Vocab: soovitama - to recommend

to suggest; to recommend; to advise; to give someone a positive recommendation (e.g., regarding job suitability)

Building blocks

• soovita → derived from the word “soov” (wish, desire)

• ma → infinitive ending

So, "soovitama" literally means something like - "to cause a wish." In practice, it means to recommend or to suggest.

How to use it

What to remember

• Whom or what you recommend is in the Partitive case (third base form)

• To whom you recommend is in the Adessive case (ending -l) and the suggested action is in the da-infinitive form

See these in use ⬇️

Examples

Müüja soovitas kliendile raamatut

Literally: “Salesperson recommended customer book”

Idiomatically: “The salesperson recommended a book to the customer”

Müüja – Noun - Nominative Singular: "the salesperson"
soovitas – Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past tense: "recommended"
kliendile – Noun -Allative Singular: "to the customer"
raamatut – Noun - Partitive Singular: "a book"

Treener soovitas võistlejal enne starti korralikult soojendada

Literally: “Coach advised athlete-on before start properly to warm up”

Idiomatically: “The coach advised the athlete to warm up properly before the start”

Treener - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Coach" 
soovitas - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past tense: "advised"
võistlejal - Noun - Adessive Singular: "on athlete"
enne - Adverb - Indeclinable: "before"
starti - Noun - Genitive Singular: "start"
korralikult - Adverb - Indeclinable: "properly"
soojendada - Verb - da-infinitive: "to warm up"