Vocab: kulutama - to spend

to spend; to use up; to use something for or on something, often wastefully or inefficiently; to wear something down through constant rubbing, scrubbing, or similar action; to spend time

Building blocks

• kulu- - "expense" or "consumption"; the root of the word, referring to something being used

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

• -ma – infinitive ending

Thus, "kulutama" literally means "to cause expense or use" and is commonly understood as "to spend" or "to use up."

How to use it

What to remember

• The thing on which you spend something is expressed in the Allative case (ending -le)

• The thing on which you spend something can also be expressed with the Genitive case (second base form) followed by the postposition 'peale' (onto)

Example

Kulutasin oma palga uutele matkasaabastele

Literally: “I spent my salary new-onto hiking-boots-onto”

Idiomatically: “I spent my salary on new hiking boots”

Kulutasin - Verb - 1st Person Singular, Past Tense: "I spent"
oma - Pronoun - Genitive Singular: "my"
palga - Noun - Genitive Singular: "salary"
uutele - Adjective - Allative Plural: "onto new"
matkasaabastele - Noun - Allative Plural: "onto hiking boots"

Kõik säästud kulusid maja remondi peale

Literally: “All savings were spent house renovation onto”

Idiomatically: “All the savings were spent on renovating the house”

Kõik - Pronoun - Nominative Plural: "All"
säästud - Noun - Nominative Plural: "savings"
kulusid - Verb - 3rd Person Plural, Past Tense: "were spent"
maja - Noun - Genitive Singular: "house"
remondi - Noun - Genitive Singular: "renovation"
peale - Postpostition - Indeclinable, "onto"