Language/Standard-estonian/Grammar/Plurals
Hi Standard Estonian learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will dive into the topic of plurals in Standard Estonian. As you progress in your language learning journey, you will come across a lot of nouns in their singular form, but you'll also need to know how to make them plural. Don't worry, I am here to guide you through this grammar topic step by step. By the end of this lesson, you will know how to make nouns plural, and you will also have some interesting cultural facts about the Estonian language to help you better understand the topic.
Why learn about plurals in Estonian?
If you're planning on communicating with Estonian native speakers, it's essential to learn how to form the plural of a noun in Standard Estonian since, in most cases, you will be talking about more than one thing. For example, if you go grocery shopping and want to buy two apples, you will need to know how to say "apples" and not just "apple."
How to make plurals in Estonian
The formation of plurals in Estonian follows some basic rules.
Regular plurals
In Estonian, you can make most nouns plural by adding -d or -t to the end of the word.
To help you better understand, let's take a look at some examples:
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Maja | /'ma.ja/ | House |
If we want to make this noun plural, we can add -d to the end of the word, and we get "majad," which means "houses."
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | /'a.to/ | Car |
If we want to make this noun plural, we can add -d to the end of the word, and we get "autod," which means "cars."
For some nouns, you can also add -id to the end to create the plural form.
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Kass | /'kas/ | Cat |
If we want to make this noun plural, we can add -id to the end of the word, and we get "kassid," which means "cats."
You can also add -d or -t to the end of words ending in a vowel. The use of -d or -t depends on the final sound of the word.
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Puu | /'puː/ | Tree |
If we want to make this noun plural, we can add either -d or -t to the end of the word, and we get "puud," which means "trees."
Irregular plurals
Not all nouns follow the regular plural formation rules in Estonian. Some have their unique way of forming the plural, and you need to learn those by heart. Here are some examples of irregular plurals in Estonian:
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Isa | /'i.sa/ | Father |
| Ema | /'e.ma/ | Mother |
Both "isa" and "ema" are exceptions to the standard rule, and their plural forms are "isad" and "emad", respectively.
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Mees | /'me.es/ | Man |
| Naine | /'nai.ne/ | Woman |
The singular and plural forms of "mees" and "naine" are almost the same, and the difference is in the article. The singular article is "mees" and "naine," while the plural article is "meeste" and "naiste."
Foreign words
If a noun is borrowed from another language, it may or may not decline in the plural form, according to the rules expressed above. Foreign words should be taken as exceptions and must be learned in their singular and plural form.
Nouns with no plural
Some Estonian nouns do not have a plural form. For example, "vesi" (water), "piim" (milk), and "sool" (salt) do not have a plural form since we usually refer to them as uncountable.
Cultural facts
Estonian is closely related to Finnish, and both languages belong to the Uralic language family. Estonian has fourteen noun cases, and the language is known for its vowel harmony, which means that vowels have to be arranged harmoniously, as they are pronounced in either the front or back of the mouth. Estonian also has two additional letters in its alphabet, the 'õ' (pronounced like the "u" in "hurt") and 'ä' (pronounced like "ea" in "dear"), which don't exist in the English language.
Dialogue
To help you better understand how to use plural forms in Estonian, here's a dialogue:
- Person 1: Mul on kass. (I have a cat.)
- Person 2: Mul on neli kassi. (I have four cats.)
- Person 1: Ma armastan süüa õuna. (I love to eat an apple.)
- Person 2: Ma ostsin kolm õuna. (I bought three apples.)
Conclusion
In this lesson, you have learned how to make plurals in Standard Estonian. Remember the basic rules like adding -d or -t to the end of the word, and some special cases. Don't forget to practice by communicating with native speakers on Polyglot Club. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!
If you would like to learn more about Estonian grammar, please visit our Grammar page. To improve your Estonian language skills, check out our other Estonian lessons on Standard Estonian.
➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎
Sources
Related Lessons
- Pronouns
- How to Use Be
- Adjectives
- Conditional Mood
- How to Use Have
- Adverbs
- Future Tense
- Gender
- Nouns