Vocab: harjuma - to get used to

---

to get used to; to become accustomed to; to accept something so that it becomes normal and natural; to feel at home or adapt to someone or something

Building blocks

• harju- → the root is connected with repetition, familiarity, and becoming comfortable with something through time or practice

• -ma → infinitive ending

So, in essence, harjuma comes from the idea of becoming familiar with something through time or experience.

There’s another verb from the same root — here’s a quick comparison:

• harjuma – to get used to, to become accustomed

• harjutama – to practice, to train

How to use it

What to remember

To express “getting used to doing something” with harjuma, you use harjuma followed by a verb in the ma-infinitive form

Lapsed harjuvad koolis iseseisvalt töötama

Literally: “Children get used to school-in independently to work”

Idiomatically: “The children get used to working independently at school”

Lapsed - Noun - Nominative Plural: "Children"
harjuvad - Verb - 3rd Person Plural, Present Tense: "get used to"
koolis - Noun - Inessive Singular: "in school"
iseseisvalt - Adverb - Indeclinable: "independently"
töötama - Verb - ma-Infinitive: "to work"

Whom or what you get used to is expressed using the Comitative Case (ending -ga)

Harjun külma ilmaga

Literally: “I get used to cold weather-with”

Idiomatically: “I’m getting used to the cold weather”

Harjun - Verb - 1st Person Singular, Present Tense: "I get used to"
külma - Adjective - Genitive Singular: "cold"
ilmaga - Noun - Comitative Singular: "with weather"