Zaban
Chapter 10 of 16 · Explore the Estonian path

Optional reference · Chapter 10 of 16

Look up a number, a colour or an animal

Open this when a book hands you a number, a colour, a family word or an animal you cannot place. The two stories at the end need none of it.

≈ 5 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter
  • Open this when a book hands you a word from one of these families; the two stories at the end need none of it.
  • Ten numbers, and the tens are built by gluing a word for ten onto the back.
  • Estonian glues words together freely, which is why book words get long.
  • Twelve animals, chosen because the books after this path are full of them.

One to ten

The numbers you meet most often. The last row shows how the teens and the tens are built by gluing a word onto the back.

NumberEstonianNumberEstonian
1üksewks6kuuskoohs
2kakskahks7seitseSEHY-tseh
3kolmkohlm8kaheksaKAH-hek-sah
4neliNEH-li9üheksaEW-hek-sah
5viisvees10kümmeKEWM-meh
11, 12 … 19üksteistEWKS-tehyst, kaksteistKAHKS-tehyst … üheksateistEW-hek-sah-tehyst20, 30 … 90kakskümmendKAHKS-kewm-mend, kolmkümmendKOHLM-kewm-mend … üheksakümmendEW-hek-sah-kewm-mend

Eleven to nineteen glue -teisttehyst on the back of one to nine; the tens glue -kümmendKEWM-mend on the same nine. Twenty-one is just kakskümmend üks. Remember that the noun after a number stays singular and takes the some-ending.

Meeting people

Three exchanges from a first conversation. Read each question and its answer together, so the pair sticks.

QuestionAnswer
Mis su nimi on?mis soo NI-mi ohn“What is your name?”Minu nimi on Tobi.MI-noo NI-mi ohn TOH-bi“My name is Tobi.”
Kust sa pärit oled?koost sah PA-rit OH-led“Where are you from?”Ma olen pärit Eestist.mah OH-len PA-rit EHHS-tist“I am from Estonia.”
Mis kell on?mis kell ohn“What time is it?”Kell on kolm.kell ohn kohlm“It is three o’clock.”

kustkoost“where from” and EestistEHHS-tist“from Estonia” share the from-ending -st — the question and its answer wear the same tail.

Being polite

A few words that make a request sound polite. palun does most of the work, at both ends of the exchange.

EnglishEstonianEnglishEstonian
please; here you arepalunPAH-loonsorry, excuse mevabandustVAH-bahn-doost
could I have …kas ma saaksin …kahs mah SAAHK-sinwelcometere tulemastTEH-reh TOO-leh-mahst

palun does both jobs: it asks, and it is what you say while handing something over. kaskahs opens any yes-or-no question.

Colours

Colours fill a children’s book, and they sit in front of the thing they describe, as they do in English.

EnglishEstonianEnglishEstonian
redpunanePOO-nah-nehgreenrohelineROH-heh-li-neh
yellowkollaneKOHL-lah-nehbluesinineSI-ni-neh
blackmustmoostbrownpruunproohn
whitevalgeVAHL-gehgreyhallhahll

Green Hill is Roheline mägiROH-heh-li-neh MA-gi in Estonian. Colours ending in -ne change their tail the way rebane does when an ending is added.

People

Words for family and for people in general. None of them carries a gender that anything else has to match.

EnglishEstonianEnglishEstonian
manmeesmehhswomannaineNAHY-neh
boypoisspohyssgirltüdrukTEWD-rook
fatherisaI-sahmotheremaEH-mah
brothervendvendsisterõdeUH-deh
childlapslahpspeopleinimesedI-ni-meh-sed

None of these carries a gender in the grammar — the words mean what they mean, and no other word in the sentence changes because of them.

Twelve animals

A fable is full of animals. Say each one aloud once; the books at the end of this path use most of them.

EnglishEstonianEnglishEstonian
foxrebaneREH-bah-nehmousehiirheer
rabbit, harejänesYA-nesbirdlindlind
dogkoerKOH-ehrcatkasskahss
bearkaruKAH-roowolfhunthoont
horsehobuneHOH-boo-nehpigsigaSI-gah
fishkalaKAH-lahowlöökullURR-kooll

öökullURR-kooll“owl” is two words glued together, night and hawk — Estonian builds new words by gluing, and a long word is usually two short ones you know. Split a long word at the seam and read each half.

Time

Words for the parts of a day, and for when something happened. The note shows how a time of day takes an ending.

EnglishEstonianEnglishEstonian
daypäevPA-ehvyearaastaAAHS-tah
morninghommikHOHM-mikeveningõhtuUH-htoo
todaytänaTA-nahtomorrowhommeHOHM-meh
nownüüdnewwdthen, after thatsiissees

A time of day takes the on-ending to say when: hommikulHOHM-mi-kool“in the morning”, õhtulUH-htool“in the evening”, päevalPA-eh-vahl“in the daytime”, öölurrl“at night”. English changes the little word each time; Estonian does not change anything.

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