Vocab: kiirustama

to hurry

to hurry; to rush; to go somewhere quickly, in a hurry; to move fast; to pressure someone to do something faster

Building blocks

• kiirus- "speed"

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

• -ma - infinitive ending

So, "kiirustama" literally means "to act with speed" or "to hurry". It conveys the idea of moving or doing something quickly.

The word kiirus is derived from Proto-Finnic kiireh (hurry, haste)

How to use it

1. When you are in a hurry to go somewhere:

   • Reisija kiirustas rongile ja unustas telefoni pingile.

     • Translation: The passenger hurried to the train and left the phone on the bench.

2. When urging someone to complete a task quickly:

   • Kiirustasin lapsi bussile

     • Translation: I hurried the kids to the bus

     • Note: While this is a possible use of "kiirustama," it's not a very common way to express the action.

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What to remember when using the verb “kiirustama”:

1. The place where you are hurrying to is in the Allative Case (ending -le)

See this in use ⬇️

Examples

Fännid kiirustasid kontserdile, et jõuda kohale enne algust

Literally: “Fans hurried consert-onto to arrive before beginning”

Idiomatically: “The fans hurried to the concert to be there before it started”

Fännid - Noun - Nominative Pl, "Fans"
kiirustasid - Verb - 3P Past Pl, "hurried"
konserdile - Noun - Allative Sg, "onto consert"
et - Conjunction - Indeclinable, "to"
jõuda kohale - Verb - da-Infinitive, "to arrive"
enne - Adverb - Indeclinable, "before"
algust - Noun - Partitive Sg, "beginning"