Vocab: hooldama

to take care of

to take care of, to maintain, to take care of something or someone constantly

Building blocks

• hool - This root word means "care" or "concern.

• -da- - factitive suffix

• -ma - infinitive ending

Putting it all together, "hooldama" means "to take care of" or "to maintain," indicating the action of making sure something or someone is cared for. So the derivation from the word "hool" ("care") is very straightforward.

The root word “hool” (care) is derived from Proto-Finnic hooli* (worry, concern, care).

How to use it

1. Taking care of someone:

   • Ma hooldan oma eakaid vanemaid.

     • Translation: I take care of my elderly parents.

2. Maintaining something:

   • Ta hooldab oma autot regulaarselt.

     • Translation: He maintains his car regularly.

3. Taking care of plants or a garden:

   • Aednik hooldab oma aeda iga päev.

     • Translation: The gardener takes care of his garden every day.

4. Maintenance of public spaces:

   • Linnavalitsus hooldab parke ja tänavaid.

     • Translation: The city council maintains the parks and streets.

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What to remember when using the verb “hooldama”:

1. Whom or what you take care of is in the Partitive case (third base form)

See this in use ⬇️

Examples

Dementseid eakaid hooldavad sageli nende tööeas lähedased

Literally: “Dementia elderly are cared for often their working-age-in relatives”

Idiomatically: “Elderly people with dementia are often cared for by their working-age relatives”

Dementseid - Adjective - Partitive Pl, "Dementia"
eakaid - Noun - Partitive Pl, "elderly"
hooldavad - Verb - 3P Present Pl, "are cared for"
sageli - Adverb - Indeclinable, "often"
nende - Pronoun - Genitive Pl, "their"
tööeas - Noun - Inessive Sg, "working-age in"
lähedased - Noun - Nominative Pl, "relatives"