Bare -nud in Storytelling

Level 6

Elanud kord kuningas means once upon a time there lived a king. The bare -nud form tells a story you heard, not something you saw.

How It Works

You know the -nud form from the perfect (on elanud) and the reported past (olevat elanud). In storytelling, the -nud form can stand alone, as the main verb:

  • Elanud kord üks vaene mees. (Once there lived a poor man.)
  • Elanud kord kuningas ja olnud tal kolm poega. (Once there lived a king, and he had three sons.)

What it adds. It tells the listener that these are events passed on by others: a folk tale, a legend, or an anecdote. The storyteller did not see them. English gets a similar feeling from once upon a time or so the story goes.

Where you meet it. Folk tales and legends, especially at the start, and humorous or old-style retellings. Once the tone is set, a tale may keep using bare -nud forms or switch to the ordinary past: Elas kord kuningas.

No person endings. The -nud form never changes for person, so the subject is always stated or clear from the story: Ühel päeval läinud vaene mees metsa.

Not for your own news. When you tell what you yourself did, use the ordinary past: Eile käisin kinos, not Eile ma käinud kinos.

Examples (6)

  1. Elanud kord üks vaene mees.

    Once there lived a poor man, so the story goes.

  2. Elanud kord kuningas ja olnud tal kolm poega.

    Once upon a time there lived a king, and he had three sons.

  3. Kaks vanemat poega olnud targad, aga noorim olnud rumal.

    The two older sons were clever, but the youngest was foolish.

  4. Ühel päeval läinud vaene mees metsa.

    One day the poor man went into the forest.

  5. Vanarahva jutu järgi elanud selles järves vetevana.

    According to old folk tales, a water spirit lived in this lake.

  6. Elas kord üks vaene mees.

    Once there lived a poor man.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the storytelling -nud for your own experience.

    Eile ma käinud kinos.
    Eile käisin kinos.

    The bare -nud form is for stories you heard. For something you did yourself, use the simple past.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Bare -nud in StorytellingLevel 6

Learn This First

The bare -nud form reports like the quotative.

Words in This Pattern

-nudolema