Vocab: toetuma - to lean on
to lean on; to lean against; to rely on; to be based on; to place yourself, a body part, or an object against something or someone to get support; to find (emotional) help or support from someone;
Building blocks
toetu- → comes from the noun tugi ("support") and the verb toetama ("to support"). It relates to giving or receiving physical or emotional support.
-ma → infinitive ending
Literally, toetuma means "to support oneself (on something)" —
as in physically leaning against something or figuratively relying on it.
How to use it
What to remember
Whom or what you lean on is in the Allative Case (ending -le)
The thing you lean against is usually in the Genitive Case (second base form) and you add the word “vastu” (against)
See the examples below ⬇️
Examples
Tüdruk toetub poisi õlale
Literally: “Girl leans boy’s shoulder-onto”
Idiomatically: “The girl leans on the boy’s shoulder”
Tüdruk - Noun - Nominative Singular: "Girl"
toetub - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Present Tense: "leans"
poisi - Noun - Genitive Singular: "boy's"
õlale - Noun - Allative Singular: "onto shoulder"Ma toetun seina vastu
Literally: “I lean wall against”
Idiomatically: “I lean against the wall”
Ma - Pronoun - Nominative Singular: "I"
toetun - Verb - 1st Person Singular, Present Tense: "lean"
seina - Noun - Genitive Singular: "wall"
vastu - Postposition - Indeclinable: "against"