Estonian/Negative and Conjunctions

Eitav kõneliik This lesson will be on the Estonian negative and some conjunctions. Forming the Negative Olevik The negative is formed with the word "no" which is "ei", and by taking a conjugated form of a verb without the personal suffix: to be: olema -> ma olen -> ei ole to know: teadma -> ma tean -> ei tea to want: tahtma -> ma tahan -> ei taha One very convenient aspect about the negative is that it's the same for all persons and quantities of pronouns: -ma kesksõna mina sina tema meie teie nemad olema ei ole teadma ei tea tahtma ei taha The word "ei" in verb negation is considered to be an auxiliary verb, and roughly translates to "do not" or "don't". Minelik -ma kesksõnaminasinatemameieteienemadolemaei olnudteadmaei teadnudtahtmaei tahtnud Tulevik Estonian has no auxiliary verb for the Future like "I will", so the negative future is composed of "ei" simply followed by the simple negative form of the verb (not) to be performed in the future. -ma kesksõnaminasinatemameieteienemadolemaei ole varstiteadmaei tea varstitahtmaei taha varsti Some Conjunctions Conjunctions are called "sidesõnad" (tying words) Not preceded by comma in simple sentencesPreceded by comma in simple sentences Estonian English Note Estonian English Note ja and et thatso that If followed by a Conditional clause, describes reason and effect.Comma may come before the preceding word, like in "nii et" ning and Often used when "ja" has been exhausted aga but ega nor Can also begin questions in the form of "Isn't it... ?" kuid but või or sest because ehk also known as,otherwise known as kui ifwhen siis then vaid but/only Vocabulary sai - saia - .saia - white bread leib - leiva - .leiba - black bread piim - piima - .piima - milk mahl - mahla - .mahla - juice söök - söögi - sööki - food jah - Yes ei - No võib-olla - maybe eesti keel - Estonian language Verbs saama (to get) - also means to be able to or allowed to English -ma kesksõna mina sina tema meie teie nemad Negativeeitav to be allowed to tohtima* tohin tohid tohib tohime tohite tohivad ei tohi to be able to suutma* suudan suudad suudab suudame suudate suudavad ei suuda to have the strength to jaksama* jaksan jaksad jaksab jaksame jaksate jaksavad ei jaksa to be capable toto know how to oskama* oskan oskad oskab oskame oskate oskavad ei oska to need to pidama pean pead peab peame peate peavad ei pea to doto make tegema teen teed teeb teeme teete teevad ei tee to eat sööma söön sööd sööb sööme sööte söövad ei söö to drink jooma joon jood joob joome joote joovad ei joo to know someoneto feel tundma tunnen tunned tunneb tunneme tunnete tunnevad ei tunne * - When specifying an action, these verbs refer to a -da Infinitive, which we haven't learned yet. Notice that pidama takes the -ma Infinitive. Conjunctions and the Negative Some sentences sound unnatural when using certain combinations of Conjunctions and the Negative without some adjustments similar to those in English: Ma ei tea, et sa jood vett - incorrect "I don't know that you drink water" "jood" is an ongoing or passive action. This is also unnatural in English, but acceptable in some informal cases. Ma ei teadnud, et sa jood vett - "I didn't know you drink water". This uses the simple past, which we haven't learned yet. Kas "Kas" is a question determiner, which roughly translates to "whether" and "is it that...". In questions it can be replaced by a simple reversal which is common for asking questions in languages of European descent: "Kas sa tahad?" -> "Tahad sa?" Phrases Ma ei joo Translation I don't drink Ta oskab seda Translation He knows how to do this Ma ei oska eesti keelt Translation I can't speak Estonian Ma tean, et sa oled siin Translation I know that you are here Kas sa tahad mahla või vett? Translation Do you want juice or water? Ma tean, et sa ei tunne mind Translation I know that you don't know me Ma pean oskama seda Translation I must know how to do this