Vocab: välistama - to exclude

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to exclude; to rule out; to eliminate (a possibility); to make impossible

Building blocks

• välis- → outer/outside (related to "välja" – out, outside)

• -ta- → causative suffix (makes something happen)

• -ma → infinitive ending

So literally välistama means: "to make (something) be on the outside"

How to use it

What to remember

• What you exclude or rule out is in the Partitive case (third base form)

Example

Politsei ei välistanud kuritegu

Literally: “Police not rule out crime”

Idiomatically: “The police did not rule out a crime”

Politsei - Noun - Nominative Singular: "The police"
ei välistanud - Verb - 3rd Person Singular, Past Tense, Negation: "did not rule out"
kuritegu - Noun - Partitive Singular: "a crime"