Vocab: karistama

to punish

to punish, to impose a punishment on someone

Building blocks

• kari- - punish

• -sta- - causative (“make something be X”)

• -ma - infinitive ending

Karistama is borrowed from Proto-Slavic karati (to punish)

How to use it

1. Disciplining someone:

• “Õpetaja karistas õpilast hilinemise eest.” (The teacher punished the student for being late.)

2. Legal context:

• “Politsei karistas kiiruseületajaid trahviga.” (The police punished speeders with fines.)

3. Figurative use:

• “Loodus karistab inimesi kliimamuutuste tagajärgedega.” (Nature punishes people with the consequences of climate change.)

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Things to note when using hoiatama:

1. Whom you punish is in the Partitive case (third base form)

2. For what you are punishing someone is in the Genitive case (second base form) + you add the word: “eest” (for)

3. With what you are punishing someone is in the Comitative case (ending -ga)

Look at the examples below to see these in use ⬇️

Examples

Politsei karistas purjus autojuhti

Literally: “Police punished drunk driver”

Idiomatically: “The police punished a drunk driver”

Politsei - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Police"
karistas - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "punished"
purjus - Adjective - Indeclineable, "drunk"
autojuhti - Noun - Partitive Sg, "driver"

Direktor karistas töötajaid ebaprofessionaalse käitumise eest

Literally: “Director punished employees unprofessional behaviour for”

Idiomatically: “The director punished the employees for unprofessional behavior”

Direktor - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Director"
karistas - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "punished"
töötajaid - Noun - Partitive Pl, "employees"
ebaprofessionaalse - Adjective - Genitive Sg, "unprofessional"
käitumise - Noun - Genitive Sg, "behaviour"
eest - Postposition, Indeclineable, "for"

Kohus karistas kurjategijat vanglakaristusega

Literally: “Court punished criminal imprisonment-with”

Idiomatically: “The court punished the criminal with imprisonment”

Kohus - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Court"
karistas - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "punished"
kurjategijat - Noun - Partitive Sg, "criminal"
vanglakaristusega - Comitative Sg, "imprisonment-with