to wait; to wait for; to await; to expect; to stay somewhere knowing that someone or something will arrive or happen after a while; (about hopes and wishes:) to expect, to anticipate
Building blocks
oota- → root meaning “wait”
-ma → infinitive ending
So literally ootama means: “to do waiting”
🔓 Bonus decode: oota- + -matu → ootamatu, literally “not waited for” → unexpected. Same -matu as in asendamatu!
How to use it
What to remember
Who or what you wait for is in the Partitive case (third base form)
When you expect something from someone, that person is in the Ablative case (ending -lt)
Example
Lapsed ootavad pikisilmi lund
Literally: “Children wait eagerly snow”
Idiomatically: “The children are eagerly waiting for snow”
Lapsed - Noun - Nominative Plural: "Children"
ootavad - Verb - 3rd Person Plural, Present Tense: "are waiting for"
pikisilmi - Adverb - Indeclinable: "eagerly"
lund - Noun - Partitive Singular: "snow"Vanaema ootab pojalt kirja
Literally: “Grandma waits son-from letter”
Idiomatically: “Grandma is waiting for a letter from her son”
Vanaema - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Grandma"
ootab - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "is waiting for"
pojalt - Noun - Ablative Singular: "from (her) son"
kirja - Noun - Partitive Singular: "a letter"