Kuidas läheb? How are you? #basics 20

Kuidas läheb means “how are you” in Estonian. But you can also use other forms:

- Kuidas elate?
- Kuidas elad?
- Kuidas käsi käib?

Possible replies:
-Tänan, hästi! (Fine, thank you!)
- Väga hasti! (Very well!)
- Pole viga (not too bad)
- Normaalselt (OK)

Other interesting uses after Kuidas läheb?
Aga sul? (What about you – informal)
Aga teil? (What about you – formal)

Other follow-up questions after Kuidas elate?
Aga sina? (What about you? informal)
Aga teie? (What about you? formal)

Estonian pronunciation #basics 19

On our learning Estonian journey, we will find that Estonian language can be easy since we read what is written: differently from French (just as an example), there are no crazy pronunciation rules of characters that are not meant to be read or that have different sounds according to the context.

Here is our Estonian – English key of words used:

palun – please
takso – taxi
kaks – two
kaheksa – eight
pank – bank
baar – bar
maa – land / country
jaanuar – January
banaan – banana
raadio – radio
tere – hello
kell – clock
neli – four
seitse – seven
telefon – telephone
veerand – quarter
mees – man
Eesti – Estonia
veebruar – February
tee – tea / road
isu – appetite
ilm – ilm
minut – minute
kino – cinema
nimi – name
viis – five
siis – then
televiisor – television
siin – here
miinus – minus
palun – please
buss – bus
tulema – to come
neiu – young lady
auto – car
suur – big
kuus – six
juuni – June
juuli – July
juuksur – hairdresser
hommik – morning
kolm – three
kohv – coffee
foto – photo
hotell – hotel
pool – half
oktoober -October
ooper – opera

kool – school
soovima – to wish
õhtu – evening
sõber – friend
sõna – word

õde – sister (or nurse)
õnn – happiness
võõras – stranger
Krõõt – name of a woman
põõsas – bush
rõõm – joy
rõõmus – glad, joyful
päev – day
nägemist -goodbye
aitäh – thanks
märts – March
äri – business
Pole tänu väärt – don’t mention it
Otepää – name of a town
äädikas – vinegar
sääsk – mosquitp
rääkima – to speak
röstima – to toast
köha – cough
lörts – slush (snow)

ökonoomia – Economy
ökosüsteem – ecosystem
öö – night
töö -work
töötama – to work
köök – kitchen
mööbel – furniture
üks – one
üheksa – nine
kümme – ten
üllatus – surprise
külm – cold
müüma – to sell
müük – sale
nüüd – now
tüüpiline – typical
tüütu – annoying

Olema – the verb to be in Estonian #basics 18

Today we have a very important video: the verb to be in Estonian.

Ma olen – I am
Sa oled – You are
Ta on – He/She is
Me oleme – We are
Te olete – You are
Nad on – They are

Notice that the pronouns can be said/written in two forms;

Mina = ma
Sina = sa
Tema = ta
Meie = me
Teie = te
Nemad = nad

For the oral communication, we can make a preference for the short version, although the long version is also adequate

On the negative, it is much easier:

Ma ei ole
Sa ei ole
Ta ei ole
Me ei ole
Te ei oile
Nad ei ole

* I also read that “ei ole” can be substituted by pole

Estonian names (boys and girls) #basics 17

Today we did a revision of video #15 on small talk (Kuidas läheb) and also practice the pronunciation of Estonian names – try to guess who are the boy and girl names:

Names of Estonian men:
Riho
Ahto
Jaan
Juhan
Jaanus
Lembit
Alo
Alar
Kalju
Kalev
Illimar
Vello
Siim
Urmas
Mart
Immo
Timmo
Tommi
Sven
Henn
Kristjan
Kaarel
Ardi
Kaur
Priit
Harri
Tõnis
Joosep
Sass
Juss
Jass
Sulev
Ivo
Ago
Gert
Tambet
Heiki
Kärt
Uku
Paavo
Aap
Kaupo
Taavi
Toivo
Mati
Otto

Names of Estonian women:
Helle
Kaja
Juta
Ülle
Malle
Mare
Margit
Naima
Ene
Liina
Anu
Anne
Lenna
Anneli
Õnne
Harriet
Esta
Sirli
Siiri
Kassandra
Valve
Evelin
Signe
Inge
Greete
Elbe
Imbi
Maibi
Linda
Eda
Jadi
Diana
Kärt
Kerli
Koidu
Piia
Pille
Rutt

And some additional Estonian – English vocabulary:

lukk – lock
pakk – packet
nukk – doll
kukkuma -to fall
pakkumine – offer
lipp – flag
supp – soup
hüppama – to jump
vapper – brave

Professions in Estonian #basics 16

Today I’m using the Lonely Planet “Baltic” phrasebook:

To ask someone’s profession using Estonian language, you say:

“Mis tööd te teete?”

And here are a few professions for our English – Estonian vocabulary:

business man – ärimees
business woman – ärinaine
doctor – arst
farmer – talunik
journalist – ajakirjanik
labourer – tööline
lawyer – jurist
nurse – õde
retired – pensionar
sailor/mariner – meremees
state official – riigiametnik
student – tudeng
teacher – õpetaja
tour guide – giid
unemployed – töötu
waiter – kelner
waitress – ettekandja
writer – kirjanik

Kuidas läheb? Small talk in Estonian #basics 15

Tere tere! Today we have a video with some small talk in Estonian and the key phrase is “Kuidas läheb” which stands for “how are you”:


Notice that from now on I’m labeling the videos with the #basics tag and adding a number: this is already video number 15!

Vocabulary English – Estonian

How are you? – kuidas läheb / kuidas elate?
Thank you – tänan
Not too bad -pole viga
very well – väga hästi
what about you? – aga teie? / aga sul?
me too – mina ka
thank you/thanks for asking – tänan küsimast
OK – normaalselt
nicely / well – hästi
Japanse – japaani keel
Finnish – soome keel
Swedish – rootsi keel
Latvian – läti keel
Lithuanian – leedu keel
Russian – vane keel
Chinese – hiina keel
Spanish – hispaania keel
Italian – itaalia keel
Portuguese – portugali keel

Kas te räägite…? (Do you speak…?)

Today we will check how to ask Estonian people which languages they understand:

Engilsh-Estonian vocabulary:

Do you speak – kas te räägite…
German – saksa keelt
English – inglise keelt
French – prantsuse keelt
Estonian – eesti keelt
yes, I do speak – räägin küll
can you speak – kas te oskate…
Unfortunately I can’t – kahjuks ei oska
language – keel (note: although “language” alone is “keel” when you place it next to “French”, “German”… then the declension will become “keelt” instead of “keel” – I still do not understand how this works, and hope to make future videos discovering more about declensions)
I don’t understand – ma ei saa aru
natukene – a little
turist – tourist (easy one, huh?)
local person – kohalik
excuse me – vabandage

Dialogues used in the video:

Vabandage, kas te räägite saksa keelt? / Excuse me, do you speak German?
Räägin küll / Yes I do

Vabandage, kas te oskate inglise keelt? / Excuse me, do you understand English?
Ei, kahjuks ei oska / No, unfortunately I cannot

Kas te räägite prantsuse keelt? / Do you speak French?
Vabandust, ma ei saa aru / Sorry, I do not (I cannot)

Kas te oskate eesti keelt? / Can you speak Estonian?
Natukene / a little

Saame tuttavaks! Let’s get acquainted!

When you are introducing yourself in Estonian, you can either say “Mina olen…” or “Minu nimi on…”

Check the differences here:

Vocabulary English – Estonian:

I am Peter – Mina olen Peeter
My name is Erki – Minu nimi on Erki
your name – sinu nimi
beautiful – ilus
Pleased to meet you – väga tore / väga meeldiv
Excuse me? – kuidas palun?
Ok, I see – selge
also/too – ka
and – ja
what – mis
what is your name – mis sinu nimi on? (formal ) / kuidas on teie nimi? (informal)
surname – perekonnanimi
first name – eesnimi

Mis kell on? Telling what time it is in Estonian

If you want to learn how to say what time it is in Estonian, first be sure you have watched the video on “how to say the numbers in Estonian” and then just click play on the video below:


To ask for the time when you are in Estonia, just say “Mis kell on?”

Some key phrases:

What time it is – Mis kell on?
It’s one o’clock – Kell on üks
It’s two o’clock – Kell on kaks
half – pool
It’s one thirty – Kell on pool kaks
It’s half past twelve – Kell on pool üks (here’s the trick: you should get the number and REMOVE half of it)
It’s quarter past twelve – veerand üks
quarter to one – kolmveerand üks (or three quarters past twelve)

Let’s do some practice? Give your try on the comments