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Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Estonian

A short, active path into reading Estonian: four new vowel letters and nine real words decoded before anything is explained, endings where English has little words, the verb that never changes after ei, and two short stories before your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 46 min with everything

How sentences work

3 sections
6

First sentences: no a, no the, and one word for he and she

≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
  • There is no word for a and no word for the. hiirheer is a mouse and the mouse alike.
  • There are no genders: ta is he and she, and nothing has to agree with either.
  • The is-word: olen I am, oled you are, on is — and also are.
  • Neutral order is the English order, and the doing word likes second place.

The is-word, all six ways

WhoEstonianWhoEstonian
Ima olenmah OH-lenweme olememeh OH-leh-meh
yousa oledsah OH-ledyou, more than onete oleteteh OH-leh-teh
he, sheta ontah ohntheynad onnahd ohn

onohn covers is and are together. Longer person words — mina sina tema and the rest — mean the same with emphasis added, and tema also does his or her.

Dara is a fox. He is in the forest.

Dara on rebane. Ta on metsas.

DAH-rah ohn REH-bah-neh. tah ohn MET-sahs

Nothing stands in for a, and ta would be the same word if Dara were she. The ending on metsas is what says in.

Where the doing word sits

EstonianWhat moved
Täna tuleb rebane.TA-nah TOO-leb REH-bah-neh“Today the fox comes.”a time word took the front, so the doing word keeps second place and the doer moves in behind it

Beyond that habit, Estonian moves words around freely for emphasis, and you can read them in whatever order they come.

Say what something is

  1. Tika on lind.

    One word is missing compared with English.

    Show answer +
    Tika on lind.TI-kah ohn lind“Tika is a bird” — or “the bird”. Estonian does not choose.
  2. Ma olen Tobi.
    Show answer +
    Ma olen Tobi.mah OH-len TOH-bi“I am Tobi”
  3. Which word says “she” in “She is a fox”?
    Show answer +
    tatah — the same word as for he: Ta on rebane.tah ohn REH-bah-neh“She is a fox”