Location endings that do the job of in, on and to

Where English puts in, on or to in front of a word, Estonian puts an ending on the back. Six of them carry almost every sentence a fable needs.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Estonian has almost no words for in, into, out of, on, to, from. The noun takes an ending instead.
Six endings cover what the two stories need: -s -sse -st for inside, -l -le -lt for on and at.
The ending hangs on a stem that can differ from the dictionary word: metsmets → metsaMET-sah.
Having is done with the on-ending: mul onmool ohn is “I have”, literally “on me is”.
Recognise the front of the word and read the ending; you never have to build one.

English puts the little word in front: in the forest. Estonian puts it on the back: metsasMET-sahs. A grammar book lists fourteen such endings; six carry almost every sentence in a fable.

Three endings for inside, three for on and at

An ending is a small piece added to the back of a word. These six are the ones the two stories need.

Ending	What it does	Example
-s	in, inside	metsasMET-sahs“in the forest”
-sse	into	metsasseMET-sahs-seh“into the forest”
-st	out of, from	metsastMET-sahst“out of the forest”
-l	on, at	puulpoohl“on the tree”
-le	onto, to	puulePOOH-leh“onto the tree”
-lt	off, from	puultpoohlt“off the tree”

Read them as three questions and their two answers: where at, where to, where from. The inside set is for being within something; the on-set is for surfaces, places and — as the have-example shows — for people who have things.

The part of the word the ending attaches to

An ending does not always hang on the dictionary word. The front part it attaches to is called the stem, and it can change shape.

metsmets“forest”

metsa-MET-sah

a vowel appears

rebaneREH-bah-neh“fox”

rebase-REH-bah-seh

the n turns into an s

lindlind“bird”

linnu-LIN-noo

the middle of the word changes shape — this is the one that catches readers

puupooh“tree”

puu-pooh

and plenty do not change at all

I have a house.

Mul on maja.

mool ohn MAH-yah

Estonian has no verb for have. It says mul onmool ohn — “on me is” — with the on-ending stuck to the person: mul I have, sulsool you have, taltahl he or she has. A name takes it too: Daral on nälg.DAH-rahl ohn nalg“Dara is hungry.” — literally “on Dara is hunger”.

Let the ending tell you where

Ta tuleb metsast.
Which inside-ending is on the end?
Show answer +Hide answer −
Ta tuleb metsast.tah TOO-leb MET-sahst“He comes out of the forest”
Lind on puul.
A surface, not an inside.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Lind on puul.lind ohn poohl“The bird is on the tree”
Mul on sõber.
Estonian has no verb for this.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Mul on sõber.mool ohn SUH-ber“I have a friend”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Estonian chapters ↗