If you're trying to learn Estonian Adjectives you will find some useful resources including a course about Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes... to help you with your Estonian grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Estonian. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Estonian Adjectives is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Estonian language. But first we need to know what the role of Adjectives is in the structure of the grammar in Estonian.
Estonian Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.
Grammar Tips:
In Estonian an adjective agrees in number and in 10 cases out of 14 with the noun it modifies.
| singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| nominative | valge auto (white car) | valged autod (white cars) | pikk mees (tall man) | pikad mehed (tall men) |
| abessive (the "without"-case) | valge autota (without the white car) | valgete autodeta (without white cars) | pika meheta (without the tall man) | pikkade meesteta (without tall men) |
Here are some examples:
| English Adjectives | Estonian Adjectives |
|---|---|
| adjectives | omadussõnad |
| a green tree | roheline puu |
| a tall building | kõrge hoone |
| a very old man | väga vana mees |
| the old red house | vana punane maja |
| a very nice friend | väga tore sõber |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Adjectives in Estonian has a logical pattern. Locate the Adjectives above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Estonian.
While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes, in Estonian an adjective should agree in number with the noun. For example:
Example:
See on mu valge kass (this is my white cat) becomes: Need on mu valged kassid (these are my white cats).
As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes before the noun and also takes the plural form.
Below is a list of the Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes in Estonian placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Estonian vocabulary.
| English Adjectives | Estonian Adjectives |
|---|---|
| colors | värvid |
| black | must |
| blue | sinine |
| brown | pruun |
| gray | hall |
| green | roheline |
| orange | oranž |
| purple | punakaslilla |
| red | punane |
| white | valge |
| yellow | kollane |
| sizes | suurused |
| big | suur |
| deep | sügav |
| long | pikk |
| narrow | kitsas |
| short | lühike |
| small | väike |
| tall | pikk |
| thick | paks |
| thin | õhuke |
| wide | lai |
| shapes | kujundid |
| circular | ringikujuline |
| straight | sirge |
| square | nelinurkne |
| triangular | kolmnurkne |
| tastes | maitsed |
| bitter | mõru |
| fresh | värske |
| salty | soolane |
| sour | hapu |
| spicy | vürtsikas |
| sweet | magus |
| qualities | omadused |
| bad | halb |
| clean | puhas |
| dark | tume |
| difficult | keeruline |
| dirty | määrdunud |
| dry | kuiv |
| easy | lihtne |
| empty | tühi |
| expensive | kallis |
| fast | kiire |
| foreign | välismaine |
| full | täielik |
| good | hea |
| hard | kõva |
| heavy | raske |
| inexpensive | odav |
| light | hele |
| local | kohalik |
| new | uus |
| noisy | lärmakas |
| old | vana |
| powerful | võimas |
| quiet | vaikne |
| correct | õige |
| slow | aeglane |
| soft | pehme |
| very | väga |
| weak | nõrk |
| wet | märg |
| wrong | vale |
| young | noor |
| quantities | kogused |
| few | vähe |
| little | väike |
| many | mitu |
| much | palju |
| part | osa |
| some | mõned |
| a few | mõned |
| whole | kogu |
Adjectives, Colors, Shapes, Sizes have a very important role in Estonian, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Estonian Adjectives, you might want to check the rest of our Estonian lessons here: Learn Estonian. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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