Mokyti – mokytis – išmokti – mokėti
Sveiki! In this video we are going to take a look at some verbs related to teaching and learning – mokyti, mokytis, išmokti, mokėti.
A lot of students keep confusing these verbs so let’s learn them once and for all!
Mokyti
Mokyti is a simple verb which means to teach.
Aš mokau lietuvių kalbos. I am teaching Lithuanian.
Ko mus moko Biblija? What does the Bible teach us?
You also have some useful nouns made from this verb: mokytojas – teacher, mokinys – learner, mokykla – school, mokymai – training.
Mokytis
Mokytis, on the other hand, means to teach oneself, which acutally means to learn.
Aš mokausi lietuvių kalbos. I am learning Lithuanian.
Ji mokosi važiuoti dviračiu. She is learning to ride a bike.
If you have –s at the end of infinitive it means that the verb is reflexive, i.e. it defines an action where the subject acts upon or for itself.
Other examples of reflexive verbs are treniruotis – to train oneself, praustis – to wash oneself, degintis – literally to burn oneself, but actually it means to sunbathe.
I covered reflexive verbs in greater detail in my course so check it out!
Mokytis – išmokti
Okay, now let’s have a look at mokytis and išmokti. The difference between those two is very straight-forward: mokytis defines the process of learning, and išmokti – the result of learning, i.e. acquiring knowledge or skills.
Kiek laiko mokaisi prancūzų kalbos? How long have you been learning French?
Mokytis niekada nevėlu! It’s never too late to learn.
Šiandien noriu išmokti dešimt naujų žodžių. Today I want to learn ten new words.
Jis išmoko vairuoti prieš dvejus metus. He learned to drive two years ago.
Mokyti – išmokyti
The same logic applies for mokyti and išmokyti.
Tėvai moko vaikus is a process and tėvai mane išmokė gerbti kitus is a result.
Mokinti, mokintis
Recently I have been asked to explain two more words – mokinti and mokintis – because some people use these forms instead of mokyti and mokytis.
My advice would be simple – don’t use these forms when you speak or write because they aren’t the norm. Even in colloquial language these forms don’t sound cool so my suggestion would be not to use them whatsoever.
Mokėti
And the last word for today is mokėti – to be able, to have knowledge or skill for something.
Ji supranta rusiškai, bet nemoka kalbėti. She understands Russian but can’t speak it or doesn’t speak it. She does not have enough skill, she is not able to speak it.
Jis nemoka teorijos pritaikyti praktikoje. He can’t put theory into practice.
What’s next?
I hope that this video was helpful. Make sure to subscribe to my channel and share this video with your friends. If you want to learn Lithuanian in a systematic manner check my dialogue-based Lithuanian course and see you next time! Iki!