Vocab: alustama - to begin
to start; to begin; to start doing something (for the first time or again); to begin an activity
Building blocks
alus- → the root, from “algus” meaning beginning
-ta- → causative (“make something be X”)
-ma → infinitive ending
So alustama literally means something like: “to make a beginning”
How to use it
What to remember
What you start is in the Partitive case (third base form)
You can also start with something, using the Comitative case (ending -ga)
See the examples below ⬇️
Examples
Kevadel alustati aia ettevalmistusi
Literally: “Spring-on were-started garden preparations”
Idiomatically: “In spring, preparations for the garden were started”
Kevadel - Noun - Adessive Singular: "In spring"
alustati - Verb - Impersonal Past: "were started"
aia - Noun - Genitive Singular: "garden"
ettevalmistusi - Noun - Partitive Plural: "preparations"Meeskond alustas treeningutega aprillis
Literally: “Team started training-with April-in”
Idiomatically: “The team started training in April”
Meeskond - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Team"
alustas - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense: "started"
treeningutega - Noun - Comitative Plural: "with trainings"
aprillis - Noun - Inessive Singular: "in April"