Vocab: julgustama

to encourage

to encourage, to give encouragement, to hearten

Building blocks

• julgus- - bravery

• -ta- - causative (“to cause bravery" or "to bring about bravery")

• -ma - infinitive ending

Interestingly, similar to the English word "encourage" which contains "courage," "julgustama" is derived from "julgus" (bravery).

How to use it

1. General encouragement:

   • "Julgustage teda rasketel aegadel." (Encourage him during difficult times.)

2. Motivating someone to take action:

   • "Ta julgustas mind avalikkuse ette astuma." (He encouraged me to speak in public.)

3. Boosting someone's confidence:

   • "Tema sõnad julgustasid mind." (Her words encouraged me.)

4. Offering gentle persuasion:

   • "Ma julgustasin teda uut filmi vaatama." (I nudged him to watch the new movie.)

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What to remember when using the verb “julgustama”:

1. Whom you encourage is in the Partitive Case (third base form)

2. What you encourage somebody to do is in the Partitive Case (third base form) + you add the ma-infinitive

See these cases in use ⬇️

Examples

Ema julgustas last raamatut lugema

Literally: “Mother encouraged child book to read”

Idiomatically: “The mother encouraged the child to read a book”

Ema - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Mother"
julgustas - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "encouraged"
last - Noun - Partitive Sg, "child"
raamatut - Noun - Partitive Sg, "book"
lugema - Verb - ma-Infinitive, "to read"

Julgustan sind oma arvamust avaldama

Literally: I encourage you your opinion to express”

Idiomatically: “I encourage you to express your opinion”

Julgustan - Verb - 1P Present Sg, "I encourage"
sind - Pronoun - Partitive Sg, "you"
oma - Pronoun - Genitive Sg, "your"
arvamust - Noun - Partitive Sg, "opinion"
avaldama - Verb - ma-Infinitve, "to express"