Vocab: enamus
(the) majority, (the) bigger half, most of
Building blocks
We can break down enamus into two parts:
enam - more (greater in quantity)
-us- a noun-forming ending
In this case when the -us ending is added, the word changes from an adjective to a noun.
When adding -us to an adjective, the noun that is created can express one of three things, in this case, it expresses a state (state of being in a majority).
The word enam is derived from Proto-Finnic: enämpi
How to use it
Whom/what there is a majority of, is expressed in the Partitive case (third base form). For example: enamus kasse (the majority of the cats) - kasse is in the Partitive case.
From whom/from what there is a majority of, is expressed in the Elative case (ending -st). For example: enamuse ajast (most of the time) - ajast is in the Elative case.
Examples
Oleme enamus rahast ära kulutanud
Literally: “We have majority from money away spent”
Idiomatically: “We have spent most of the money”
Oleme - Verb - 1P Present Pl, "We have"
enamus - Noun - Nom Sg "majority"
rahast - Noun - Elative Sg, "from money"
ära kulutanud - Compound verb - 1P Past Perfect Pl, "away spent"Enamus inimesi ei mõtle sellele
Literally: “Majority people don’t think onto it”
Idiomatically: “Most people don’t think about it”
Enamus - Noun - Nom Sg, "Majority"
inimesi - Noun - Partitive Pl, "people"
ei mõtle - Verb - 3P Present Negative Pl, "don't think"
sellele - Pronoun - Allative Sg, "onto it"Otsustamisõigus anti enamusele
Literally: “Power of decision was given onto majority”
Idiomatically: “The power of decision was given to the majority”
Otsustamisõigus - Noun - Nom Sg, "Power of decision"
anti - Verb - Impersonal Past, "was given"
enamusele - Noun - Allative Sg, "onto majority"