefixed reflexive verbs in the past frequentative are:

• aš: -davausi
• tu: -davaisi
• jis/ji: -davosi
• mes: -davomės
• jūs: -davotės
• jie/jos: -davosi

Example with juoktis (to laugh): Stem: juok-

• aš juokdavausi (I used to laugh)
• tu juokdavaisi (You used to laugh)
• jis/ji juokdavosi (He/she used to laugh)
• mes juokdavomės (We used to laugh)
• jūs juokdavotės (You used to laugh)
• jie/jos juokdavosi (They used to laugh)

3. Prefixed Reflexive Verbs in the Past Frequentative

This is where Lithuanian grammar requires careful attention. Many reflexive verbs have prefixes (e.g., atsikelti - to get up, susitikti - to meet).

The Golden Rule: When a reflexive verb has a prefix, the reflexive particle (-si-) moves away from the end of the word and wedges itself between the prefix and the root.

Because the reflexive particle is now in the middle of the word, the end of the word takes the standard, non-reflexive endings (-au, -ai, -o, -ome, -ote, -o).

Example with atsikelti (to get up): Prefix: at- | Reflexive particle: -si- | Root: kel- | Infix: -dav- | Ending: -au

• aš atsikeldavau (I used to get up)
• tu atsikeldavai (You used to get up)
• jis/ji atsikeldavo (He/she used to get up)
• mes atsikeldavome (We used to get up)
• jūs atsikeldavote (You used to get up)
• jie/jos atsikeldavo (They used to get up)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using the simple past for repeated actions.

• Incorrect usage: Vasarą aš kiekvieną dieną skaičiau knygą. (In summer I read a book every day - implies a single completed sequence rather than a habit).
• Why it happens: English often uses the simple past ("I read every day") for habits, leading learners to translate directly.
• Correct usage: Vasarą aš kiekvieną dieną skaitydavau knygą.
• Tip: If you can insert "used to" or "would" into the English sentence, use the -dav- tense in Lithuanian.

Mistake 2: Double reflexives on prefixed verbs.

• Incorrect: Aš atsikeldavausi.
• Why it happens: Learners remember the -davausi ending and apply it to all reflexive verbs, forgetting that the prefix already absorbed the -si-.
• Correct: Aš atsikeldavau.
• Tip: A Lithuanian verb can only have one reflexive marker. If you see -si- after the prefix, the ending must be normal.

Practice Prompts

1. Think of three things you used to do every summer as a child. Write them down using regular verbs in the past frequentative (e.g., žaisti, keliauti, valgyti).
2. Take the non-prefixed reflexive verb maudytis (to bathe/swim) and conjugate it for aš, mes, and jie in the past frequentative.
3. Write a sentence describing what time you used to wake up during your school years using the prefixed reflexive verb atsikelti.
4. Translate this thought into Lithuanian: "We used to meet (susitikti) in the park, and we would laugh (juoktis) a lot."

Examples

• Vaikystėje aš daug piešdavau. (In my childhood, I used to draw a lot.) — Regular verb, 1st person singular.
• Ar tu sportuodavai mokykloje? (Did you use to play sports in school?) — Regular verb, 2nd person singular.
• Mes dažnai pykdavomės, bet greitai susitaikydavome. (We used to argue often, but we would make up quickly.) — Non-prefixed reflexive (pyktis) followed by a prefixed reflexive (susitaikyti).
• Senelis visada šypsodavosi. (Grandpa used to always smile.) — Non-prefixed reflexive, 3rd person.
• Savaitgaliais jie pasivaikščiodavo miške. (On weekends they would take walks in the forest.) — Prefixed reflexive (pasivaikščioti), 3rd person.

Key Takeaways

• The past frequentative tense is formed by adding -dav- to the infinitive stem, and it translates to "used to" or "would."
• Non-prefixed reflexive verbs keep the reflexive marker at the end of the word (e.g., -davausi, -davosi).
• Prefixed reflexive verbs move the -si- between the prefix and the root, and take standard non-reflexive endings at the end of the word (e.g., atsikeldavau).
• Never use a reflexive ending if the verb already has a -si- after its prefix.

Vocabulary List

Regular Verbs

• skaityti — to read
• dirbti — to work
• žaisti — to play
• keliauti — to travel
• piešti — to draw
• sportuoti — to play sports / exercise

Non-Prefixed Reflexive Verbs

• juoktis — to laugh
• praustis — to wash oneself
• maudytis — to bathe / to swim
• pyktis — to argue / to quarrel
• šypsotis — to smile

Prefixed Reflexive Verbs

• atsikelti — to get up / to wake up
• susitikti — to meet (each other)
• pasivaikščioti — to take a walk
• susitaikyti — to make up / to reconcile

Time Expressions

• vaikystėje — in childhood
• vasarą — in summer
• kiekvieną dieną — every day
• dažnai — often
• visada — always
• savaitgaliais — on weekends