How a book says what already happened

No new words here, only new shapes of verbs you have already met. Learn the handful a fable leans on, and the three words a tale opens with.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

No new words here — only new shapes of verbs you already have.
When a book says what happened next, the verb ends in -s or -i.
Five carry most of a fable: oli tuli läks nägi ütles.
A story opens with Elas kord…EH-lahs kohrd — “Once there lived…”.
Denying in the past is ei plus a form ending in -nud.

The same verb now, and in the past

A story is told in the past. Each pair puts the shape you already know beside the shape a book uses for what happened.

Now	Then	Now	Then
onohn — is	oliOH-li — was	tulebTOO-leb — comes	tuliTOO-li — came
lähebLA-heb — goes	läkslaks — went	näebNA-eb — sees	nägiNA-gi — saw
ütlebEWT-leb — says	ütlesEWT-les — said	küsibKEW-sib — asks	küsisKEW-sis — asked
vastabVAHS-tahb — answers	vastasVAHS-tahs — answered	elabEH-lahb — lives	elasEH-lahs — lived

Recognise these; you never have to produce them. The regular ones swap the -b for an -s; three of the oldest and commonest verbs change their vowel instead, which is why oli tuli nägi look nothing like their present forms. For more than one doer, add -id: nad läksidnahd LAK-sid“they went”.

Once there lived a fox. He lived in the forest.

Elas kord üks rebane. Ta elas metsas.

EH-lahs kohrd ewks REH-bah-neh. tah EH-lahs MET-sahs

Estonian opens a tale with the verb: Elas kordEH-lahs kohrd is “lived once”. üksewks is simply the number one: a tale opens by counting its hero, where English would reach for “a”.

Say something did not happen

Denying a past verb uses the same short word for not, and a form ending in -nud. Read each pair across.

ta tulitah TOO-li“he came”

ta ei tulnudtah ehy TOOL-nood

the same ei, and a form ending in -nud

ta nägitah NA-gi“he saw”

ta ei näinudtah ehy NAY-nood

ta olitah OH-li“he was”

ta ei olnudtah ehy OHL-nood

and this one shortens to polnudPOHL-nood

Read a past verb, then a denied one

Rebane tuli metsast.
Two letters apart from the present.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Rebane tuli metsast.REH-bah-neh TOO-li MET-sahst“The fox came out of the forest”
Ta ei näinud päikest.
A denied past, and the sun is the thing acted on.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Ta ei näinud päikest.tah ehy NAY-nood PAY-kest“He did not see the sun”
Elas kord üks hiir.
Three words to take whole.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Elas kord üks hiir.EH-lahs kohrd ewks heer“Once there lived a mouse”

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