to tolerate; to endure; to bear; to stand; to withstand; to put up with something unpleasant (pain, cold, noise, a person) without giving in; (about plants, materials:) to hold up against heat, cold or pressure

Building blocks

• talu- → root meaning “bear/endure”

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally taluma means: “to bear (it)”

How to use it

What to remember

• What you tolerate or endure is in the Partitive case (third base form)

Example

Õde talub vürtsikat toitu paremini kui isa

Literally: “Sister tolerates spicy food better than father”

Idiomatically: “My sister handles spicy food better than dad does”

Õde – Noun – Nominative Singular: "sister"
talub – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "tolerates"
vürtsikat – Adjective – Partitive Singular: "spicy"
toitu – Noun – Partitive Singular: "food"
paremini – Adverb – Comparative: "better"
kui – Conjunction – Indeclinable: "than"
isa – Noun – Nominative Singular: "father/dad"

irreplaceable; indispensable; something that cannot be replaced; something for which there is no substitute; essential

Building blocks

• asenda- → verb stem from asendama (”to replace”)

• -matu → negative adjective suffix (”not/un-”) — turns “replace” into “can’t be replaced”

So literally asendamatu means: “not replaceable” — i.e. irreplaceable

🔍 Bonus decode: asendama grows from ase (”place”) — the same root as asemel (”instead”) and asesõna (”pronoun” — literally a “stand-in word”).

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “asendamatu” ⬇️

What to remember

The person or group something is irreplaceable to goes in the Allative case (ending -le).

Example

Hea treener on meeskonnale asendamatu

Literally: “Good coach is team-onto irreplaceable”

Idiomatically: “A good coach is irreplaceable to the team”

Hea – Adjective – Nominative Singular: "good"
treener – Noun – Nominative Singular: "coach"
on – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "is"
meeskonnale – Noun – Allative Singular: "to the team"
asendamatu – Adjective – Nominative Singular: "irreplaceable"

to thank; to express gratitude (in words or otherwise)

Building blocks

• täna- → from the noun tänu (gratitude, thanks)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally tänama means: “to give gratitude”

How to use it

What to remember

• The person you thank is in the Partitive case (third base form)

• The reason you thank for comes with eest (“for”), and the word before it is in the Genitive case (second base form)

Example

Ema tänas naabrit abi eest

Literally: “Mum thanked neighbour help for”

Idiomatically: “Mum thanked the neighbour for the help”

Ema - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Mum"
tänas - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: "thanked"
naabrit - Noun - Partitive Singular: "the neighbour"
abi - Noun - Genitive Singular: "help"
eest - Postposition - Indeclinable: "for"

worried; anxious; concerned; full of worry; (about a look, voice, face:) showing worry

Building blocks

• mure- → from the noun mure (worry, concern)

• -lik → adjective suffix (having the quality of something)

So literally “murelik” means “full of worry”

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “murelik” ⬇️

What to remember

What you are worried about is in the Genitive case + pärast (because of)

Example

Vanaema on murelik lapselapse tervise pärast

Literally: “Grandma is worried grandchild’s health’s because-of”

Idiomatically: “Grandma is worried about her grandchild’s health”

Vanaema - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Grandma"
on - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "is"
murelik - Adjective - Nominative Singular: "worried"
lapselapse - Noun - Genitive Singular: "grandchild's"
tervise - Noun - Genitive Singular: "health's"
pärast - Postposition - Indeclinable: "because of / about"

to adventure; to have adventures; to go exploring; to roam or wander around, experiencing unexpected and exciting things

Building blocks

• seik- → root (an event, an occurrence)

• -le- → frequentative suffix (something done again and again, or on and on)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally seiklema means: “to keep running into events”

How to use it

What to remember

• Seiklema never takes a direct object — you can’t “adventure something”. Instead, say where the adventure happens, usually in the Inessive case (ending -s)

Example

Sõbrad seiklesid terve suve Soomaa rabades

Literally: “Friends adventured whole summer Soomaa’s bogs-in”

Idiomatically: “The friends spent the whole summer adventuring in the bogs of Soomaa”

Sõbrad - Noun - Nominative Plural: "Friends"
seiklesid - Verb - 3rd Person Plural, Past Tense: "adventured"
terve - Adjective - Genitive Singular: "whole"
suve - Noun - Genitive Singular: "summer"
Soomaa - Proper Noun - Genitive Singular: "Soomaa’s"
rabades - Noun - Inessive Plural: "in the bogs"

superficial; shallow; surface-level; (about people, thinking, relationships:) lacking depth; (about a wound:) not deep

Building blocks

• pinna- → from the noun pind (surface), genitive form

• peal → on top, on

• -ne → adjective ending (turns it into an adjective)

So literally pinnapealne means: “on-the-surface”

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “pinnapealne” ⬇️

What to remember

When something stays or remains superficial, use jääma + the Translative case (ending -ks)

Example

Arutelu jäi kahjuks pinnapealseks

Literally: “Discussion remained unfortunately superficial-into”

Idiomatically: “Unfortunately, the discussion remained superficial”

Arutelu - Noun - Nominative Singular: "discussion"
jäi - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: "remained"
kahjuks - Adverb - Indeclinable: "unfortunately"
pinnapealseks - Adjective - Translative Singular: "superficial"

to grow; to become bigger, taller or stronger; (about plants) to grow, to sprout; to increase in amount or number; to grow up, to develop

Building blocks

• kasva- → stem meaning “grow” (related to the noun kasv – growth, height)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally kasvama means: “to do growing”

⚠️ kasvama never takes an object — the thing itself grows. To grow something (tomatoes, a beard, a business), use kasvatama: Vanaema kasvatab tomateid.

How to use it

What to remember

• What something grows into is in the Translative case (ending -ks)

Example

Väike kutsikas kasvas suureks koeraks

Literally: “Small puppy grew big-into dog-into”

Idiomatically: “The little puppy grew into a big dog”

Väike - Adjective - Nominative Singular: "small/little"
kutsikas - Noun - Nominative Singular: "puppy"
kasvas - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: "grew"
suureks - Adjective - Translative Singular: "into big"
koeraks - Noun - Translative Singular: "into a dog"

one-sided; biased; limited to only one aspect or point of view; (about food, activities:) unvaried, unbalanced, monotonous

Building blocks

• ühe- → from üks (one), in its genitive form ühe

• külg → side

• -ne → adjective ending (turns it into an adjective)

So literally “ühekülgne” means “having one side”

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “ühekülgne” ⬇️

What to remember

Like other -ne adjectives (remember sarnane?), the -ne turns into -se- as soon as the word changes form:

ühekülgne → ühekülgse → ühekülgset

Example

Artikkel andis olukorrast ühekülgse pildi

Literally: “Article gave situation-from one-sided picture”

Idiomatically: “The article gave a one-sided picture of the situation”

Artikkel - Noun - Nominative Singular: "The article"
andis - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: "gave"
olukorrast - Noun - Elative Singular: "of/about the situation"
ühekülgse - Adjective - Genitive Singular: "one-sided"
pildi - Noun - Genitive Singular: "picture"

to wake up; to awaken; to come out of sleep; (about nature, a city, feelings, interest:) to arise, to begin

Building blocks

• ärka- → root meaning “awake, alert” (same family as ärkvel – awake)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally ärkama means: “to become awake”

💡 Don't mix it up: ärkama = to wake up yourself, äratama = to wake someone else up

How to use it

What to remember

• What you wake up from is in the Elative case (ending -st)

Example

Karu ärkab kevadel talveunest

Literally: “Bear wakes spring-on winter-sleep-from”

Idiomatically: “The bear wakes up from hibernation in spring”

Karu - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Bear"
ärkab - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "wakes"
kevadel - Noun - Adessive Singular: "on spring"
talveunest - Noun - Elative Singular: "from winter sleep"

extensive; wide-ranging; large-scale; comprehensive; covering a large area, amount or range of things

Building blocks

• ulatus- → from the noun ulatus (extent, scope, reach), which comes from the verb ulatuma (to reach, to extend)

• -lik → adjective suffix meaning “having the quality of”

So literally ulatuslik means: “having (a big) reach”

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “ulatuslik” ⬇️

What to remember

Ulatuslik takes the same case and number as the noun it describes. Watch the partitive: it gets a double k → ulatuslikku.

Base forms: ulatuslik – ulatusliku – ulatuslikku

Example

Maja vajab ulatuslikku remonti

Literally: “House needs extensive renovation”

Idiomatically: “The house needs extensive renovation”

Maja - Noun - Nominative Singular: "house"
vajab - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "needs"
ulatuslikku - Adjective - Partitive Singular: "extensive"
remonti - Noun - Partitive Singular: "renovation"

to discover; to find (something previously unknown); to explore; to find out, to realise; to notice (suddenly)

Building blocks

• ava- → from the verb avama (to open)

• -sta- → derivational suffix (turns “opening” into an action of revealing)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally avastama means: “to open up (what was hidden)”

How to use it

What to remember

• When the discovery is complete (you found the thing), the object is in the Genitive case (second base form). When you’re still exploring, it’s in the Partitive case (third base form).

Example

Matkal avastasime metsas väikese järve

Literally: “Hike-on discovered-we forest-in small lake”

Idiomatically: “On the hike, we discovered a small lake in the forest”

Matkal - Noun - Adessive Singular: "on the hike"
avastasime - Verb - 1st Person Plural, Past Tense: "discovered"
metsas - Noun - Inessive Singular: "in the forest"
väikese - Adjective - Genitive Singular: "small"
järve - Noun - Genitive Singular: "lake"

Nädalavahetusel avastasime Tartu kohvikuid

Literally: “Weekend-on discovered-we Tartu cafés”

Idiomatically: “Over the weekend, we explored cafés in Tartu”

Nädalavahetusel - Noun - Adessive Singular: "at the weekend"
avastasime - Verb - 1st Person Plural, Past Tense: "discovered/explored"
Tartu - Proper Noun - Genitive Singular: "Tartu’s"
kohvikuid - Noun - Partitive Plural: "cafés"

responsible; carrying great responsibility; requiring a high degree of responsibility; (of a job, role, or decision:) one that means being answerable for something important

Building blocks

• vastutus → noun: “responsibility” (from vastutama – to be answerable for something)

• -rikas → suffix meaning “rich in/full of”

So literally vastutusrikas means: “rich in responsibility”

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “vastutusrikas” ⬇️

What to remember

⚠️ Don't mix it up with vastutustundlik. vastutusrikas describes the job (it carries a lot of responsibility); vastutustundlik describes the person (they have a strong sense of responsibility).

Example

Meeskonna juhtimine on vastutusrikas ülesanne

Literally: “Team's leading is responsible task”

Idiomatically: “Leading a team is a responsible task”

Meeskonna – Noun – Genitive Singular: "team's"
juhtimine – Noun – Nominative Singular: "leading / managing"
on – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "is"
vastutusrikas – Adjective – Nominative Singular: "responsible"
ülesanne – Noun – Nominative Singular: "task"

to pack; to put things into a bag, box, or suitcase for carrying or storing; to wrap or package something (a gift, goods)

Building blocks

• pakk- → root, from the noun pakk (a package, parcel, bundle)

• -i- → verb-forming vowel (turns the noun into a verb)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally pakkima means: “to make into a package”

How to use it

What to remember

• Where you pack something into is in the Illative case (ending -sse, or the short illative)

Example

Vanaema pakib kingitused kaunisse paberisse

Literally: “Grandmother packs gifts beautiful-into paper-into”

Idiomatically: “Grandmother wraps the gifts in beautiful paper”

Vanaema – Noun – Nominative Singular: "Grandmother"
pakib – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "packs / wraps"
kingitused – Noun – Nominative Plural (total object): "gifts"
kaunisse – Adjective – Illative Singular: "into beautiful"
paberisse – Noun – Illative Singular: "into paper"

vague; indefinite; indeterminate; unclear; not clearly defined; lacking a precise form, extent, or meaning

Building blocks

• eba- → prefix meaning “un-, non-, in-” (negates or undermines the root)

• määra- → root, from määr (“measure, degree,)—related to määrama (“to determine, define”)

• -ne → adjective ending

So literally “ebamäärane” means “without a definite “measure”—undetermined.

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “ebamäärane” ⬇️

Example

Kohtumise tulemus jäi ebamääraseks

Literally: “Meeting’s result remained vague-into”

Idiomatically: “The outcome of the meeting remained vague”

Kohtumise – Noun – Genitive Singular: “of the meeting”
tulemus – Noun – Nominative Singular: “result / outcome”
jäi – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: “remained”
ebamääraseks – Adjective – Translative Singular: “vague” (into a vague state)

to wish; to want; to desire; to express good wishes to someone; (in polite/formal use:) to request

Building blocks

• soovi- → verb stem, from the noun soov (wish, desire)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally soovima means: “to make a wish”

How to use it

What to remember

• The person you wish something to is in the Allative case (ending -le).

• The thing being wished is in the Partitive case (third base form).

Example

Soovin sulle head reisi!

Literally: “I-wish you-onto good trip”

Idiomatically: “I wish you a good trip!”

Soovin – Verb – 1st Person Singular, Present Tense: “I wish”
sulle – Pronoun – Allative Singular: “to you”
head – Adjective – Partitive Singular: “good”
reisi – Noun – Partitive Singular: “trip”

complicated; complex; intricate; difficult; made up of many interconnected parts; hard to understand or deal with

Building blocks

• keeru- → root, from the noun keer (a twist, coil, turn)

• -line → adjective ending (turns it into an adjective: “characterised by, full of”)

So literally keeruline means: “full of twists and turns”—something all tangled up.

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “keeruline” ⬇️

Example

Oleme praegu üsna keerulises olukorras, aga leiame kindlasti lahenduse

Literally: “(We) are now quite complicated-in situation-in, but (we) find definitely solution”

Idiomatically: “Right now we're in quite a complicated situation, but we'll definitely find a solution”

Oleme - Verb - 1st Person Plural, Present Tense: "(we) are"
praegu - Adverb - Indeclinable: "now, right now"
üsna - Adverb - Indeclinable: "quite, fairly"
keerulises - Adjective - Inessive Singular: "complicated"
olukorras - Noun - Inessive Singular: "in a situation"
aga - Conjunction - Indeclinable: "but"
leiame - Verb - 1st Person Plural, Present Tense: "(we) will find"
kindlasti - Adverb - Indeclinable: "definitely, certainly"
lahenduse - Noun - Genitive Singular (total object): "solution"

to ripen; to mature; to become ready or finished; (of fruit and crops:) to ripen; (of something being made or built:) to be completed; (of a plan or idea:) to take shape, to come to fruition

Building blocks

• valmi- → stem, from valmis (ready, ripe, finished)

• -ma → ma-infinitive ending

So literally valmima means: “to become ready”

Valmima is intransitive — a thing becomes ready on its own. Add the causative -ta- and you get valmistama — to make something ready.

How to use it

What to remember

• Valmima is intransitive — the thing that ripens or gets finished is the subject, in the Nominative case. There is no object, so nothing goes in the Partitive here.

Example

Meie aia õunad valmivad alles sügisel

Literally: “Our garden’s apples ripen only autumn-on”

Idiomatically: “The apples in our garden don’t ripen until autumn”

Meie - Pronoun - Genitive Singular: "our"
aia - Noun - Genitive Singular: "garden's"
õunad - Noun - Nominative Plural: "apples"
valmivad - Verb - 3rd Person Plural, Present Tense: "ripen"
alles - Adverb - Indeclinable: "only/not until"
sügisel - Noun - Adessive Singular: "in autumn"

expedient; practical; purposeful; well-suited to its purpose; efficient in serving its aim

Building blocks

• otstarve → the noun “purpose, intended use, function” (stem otstarbe-)

• -kas → adjective suffix (“having/characterised by”)

So literally otstarbekas means: “having a purpose” → fits its purpose.

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “otstarbekas” ⬇️

What to remember

When otstarbekas describes an action worth doing, the verb that follows is in the da-infinitive: on otstarbekas + oodata (to wait)

Example

Vahel on otstarbekam oodata kui kiirustada

Literally: “Sometimes is more-expedient to-wait than to-rush”

Idiomatically: “Sometimes it’s wiser to wait than to rush”

Vahel — Adverb - Indeclinable: “sometimes”
on — Verb — 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: “is”
otstarbekam — Adjective — Comparative (Nominative Singular): “more expedient/wiser”
oodata — Verb — da-infinitive: “to wait”
kui — Conjunction — Indeclinable: “than”
kiirustada — Verb — da-infinitive: “to rush”

independent; not dependent on someone or something; free from outside control or influence; self-reliant

Building blocks

• sõltu- → verb stem from sõltuma (”to depend”)

• -matu → negative adjective suffix (”not/un-”) — turns “depend” into “not depending”

So literally sõltumatu means “not depending”—independent.

How to use it:

Here is how you use the word “sõltumatu” ⬇️

What to remember

The thing you are independent of goes in the Elative case (ending -st)

Example

Ajakirjandus peab olema võimust sõltumatu

Literally: “Press must to-be power-from independent”

Idiomatically: “The press must be independent of those in power”

Ajakirjandus – Noun – Nominative Singular: "the press"
peab – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "must"
olema – Verb – ma-infinitive: "to be"
võimust – Noun – Elative Singular: "from/of power"
sõltumatu – Adjective – Nominative Singular: "independent"

to pick (berries, mushrooms, flowers); to gather; to collect (money); to pick up

Building blocks

• korja- → root/verb stem meaning “pick, gather, collect”

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally korjama means: “to do the picking/gathering”

How to use it

What to remember

• What you pick or gather is in the Partitive case (third base form)

Example

Laps korjab põõsast marju

Literally: “Child picks bush-from berries”

Idiomatically: “The child picks berries from the bush”

Laps – Noun – Nominative Singular: "child"
korjab – Verb – 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "picks"
põõsast – Noun – Elative Singular: "from the bush"
marju – Noun – Partitive Plural: "berries"