Language/Standard-estonian/Grammar/Past-Tense
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to form and use the past tense in Estonian. You will understand the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs and practice using them in sentences and questions. This lesson is part of the "Complete 0 to A1 Standard Estonian Course", designed for complete beginners who want to learn Standard Estonian from scratch.
Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Question Words and Formation & Conjunctions.
Regular Verbs in Past Tense
Regular verbs in Estonian form the past tense with the suffix -sid. The -sid ending is added to the stem of the infinitive form of the verb. The table below shows the conjugation of the verb "sööma" (to eat) in the past tense:
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma sõin | ma ˈsɤ.in | I ate |
sa sõid | sa ˈsɤi̯d | you ate (singular) |
tema sõi | ˈtema ˈsɤi̯ | he/she ate |
meie sõime | ˈmejej ˈsɤi̯.me | we ate |
teie sõite | ˈtejej ˈsɤi̯.te | you ate (plural) |
nemad sõid | ˈnemɑd ˈsɤi̯d | they ate |
Note that the verb "sööma" has a vowel change from "ö" to "õ" in the first-person singular and plural forms.
Here are some other examples of regular verbs in the past tense:
- sa ootasid (you waited)
- tema käis (he/she went)
- meie rääkisime (we talked)
- teie tegite (you did)
- nemad küsisid (they asked)
Irregular Verbs in Past Tense
There are several important irregular verbs in Estonian that have different forms in the past tense. Here are some of the most common ones:
- tegema (to do):
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma tegin | ma ˈte.gin | I did |
sa tegid | sa ˈte.kit | you did (singular) |
tema tegi | ˈtema ˈte.gi | he/she did |
meie tegime | ˈmejej ˈte.gi.me | we did |
teie tegite | ˈtejej ˈte.ki.te | you did (plural) |
nemad tegid | ˈnemɑd ˈte.kit | they did |
- minema (to go):
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma läksin | ma ˈlæk.sin | I went |
sa läksid | sa ˈlæ.kit | you went (singular) |
tema läks | ˈtema ˈlæks | he/she went |
meie läksime | ˈmejej ˈlæ.ksi.me | we went |
teie läksite | ˈtejej ˈlæ.ksi.te | you went (plural) |
nemad läksid | ˈnemɑd ˈlæ.ksit | they went |
- saama (to get):
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma sain | ma ˈsɑin | I got |
sa said | sa ˈsai̯d | you got (singular) |
tema sai | ˈtema ˈsɑi̯ | he/she got |
meie saime | ˈmejej ˈsɑi̯.me | we got |
teie saite | ˈtejej ˈsɑi̯.te | you got (plural) |
nemad said | ˈnemɑd ˈsai̯d | they got |
These verbs have different stem forms and vowel changes in the past tense, so you will need to memorize them separately.
Negative Form of Past Tense
To form the negative of past tense in Estonian, add the particle "ei" before the verb and conjugate the verb in the present tense. Here is an example with the regular verb "sööma" (to eat):
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma ei söönud | ma ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nut | I did not eat |
sa ei söönud | sa ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nut | you did not eat (singular) |
tema ei söönud | ˈtema ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nut | he/she did not eat |
meie ei söönud | ˈmejej ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nuð | we did not eat |
teie ei söönud | ˈtejej ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nuð | you did not eat (plural) |
nemad ei söönud | ˈnemɑd ˈei ˈsɤi̯.nut | they did not eat |
Here is an example with the irregular verb "tegema" (to do):
Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
ma ei teinud | ma ˈei ˈtei̯.nut | I did not do |
sa ei teinud | sa ˈei ˈtei̯.nut | you did not do (singular) |
tema ei teinud | ˈtema ˈei ˈtei̯.nuð | he/she did not do |
meie ei teinud | ˈmejej ˈei ˈtei̯.nuð | we did not do |
teie ei teinud | ˈtejej ˈei ˈtei̯.nuð | you did not do (plural) |
nemad ei teinud | ˈnemɑd ˈei ˈtei̯.nut | they did not do |
Questions in Past Tense
To form questions in the past tense in Estonian, use the question word "kas" (did) and place it before the subject. Here is an example with the regular verb "sööma" (to eat):
- Kas sa sõid? (Did you eat?)
Here is an example with the irregular verb "tegema" (to do):
- Kas sa tegid? (Did you do?)
Note that you can also use question words like "kes" (who), "mis" (what), and "kui palju" (how much) to ask questions about the past.
Practice Exercises
Now that you have learned how to form and use the past tense in Estonian, it's time to practice! Use the verbs below to create sentences in the past tense:
- sõitma (to drive)
- mängima (to play)
- töötama (to work)
- tulema (to come)
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have learned how to form and use the past tense in Estonian. Keep practicing with different verbs and contexts to improve your skills. In the next lesson, you will learn about adjectives and adverbs in Estonian.
Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Personal Pronouns & Adjectives and comparison.
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Other Lessons
- Gender
- Verbs and tenses
- Cases and pronouns
- Pronouns
- Adjectives and comparison
- Nouns
- Conditional Mood
- 0 to A1 Course
- Basic Sentence Structure
- Adverbs