Lithuanian A1/A2 Vocabulary: 1,221 Words Across 14 Topics

How many Lithuanian words do you need for A1 or A2?

It is one of the first questions learners ask — and one of the easiest questions to answer badly. A large number can sound reassuring, but knowing 1,000 disconnected translations does not necessarily help you ask when the next bus leaves, explain a symptom, or answer a simple question about your work.

The better target is useful vocabulary organised around situations.

That is why Examen organises 1,221 Lithuanian words and phrases into 14 practical topics. Together, they cover the everyday situations a beginner is most likely to meet in Lithuania and the themes that repeatedly appear in A1/A2 learning and exam practice.

A1 and A2: What Should Your Vocabulary Let You Do?

There is no single official checklist that every A1 or A2 learner must memorise word by word. The CEFR vocabulary descriptors focus on what you can do:

At A1, you have a basic repertoire of words and phrases for concrete situations.
At A2, you have enough vocabulary for routine everyday transactions, basic communicative needs, and simple “survival” situations.

In Lithuania’s current state-language framework, the basic state-language category corresponds to A1, while Category I corresponds to A2. The important change from A1 to A2 is therefore not just “more words”. You need to retrieve familiar words more quickly, understand them in short texts and recordings, and combine them into simple sentences.

Think of the difference like this:

A1: Where is the station?
A2: I usually take the bus to work, but today I need to go by train. What time does it leave?

The 14 Vocabulary Topics You Need

These topics are a practical learning structure, not official level boundaries. Start with the most immediate A1 needs, then widen and deepen your vocabulary for A2.

1. Basic Phrases

Greetings, polite expressions, question words, numbers, time, and phrases for when communication breaks down. This category gives you language you can use from day one:

Laba diena (good afternoon), ačiū (thank you), prašau (please), nesupratau (I did not understand), gal galite pakartoti? (could you repeat?).

2. Personal Identity

Your name, nationality, citizenship, address, age, contact details, and the personal information used in introductions and forms.

Practise answering: Koks jūsų vardas? Iš kur jūs esate? Kur gyvenate?

3. Family and People

Family members, relationships, appearance, personality, and the words needed to describe the people around you.

Do not stop at isolated nouns such as mama or brolis. Build short statements: Turiu vyresnį brolį. Jis gyvena Kaune.

4. Housing

Rooms, furniture, household objects, rent, utilities, addresses, and common housing problems. This topic helps with both everyday life and picture-description tasks.

Useful situations include describing your home, reading a rental advert, or saying neveikia šildymas (the heating does not work).

5. Daily Life

Days, times, routines, chores, sleep, and common actions. These words help you talk about what happens before work, after work, and at the weekend.

At A2, add frequency and sequence: paprastai (usually), kartais (sometimes), pirma (first), po to (after that).

6. Food and Drinks

Basic ingredients, meals, drinks, cooking, cafés, and restaurants. Learn the words together with useful requests:

Norėčiau kavos (I would like a coffee), be cukraus (without sugar), sąskaitą, prašau (the bill, please).

7. Shopping

Products, prices, quantities, sizes, payment, shops, and returns. This is where numbers and question forms become practical:

Kiek kainuoja? Ar turite mažesnį dydį? Ar galima mokėti kortele?

8. Travel and Transport

Directions, tickets, public transport, stations, stops, timetables, and common travel problems. For A2, practise explaining a short route and asking for specific information rather than only naming vehicles.

9. Health and Hygiene

Parts of the body, symptoms, medicine, appointments, pharmacies, and personal care. Focus first on high-value phrases:

Man skauda galvą (I have a headache), karščiuoju (I have a fever), noriu užsiregistruoti pas gydytoją (I want to make a doctor’s appointment).

10. Education and Work

Jobs, workplaces, schedules, duties, studies, courses, and colleagues. This topic matters especially when you need Lithuanian for work and when the examiner asks about your normal day.

11. Leisure

Hobbies, sport, culture, weekends, invitations, and preferences. Leisure vocabulary is ideal for practising opinions and reasons:

Man patinka plaukti, nes tai padeda atsipalaiduoti.

12. Services

The post office, bank, hairdresser, repair services, public institutions, and appointments. These situations train you to say what you need, ask what documents are required, and understand simple instructions.

13. Nature, Weather and City

Seasons, weather, places in town, buildings, nature, and the local environment. These words often appear in small talk, directions, notices, and picture descriptions.

14. Digital Life

Phones, messages, email, websites, passwords, online bookings, and common technical problems. Digital vocabulary is part of real beginner life now:

Negavau žinutės (I did not receive the message), pamiršau slaptažodį (I forgot the password), neveikia internetas (the internet is not working).

What Should You Learn First?

If you are starting from zero, do not try to complete all 14 topics at once.

Build your A1 foundation first:

Basic phrases
Personal identity
Family and people
Daily life
Food and drinks
Shopping
Housing
Travel and transport

Then expand towards A2 with health, work and education, leisure, services, the city and weather, and digital life. At the same time, return to the first topics and learn to say more with them.

For example, an A1 learner may know autobusas (bus). An A2 learner should be able to ask where it stops, understand a departure time, buy a ticket, and explain that the bus is late.

Three Tests for Every New Word

A word is not fully learned just because it looks familiar. Test it in three directions:

Recognition: When you hear or read the Lithuanian word, do you understand it?
Recall: When you see the meaning or situation, can you produce the Lithuanian word?
Use: Can you put it into a short sentence or question that is true for you?

Take vaistinė (pharmacy):

Recognition: understand it on a sign or in a listening task.
Recall: produce it when you need medicine.
Use: Kur yra artimiausia vaistinė?

This final step is what turns a vocabulary list into communication.

A Simple Weekly Study Routine

Choose one main topic for the week and keep the routine small:

Learn 10–15 new words or phrases a day.
Listen to each item and repeat it aloud.
Write three short sentences about your own life.
At the end of the week, answer five questions on the topic without looking at your notes.
Review older topics before adding more new words.

For exam preparation, use the same topic across different skills. If the topic is transport, describe a journey aloud, read a timetable, listen for a departure time, and write a short message saying you will be late.

The Real Goal Is Not a Number

A vocabulary target is useful because it gives your learning boundaries. But the real goal is to make the words available when you need them.

You are ready to move forward when you can:

understand the key message in a short everyday text or recording;
ask and answer simple questions without translating every word first;
describe a familiar situation in several connected sentences;
write a short practical message or complete a basic form;
keep communicating even when you do not know the perfect word.

Examen’s 1,221 words across 14 topics give you a structured path through that work. Start with the situations you meet most often, practise actively, and let the number grow as a result of real use.

Ready to build your vocabulary by topic? Start learning in Examen, then test the same words in exam-style practice.

Official references: the CEFR Companion Volume and Lithuania’s state-language category framework. Examen is an independent preparation tool and is not affiliated with NŠA or any Lithuanian government institution.