Nominative case in Estonian
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The nominative singular case (ainsuse nimetav kääne in Estonian) answers the questions kes? 'who?', mis? 'what?', milline? (or missugune?) 'what kind?'. Is is mainly used for subjects of sentences and predicate complements.
| Estonian | English |
|---|---|
| Kes seisab? | Who is standing? |
| Ema seisab. | Mother is standing. |
| Mis seal on? | What is there? |
| Seal on tool. | There is a chair. |
| Milline ta on? | What (kind) is he? ('What is he like?') |
| Ta on vana. | He is old. |
The nominative case form of both nouns and adjectives has no particular ending. It may end in almost any vowel or consonant.
For example:
| Estonian | English |
|---|---|
| Isa | Father |
| Õde | Sister |
| Käsi | Hand |
| Mees | Man |
| Sõber | Friend |
| Raamat | Book |
| Kõhn | Skinny |
In a clause of the type 'it is I', the verb agrees with the personal pronoun and not with the word 'it', like in English.
| Estonian | English |
|---|---|
| See olen mina | It is I (lit: 'it am I') |
| See oled sina | It is you (lit: it are you) |
| See on tema | It is he |
The plural nominative case always ends with the letter -d. For learning more about forming the plural in Estonian, check out our page on plural in Estonian.
| Estonian | English |
|---|---|
| Majad | Houses |
| Vanemad | Parents |
| Lilled | Flowers |
Now you are ready to learn the next case!