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.
Words
2 sectionsThe words the two stories are made of
- A short list: the two readings at the end are built out of it.
- The question words come in a set of three that matches the endings — kus kuhu kustkoos KOO-hoo koost.
- minaMI-nah means I — so the fable mouse called Mina keeps her English name and is called hiir here.
- Six describing words a fable leans on.
Out of doors, and the cast
| English | Estonian | English | Estonian |
|---|---|---|---|
| forest | metsmets | tree | puupooh |
| house | majaMAH-yah | hill | mägiMA-gi |
| road | teetehh | water | vesiVEH-si |
| sun | päikePAY-keh | night | ööurr |
| morning | hommikHOHM-mik | rain | vihmvihm |
| apple | õunuhwn | hunger | nälgnalg |
| friend | sõberSUH-ber | name | nimiNI-mi |
| fox, rabbit | rebaneREH-bah-neh, jänesYA-nes | bird, mouse | lindlind, hiirheer |
mägiMA-gi“hill” is worth a second look: its stem is mäe-MA-eh, so on the hill is mäelMA-ehl and onto the hill is mäeleMA-eh-leh. It is also the hill the fables at the end of this path are named for.
The question words
| English | Estonian | English | Estonian |
|---|---|---|---|
| who | keskes | when | millalMIL-lahl |
| what | mismis | why | miksmiks |
| where at | kuskoos | how | kuidasKOOY-dahs |
| where to | kuhuKOO-hoo | where from | kustkoost |
Look at the last three: kus, kuhu, kust ask exactly the three questions the place endings answer — where at, where to, where from — and two of them even end in the same letters as their ending, -s and -st.
The small words that hold a story together
| English | Estonian | English | Estonian |
|---|---|---|---|
| and | jayah | now | nüüdnewwd |
| but | agaAH-gah | then | siissees |
| also, too | kakah | together | kooskohhs |
| here | siinseen | there | sealSEH-ahl |
| hello | tereTEH-reh | thank you | aitähahy-TA |
| yes | jahyahh | no | eiehy |
aitäh is the everyday thank you, spoken and written alike, and one of the few Estonian words that does not lean on its first beat. tänanTA-nahn — “I thank” — is the formal, written-sounding one. ei is both the answer no and the word that denies a verb, which the verbs section puts to work.
Three you have met before
No hints on the first two — you decoded them near the start.
- öö
Show answer +Hide answer −
ööurr“night” - päike
Show answer +Hide answer −
päikePAY-keh“sun” - Kuhu? or Kus? — which one asks where somebody is going?
The -s of kus is the -s of metsas — where at.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Kuhu?KOO-hoo“Where to?” — Kus?koos asks where something already is.