Vocab: laenama

to borrow

to borrow, to lend, to loan

Building blocks

• laena- - borrow

• -ma - infinitive ending

"Laenama" is derived from the word “laen” (loan) which itself is derived from the Proto-Finnic root "*laihna-" (loan)

How to use it

1. To take something for temporary use (to be returned later)

• “Ma laenasin raamatukogust raamatu.” (I borrowed a book from the library.)

2. To give something for temporary use (to be received back later)

• “Ma laenasin vennale oma autot.” (I lent my car to my brother.)

3. To imitate or adopt something found in another language or culture; to use something that was done or said by someone else

• "Mulle meeldib laenata retsepte teistest kultuuridest, et muuta oma kokakunst mitmekesisemaks." (I like to borrow recipes from other cultures to make my cooking more diverse.)

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Things to note when using laenama:

1. To whom you lend something is in the Allative case (ending -le)

2. From whom you borrow something is in the Ablative case (ending -lt)

3. For what you borrow something in in the Translative case (ending -ks)

Look at the example below to see this case in use ⬇️

Examples

Laenasin sõpradele oma autot

Literally: “I lent friends-onto my car”

Idiomatically: “I lent my car to my friends”

Laenasin - Verb - 1P Past Sg, "I lent"
sõpradele - Noun - Allative Pl, "friends-onto"
oma - Pronoun - Genitive Sg, "my"
autot - Noun - Partitive Sg, "car"

Laenasin naabrilt redeli, et seina värvida

Literally: “I borrowed neighbour-from ladder in order to wall to paint”

Idiomatically: “I borrowed a ladder from the neighbor to paint the wall”

Laenasin - Verb - 1P Past Sg, "I borrowed"
naabrilt - Noun - Ablative Sg, "neighbour-from"
redeli - Noun - Genitive Sg, "ladder"
et - Conjunction - Indeclineable, "in order to"
seina - Noun - Partitive Sg, "wall"
värvida - Verb - da-Infinitive, "to paint"

Rändur laenas rongipileti ostmiseks raha

Literally: “Traveller borrowed train ticket buying-for money”

Idiomatically: “A traveller borrowed money for buying a train ticket”

Rändur - Noun - Nominative Sg, "Traveller"
laenas - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "borrowed"
rongipileti - Noun - Genitive Sg, "train ticket"
ostmiseks - Noun - Translative Sg, "buying-for"
raha - Noun - Partitive Sg, "money"