Vocab: mõistma
to understand, to guess
Building blocks
mõist- - understand
-ma - infinitive ending
It’s derived from Proto-Finnic: muistadak
How to use it
In Estonian who or what you understand is in the Partitive case (third base form)
The word mõistma used together with süüdi (guilty), creates the phrase - süüdi mõistma (to convict, to be found guilty). Estonian lacks a single equivalent word for to convict/to condemn.
In riddles, when using the word “mõistma” we translate it as “to guess”. For example: Mõista ära, mis see on - Guess what it is.
Another phrase that is commonly used is “hukka mõistma” which translates to “to condemn” or “to disapprove of”.
Examples
Ma mõistan sinu käitumist
Literally: “I understand your behavior”
Ma - Pronoun - Nom Sg, "I"
mõistan - Verb - 1P Present Sg, "understand"
sinu - Pronoun - Gen Sg, "your"
käitumist - Noun - Part Sg, "behavior"Mõista olukorda enne otsuse tegemist
Literally: “Understand situation before decision making”
Idiomatically: “Understand the situation before making the decision”
Mõista - Verb - 2P Imperative Sg, "Understand"
olukorda - Noun - Part Sg, "situation"
enne - Adverb, "before"
otsuse - Noun - Gen Sg, "decision"
tegemist - Noun - Part Sg, "making"