Vocab: iseloomustama - to characterize

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to characterize; to describe the traits, nature, or character of someone or something; to be typical or representative of

Building blocks

• iseloomu- → stem of iseloom (”character, nature”)

• -sta- → verb-forming suffix (”to provide with / to treat as”)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally iseloomustama means: “to give character to” → to characterize

How to use it

What to remember

What or whom you characterize is in the Partitive case (third base form)

Example

Kuidas sa iseloomustaksid oma sõpra?

Literally: “How you would-characterize your friend?”

Idiomatically: “How would you describe your friend?"

Kuidas - Adverb - Indeclinable: "How"
sa - Pronoun - Nominative Singular: "you"
iseloomustaksid - Verb - 2nd Person Singular, Conditional Mood: "would characterize"
oma - Pronoun - Indeclinable: "your own"
sõpra - Noun - Partitive Singular: "friend"