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.
One more ending: “some”, and the thing a verb acts on
- A single ending does two jobs: some of something, and the thing a doing word acts on.
- It usually shows as a -t or a -d on the end, or as a changed stem.
- Seeing, knowing and wanting take it: Ta näeb rebast.tah NA-eb REH-bahst.
- After a number the noun stays singular: kaks hiirtkahks heert is two mice.
- For a plain more-than-one, add -d: õunuhwn → õunadUHW-nahd.
The shape to recognise
| The word | With the ending |
|---|---|
| puupooh“tree” | puudpoohd |
| ööurr“night” | öödurrd |
| teetehh“road” | teedtehhd |
| hiirheer“mouse” | hiirtheert |
| rebaneREH-bah-neh“fox” | rebastREH-bahst |
| vesiVEH-si“water” | vettvett |
Two of those change more than they add — rebane → rebast and vesi → vett. Recognise the front of the word and read on; nothing in this path asks you to build these.
He sees a fox. I know his name.
Ta näeb rebast. Ma tean tema nime.
tah NA-eb REH-bahst. mah TEH-ahn TEH-mah NI-meh
English marks the object by position alone; Estonian also marks it on the word itself, which is why the fox and the name are not in their dictionary shapes.
The other job of the same ending is some, an amount of — which is why it follows a number, where English goes plural and Estonian does not: üks puuewks pooh“one tree”, kaks puudkahks poohd“two trees”. A plain more-than-one takes -d instead: õunadUHW-nahd“apples”.
Which word is being acted on?
- Ma näen hiirt.
The mouse is not in its dictionary shape.
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Ma näen hiirt.mah NA-en heert“I see a mouse” - kaks hiirt
Estonian keeps the noun singular after a number.
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kaks hiirtkahks heert“two mice” - Puul on õunad.
One ending for on, one for more than one.
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Puul on õunad.poohl ohn UHW-nahd“There are apples on the tree”