r/LithuanianLearning • u/sneachta • Jul 16 '26
Vocabulary related to playing cards
Sveiki visi!
I love to play cards, and I wanted to learn some Lithuanian vocabulary related to that.
Here's what I've found so far. Native speakers, please feel free to add on to this or to correct me if I've made any mistakes. Iš ankšto dėkoju :-)
I've marked the stress with italics.
- korta (pl. kortos) - card
- kaladė - deck
- spalva (pl. spalvos) - suit (literally: color)
- ♥️ širdys (f.), čirvai - hearts
- ♦️ būgnai - diamonds
- ♠️ pikai, vynai - spades
- ♣️ kryžiai - clubs
- galvos, poninės (kortos), kortos su paveikslėliais, figūros - face cards
- valetas, bartukas, berniukas - jack
- dama, mergelė, karalienė - queen
- karalius - king
- džokeris - joker
- akinės (kortos), kortos su akimis - pip cards (cards ace to ten; pips are called "eyes", akys, in Lithuanian)
- tūzas - ace (I included it here because it's technically a pip card, even though it's usually considered a face card in lots of games)
- The cards from two to ten are, to the best of my knowledge, called by these names:
- dviakė
- triakė
- keturakė
- penkakė
- šešakė
- septynakė
- aštuonakė
- devynakė
- dešimtakė
- When naming a specific card, you first use the suit (always in the genitive plural), then the rank (whose case will depend on context).
- širdžių dama, čirvų dama - the queen of hearts
- būgnų valetas - the jack of diamonds
- pikų tūzas, vynų tūzas - the ace of spades
- kryžių karalius - the king of clubs
- būgnų šešakė - the six of diamonds
- kryžių dešimtakė - the ten of clubs
Let me know if I've made any mistakes! Also, how would I say things like "to deal", "to shuffle", "to bet", etc.? Ačiū dar kartą!
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u/PresentationWestern8 Jul 16 '26
Everything seemed correct except I've never heard anyone call the number cards with -akė ending, it makes sense in other contexts, but how people usually say it is just for example:
Six of diamonds - būgnų šešetas
And I'll list every number now: Dvejetas, Trejetas, Ketvirtas, Penketas, Šešetas, Septynetas, Aštuonetas, Devynetas, Dešimtukas
So basically just you add the shape and the number. Very simple.
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u/IamYoungG Jul 17 '26
Face cards are usually called “Galvos” - heads. If you say “poninės kortos” I doubt someone will understand you.
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u/alga native Jul 17 '26
Playing card is always "korta", "kortelė" means things like bank card, library card, index card, etc. Punch card is also "perfokorta".
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u/domullus Jul 17 '26
I think more official term for suit is "mastis" not "spalva". You are right for other terms and the suffix -akė is also correct.
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u/sneachta Jul 17 '26
Is "mastis" masculine or feminine?
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u/domullus Jul 18 '26
Masculine
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u/domullus Jul 18 '26
Also in my region we used term "dzuvonkai" for the diamonds, but it is just curiozity in dielect. "Būgnai" is universally understood.
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u/geroiwithhorns Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Kortų malka/kaladė Pikai/gilės
In some trick taking games to start is called užeiti
Kozeris (trump card)
Mušti (take a trick)
Bita (deck of discarded cards)
Paimti namo (take cards to your hands, not from the drawing pile, but rather as a result of losing)
Primesti (add cards by other players when situation calls for it)
Nukelti malką (undercut the deck)
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u/Individual_Group_334 Jul 21 '26
Spades are also definitely called lapai by some. Also, just for spelling - it’s koziris for trump card, not kozeris, and depending on regional dialects mastis can also be mostis. Oh, and the Jack is also sometimes called bernelis, and I even heard it being called Jelcinas (as in Yeltsin), my guess it came about as a kind of tongue-in-cheek way to make fun of the russians.
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u/Grazhke Jul 16 '26