surprising, unexpected
Building blocks
üllata- - surprise
-v - an adjective-forming ending
Üllatav is derived from the verb üllatama which means “to surprise”. Üllatama itself is borrowed from the Finnish yllätää (to surprise).
How to use it:
Positive surprises:
"Kontsert oli üllatavalt hea!” (The concert was surprisingly good!)
Learning something new or unexpected:
"Uurisin Eesti ajalugu ja avastasin palju üllatavaid fakte." (I delved Estonian history and discovered many surprising facts.)
Experiencing something out of the ordinary:
"Filmis ilmnes üllatav tõde peategelase mineviku kohta." (The movie revealed a surprising truth about the protagonist's past.)
Unexpected Behavior:
"Ta tegi üllatava avalduse, mis šokeeris kõiki." (He made a surprising statement that shocked everyone.)
Examples
See oli üllatav vaatepilt!
Literally: “This was surprising sight!”
Idiomatically: “This was a surprising sight!”
See - Pronoun - Nom Sg, "this"
oli - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "was"
üllatav - Adjective - Nom Sg, "surprising"
vaatepilt - Noun - Nom Sg, "sight"
Tänu külmalainele on jääolud üllatavalt head
Literally: “Thanks to cold snap-onto are the ice conditions surprisingly-from good”
Idiomatically: “Thanks to the cold snap, the ice conditions are surprisingly good.”
Tänu - Preposition - Indeclineable, "Thanks to"
külmalainele - Noun - Allative Sg, "cold snap"
on - Verb - 3P Present Pl, "are"
jääolud - Noun - Nom Pl, "ice conditions"
üllatavalt - Adjective - Ablative Sg, "surprisingly"
head - Adjecctive - Nom Pl, "good"