Vocab: katsetama

to experiment

to attempt, to test, to try, to sample

Building blocks

• katse- experiment

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

• -ma - infinitive ending

It’s related to another Estonian verb, katsuma (to touch, to try).

Katsuma itself is likely derived from Proto-Finnic: kaccodak

How to use it

What you are experimenting/testing is in the Partitive case (third base form).

Examples

Ma katsetasin uut retsepti

Literally: “I experimented new recipe”

Idiomatically: “I experimented with a new recipe”

Ma - Pronoun - Nom Sg, "I"
katsetasin - Verb - 1P Past Sg, "experimented"
uut - Adjective - Part Sg, "new"
retsepti - Noun - Part Sg, "recipe"

Poisid katsetavad oma leiutist

Literally: “Boys experiment their invention”

Idiomatically: “The boys are experimenting with their invention”

Poisid  - Noun - Gen Pl, "Boys"
katsetavad - Verb - 3P Present Pl, "experiment"
oma - Pronoun - Gen Sg, "their"
leiutist - Noun - Part Sg, "invention"