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A168 topics
- · No Grammatical Gender (ta = he/she)
- · No Articles (definiteness via word order / case)
- · Nominative Case — Subject & Citation Form
- · Genitive Case — Formation (the genitive stem)
A261 topics
- · Adjective–Noun Agreement — Nominative (suur maja, suured majad)
- · Agreement in Genitive & Partitive (suure maja, suurt maja)
- · Agreement in the Locative Cases (suures majas, suurel laual)
- · Plural Nominative Formation (-d: raamatud, majad)
B163 topics
- · Illative - Short vs Long Form (majja vs majasse)
- · Internal vs External Locatives - Choice (koolis vs koolil)
- · Partitive vs Genitive in Objects - Case Review
- · Genitive in Compounds & Attributes (raamatukogu, lapse mänguasi)
B258 topics
- · Abessive Case (-ta) - 'without'
- · Comitative (-ga) - Full Range
- · Terminative (-ni) - Spatial, Temporal & Degree Limits
- · Essive (-na) - Role, Temporary State & Time
C130 topics
- · Subtle Partitive Choices (aspect, boundedness, register)
- · Locative Precision — Advanced & Idiomatic (sees vs all vs juures)
- · Rare Cases Review — Abessive, Terminative, Essive, Comitative in Style
- · Subject & Object Case — Advanced Interaction (partitive subject/object)
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- No Grammatical Gender (ta = he/she)
- No Articles (definiteness via word order / case)
- Nominative Case — Subject & Citation Form
- Genitive Case — Formation (the genitive stem)
- Genitive for Possession (ema auto)
- Partitive Case — Concept Introduction
- Partitive — Formation (-d, -t, -∅, vowel; the partitive stem)
- Partitive after Numbers > 1 (kaks raamatut)
- Partitive after Negation (Ma ei joo kohvi)
- Partitive for Mass / Indefinite Quantity (Ma joon vett)
- The Place-Case System - Overview (where / where-to / where-from)
- Illative (-sse / short form) - 'into'
- Inessive (-s) - 'in / inside'
- Elative (-st) - 'out of / from / about'
- Allative (-le) - 'onto / to (a person)'
- Adessive (-l) - 'on / at / possessor'
- Ablative (-lt) - 'from on / from (a person)'
- Places: Cities & Countries (Tallinnas, Eestis, Soome)
- The Estonian Alphabet
- The Vowel õ
- No Vowel Harmony (unlike Finnish)
- Three Quantity Degrees / Välde
- Long Vowels and Long Consonants (written doubling)
- Palatalisation — Introduction
- Basic Capitalisation
- Compound Words — Basic Spelling
- Personal Pronouns — Long & Short (mina/ma, sina/sa, tema/ta)
- Personal Pronouns in Cases (mind, mulle, minuga)
- Possession via Genitive Pronoun + oma (minu / oma)
- Demonstratives see (this/that) and too (that yonder)
- Demonstratives — Plural (need, nood)
- Interrogative kes (who) vs mis (what)
- Question Words: kus, kuhu, kust, millal, miks, kuidas
- Indefinite Pronouns keegi (someone) / miski (something)
- Reflexive Pronoun ise (self) — Introduction
- sina vs teie (informal vs formal address)
- Greetings (Tere, Tervist, Head aega, Nägemist)
- Politeness Words (palun, aitäh, vabandust)
- Cognates & International Loanwords (muusika, kohv, hotell)
- Cardinal Numbers 1-100 (üks, kaks, kolm ... sada)
- Days & Months (esmaspäev, jaanuar)
- Telling Time - Basic (Mis kell on? Kell on kaks)
- Basic Word Order (V2 / SVO)
- Yes/No Questions with kas
- Wh-Questions (Mida? Kus? Millal? Miks?)
- Negation Structure (ei before the verb)
- Short Answers (Jah / Ei; verb echo)
- Postpositions Governing the Genitive (maja ees, laua all)
- Coordinating Conjunctions: ja, aga, või
- Basic Subordinators: et (that), sest (because)
- Present Tense of olema (to be)
- Present Tense — Personal Endings (-n, -d, -b, -me, -te, -vad)
- Present Tense — Regular Verbs (elama, õppima)
- Present of Contracted Verbs (tulema, panema)
- The Irregular Verb minema (to go)
- Negation with Invariant ei + Stem
- Negation of olema (ei ole / pole)
- Present Tense in Yes/No Questions (kas / intonation)
- Present Tense for Future Meaning (no separate future)
- Present Tense for Habitual / General Truths
- olema as Copula (Ta on õpetaja)
- Possession: mul on (adessive + olema)
- Existential Sentences (Laual on raamat) — Introduction
- tahtma (to want) + da-infinitive / Object
- oskama / saama / võima (can, be able, may)
- pidama (must / have to) — Basic
- The Two Infinitives (ma-infinitiiv vs da-infinitiiv) — Introduction
- meeldima (to like) + Allative Experiencer (Mulle meeldib)
- Adjective–Noun Agreement — Nominative (suur maja, suured majad)
- Agreement in Genitive & Partitive (suure maja, suurt maja)
- Agreement in the Locative Cases (suures majas, suurel laual)
- Plural Nominative Formation (-d: raamatud, majad)
- Plural Genitive & Partitive (raamatute, raamatuid)
- Plural in the Locative Cases (majades, kätele)
- Comparative Degree (-m: suurem, ilusam)
- Superlative Degree (kõige suurem / suurim)
- The Genitive Stem - Foundation of Declension
- The Partitive Stem - Unpredictable Forms
- Three Stems Overview (Nominative, Genitive, Partitive)
- Translative Case (-ks) - Becoming / Change of State
- Translative for Purpose, Time-by and Set Phrases
- Terminative Case (-ni) - Up to / Until
- Essive Case (-na) - As / In the Capacity Of
- Comitative Case (-ga) - With / By Means Of
- Consonant Gradation — Concept & Strong/Weak Grade
- Quantitative Gradation: kk/k, pp/p, tt/t
- Qualitative Gradation: k/g, p/b, t/d Change & Loss
- Gradation: Loss of d / t (sõda → sõja, tuba → toa)
- Gradation with s / h and Other Consonants (käsi → käe)
- Which Case Takes Which Grade (Nominative vs Genitive)
- Gradation in Verb Forms (hakkan → hakata, loen → lugeda)
- Verbs & Nouns Without Gradation
- Palatalisation Across Forms (kott vs koti)
- Total Object vs Partial Object — Concept
- Total Object in the Singular = Genitive (Ostsin raamatu)
- Total Object in the Plural = Nominative (Ostsin raamatud)
- Partitive Object under Negation (Ma ei ostnud raamatut)
- Partitive for Ongoing / Incomplete Action (Lugesin raamatut)
- Partitive for Indefinite Quantity (Jõin vett vs Jõin vee)
- Verbs that Always Take a Partitive Object (armastama, ootama, otsima)
- Object with the Imperative (Ava uks!)
- Verb-Second after Fronted Adverbials (Homme lähen…)
- Time Clauses with kui (when)
- Open Conditional with kui (if)
- Cause Connectors: sest, kuna, sellepärast et
- Contrast Connectors: aga, kuid, ent
- Consequence Connectors: seega, niisiis, järelikult
- Prepositions & Their Government (enne, pärast, ilma, üle, läbi, keset)
- Large Numbers + Partitive (kakssada eurot)
- Ordinal Numbers (esimene, teine, kolmas)
- Dates — Full Format (kolmas märts; 3. märtsil)
- Telling Time — Advanced (veerand, pool, kümne minuti pärast)
- Simple Past (lihtminevik) — Regular Verbs (-sin, -sid, -s)
- Simple Past — Stem Changes & Gradation (lugesin, jõin)
- Simple Past of olema (olin, olid, oli)
- Negation of the Simple Past (ei + -nud)
- Present Perfect (täisminevik) — Formation (olen teinud)
- Present Perfect — Usage (experience, result-now)
- Imperative — 2nd Person Singular (Tule! Ära mine!)
- Imperative — Plural / Formal (Tulge! Ärge minge!)
- Let's… (Lähme! Teeme!) — 1st Person Plural
- Pidama (must / should) — Full Use + Conditional peaks
- Choosing ma- vs da-infinitive after Verbs
- Hakkama (to start / be going to) + ma-infinitive
- Motion Verbs + Locative Cases (lähen kooli, tulen koju)
- The mas-form (olen tegemas) — "in the act of"
- The mast-form (tulen tegemast) — "from doing"
- Reflexive Verbs / ennast (pesema end, tundma end)
- olema + Adessive/Inessive for States (olen tööl, olen kodus)
- Illative - Short vs Long Form (majja vs majasse)
- Internal vs External Locatives - Choice (koolis vs koolil)
- Partitive vs Genitive in Objects - Case Review
- Genitive in Compounds & Attributes (raamatukogu, lapse mänguasi)
- Adessive - Temporal & Instrumental Uses (hommikul, bussiga vs bussil)
- Elative - 'about / made of / out of' (raamat ajaloost, kullast sõrmus)
- Translative vs Essive - Change vs State (saab õpetajaks / on õpetajana)
- Terminative & Essive in Time Expressions (kella viieni, lapsena)
- Aspect & Object Case — Telic vs Atelic (Kirjutasin kirja / kirja)
- Object Case in Perfect & Pluperfect (Olen kirja kirjutanud)
- Partitive with Quantities & Measures (kilo õunu, klaas vett)
- Clausal & Infinitival Objects (Tahan, et sa tuled / Tahan tulla)
- Total Object Forced by Resultative Particles (Sõin supi ära)
- Partitive after Emotion & Perception Verbs (armastan sind, kardan pimedust)
- Partitive Subject in Existentials & Negation (Laual ei ole raamatut)
- Genitive vs Partitive Object — Minimal Pairs (Lugesin raamatu / raamatut)
- Active Present Participle (-v)
- Active Past Participle (-nud)
- Passive Present Participle (-tav)
- Passive Past Participle (-tud)
- Participles in Compound Tenses (-nud, -tud)
- Participles as Attributes (agreement)
- The des-Converb — Introduction
- Choosing -v vs -nud as Attribute
- Participle as Compact Relative Clause
- Spoken vs Written Estonian (kõnekeel vs kirjakeel) — Introduction
- Email Conventions — Basic (Tere, Lugupeetud…, Parimate soovidega)
- Hedging & Softening (vist, vahest, ilmselt; conditional politeness)
- Word Formation — Basic Suffixes (-ja agent, -mine action, -us state)
- Compound Words — Advanced (linking genitive, multi-part)
- Common Collocations (tähele panema, aega võtma)
- Percentages, Fractions, Money (kolmandik, protsenti, euro/sent)
- Relative Clauses with kes / mis
- Relative mis Referring to a Whole Clause
- Indirect Questions
- Reported Speech — Basic
- Irreal (Counterfactual) Conditional
- Concessive Clauses with kuigi / ehkki
- Purpose Clauses with (selleks) et
- Adposition Government & Word Order
- Temporal Connectors — Advanced
- Paired (Correlative) Connectors
- The Clitics -gi / -ki (even / too)
- Negative Coordination with ega
- Pluperfect (enneminevik) — Formation (olin teinud)
- Pluperfect — Sequencing Past Events
- Conditional Mood — Present (-ksin: teeksin, läheksin)
- Conditional — Negation (ei teeks)
- Conditional Past (oleksin teinud)
- Impersonal / Passive Present (-takse: tehakse, räägitakse)
- Impersonal Past (-ti: tehti, räägiti)
- Impersonal Perfect & Pluperfect (on tehtud, oli tehtud)
- Impersonal — Negation (ei tehta, ei tehtud)
- Choosing Past Tenses in Narrative (lihtminevik vs täisminevik vs enneminevik)
- Verb Rection — Cases Governed by Verbs
- The maks-form (tegemaks) — Purpose
- The mata-form (ilma tegemata) — "without doing"
- oleks pidanud / oleks võinud — Counterfactual Modals
- saama as Future Auxiliary / Resultative
- Phrasal Verbs with Particles (ära, läbi, üle, kinni)
- Aspect via Particles (sõin → sõin ära)
- olema + Partitive Predicate (Neid on palju)
- Modal Verb Nuances (saama vs võima vs tohtima)
- Abessive Case (-ta) - 'without'
- Comitative (-ga) - Full Range
- Terminative (-ni) - Spatial, Temporal & Degree Limits
- Essive (-na) - Role, Temporary State & Time
- Cases Where Only the Head Inflects
- Idiomatic Locative Uses
- Short Plural & i-Plural Forms
- Genitive Attributes - Advanced
- Clitics -gi/-ki — Scope & Placement (Advanced)
- Modal Particles ju, ka, küll, ikka
- Epistemic Particles vist, ehk, äkki, vahest
- Focus Particles ainult, isegi, just, koguni
- Negative-Polarity Items (mitte kunagi, üldse, sugugi)
- Two-Part Connectors — Advanced (mitte ainult… vaid ka; kas… või)
- Response & Discourse Particles (no, noh, ahah, eks ole)
- Text-Structuring Connectors (esiteks, teiseks, kokkuvõttes)
- The des-Converb - Full Use
- The nud-Participial Clause (anterior)
- The tud-Participial Clause (passive anterior)
- Extended Participial Attributes
- Agent in Passive Participle Phrases
- The ma-Form Series - Systematic Review
- da-Infinitive - Advanced Syntax
- The -v Participle in Quotative Complements
- Spoken Estonian — Full Features (ma/sa/ta, pole, dropped -d, mis vs mida)
- Business & Academic Register (nominalisation, impersonal, formulae)
- Dialect Awareness (Võro, saarte murre — recognition)
- False Friends (with Finnish, Russian, German, English)
- Derivation — Advanced Suffixes (-nik, -lane, -ndus, -stik)
- Loanword Strata (German, Russian, Finnic, English)
- Common Idioms (kassi saba alla, üle kivide ja kändude)
- Punctuation — Comma Rules (before et/kui/kes; lists; appositions)
- Word Order for Emphasis & Information Structure
- Advanced Existential Sentences (definiteness, locative-first order)
- Advanced Negation (ei… vaid; mitte; pole kunagi; ükski)
- Complex Relative Clauses (kelle, mille, kus, kuhu as relativizers)
- Cleft & Focus Constructions (See on Mart, kes…)
- Participial & Converb Clauses Replacing Subordination
- Concession — Advanced (ehkki, olgugi et, hoolimata sellest et)
- Discourse Markers (muide, igatahes, teatavasti, muuseas)
- Reformulation & Addition (teisisõnu, lisaks, pealegi, samuti)
- Quotative / Oblique Mood — Present (-vat: tegevat, olevat)
- Quotative — Past (olevat teinud / -nuvat)
- Quotative in Reported Speech & Hearsay
- Jussive Mood (3rd-person imperative: tehku, mingu)
- Imperative — Full Paradigm (incl. impersonal tehtagu)
- Conditional Perfect — Nuanced Counterfactual (oleks teinud)
- Impersonal Voice — Register & Style Choice
- Tense & Mood Sequence in Complex Sentences
- Mood Overview — Indicative / Conditional / Imperative / Quotative (+ Jussive)
- Replacing a Finite Clause with an Infinitive or Participle
- Perception Verbs and Their Complements (nägin teda tulemas)
- Psychological and Seeming Predicates (tundub, paistab, näib)
- Impersonal and Weather Verbs (sajab, on vaja, läheb pimedaks)
- Aspectual Adverbs (juba, alles, veel, parajasti)
- Advanced Verb Rection and Prepositional Government
- Reflexive/Mediopassive (-u) vs Impersonal (avaneb vs avatakse)
- Idiomatic Phrasal Verbs and Particle Semantics (läbi saama, üle elama)
- Subtle Partitive Choices (aspect, boundedness, register)
- Locative Precision — Advanced & Idiomatic (sees vs all vs juures)
- Rare Cases Review — Abessive, Terminative, Essive, Comitative in Style
- Subject & Object Case — Advanced Interaction (partitive subject/object)
- Advanced Genitive Constructions (genitive of measure, time, comparison)
- Pronoun Precision (kes/mis disambiguation; see/too/tema reference)
- Literary Register & Style (inversion, archaisms, expressive forms)
- Official, Legal & Administrative Estonian (ametikeel, kantseliit)
- Journalistic Style (headlines, quotative, attribution)
- Irony, Understatement & Litotes (pole paha = quite good)
- Register-Based Synonym Choice (kodu/elamine/eluase; sööma/einestama)
- Advanced Dialect & Variety Recognition (Võro/Seto features in text)
- Information Structure & Word-Order Strategies
- Dislocation & Afterthought (See raamat, selle lugesin läbi)
- Ellipsis & Gapping in Coordination
- Subject Omission & Recoverability (informal, imperative, generic)
- Advanced Participial Clauses / Lauselühendid
- Evidentiality & Stance (kuuldavasti, väidetavalt, justkui)
- Advanced Cohesion (seetõttu, sellele vaatamata, eelnevast tulenevalt)
- Quotative Mood — Advanced (mixing with tenses; journalistic use)
- Complex Mood + Tense Interactions (oleks pidanud tegema; olevat teinud)
- Alternatives to the Impersonal (inimene/keegi, -u verbs, nominalisation)
- Lexical Aspect / Aktionsart (durative, momentary, ingressive, resultative)
- Archaic & Stylistic Verb Forms (literary jussive, -nuksin, poetic)
- Subtle Modal Nuances (oleks võinud / pidanud / tohtinud)
- Nominal Derivation — Advanced (-ndus, -stik, -nik, -kond, -ur)
- Verbal Derivation — Advanced (-ta causative, -le frequentative, -u reflexive, -sta)
- Complex Compounds & Hyphenation
- Neologisms & Anglicism Integration
- Paronyms & Near-Homophones
What the estonian guide covers
Cases (45) · Verb tenses (41) · Verb usage (36) · Syntax (26) · Connectors (22) · Orthography (18) · Object marking (17) · Participles (17) · Register (15) · Vocabulary usage (13) · Pronouns (10) · Agreement (9) · Numbers dates time (8) · Adpositions (3)
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