Adverbs with -tsi

By Sea, By Phone (-tsi)

Level 6

Saaremaale saab meritsi või õhutsi means you can get to Saaremaa by sea or by air. The ending -tsi means "by way of".

How It Works

The ending -tsi is old, but a handful of words with it are common in modern Estonian, especially in official and written language.

Route: which way you travel. These mean about the same as kaudu, mööda or pidi:

  • meritsi (by sea), maitsi (by land), õhutsi (by air)
  • jäitsi (over the ice)

Means: how something is done. These mean about the same as -ga, abil or teel:

  • telefonitsi (by phone), meilitsi or e-postitsi (by email), postitsi (by post)
  • käsitsi (by hand), sõnutsi (in words, orally)

The newer words meilitsi and e-postitsi show that the ending can still form a word now and then. Even so, do not make up new ones: for a bus, a car or a bike, use the comitative (bussiga, autoga, rattaga).

Do not mix these up with jalgsi (on foot), which has a different old ending, -si.

Examples (6)

  1. Saaremaale saab meritsi või õhutsi.

    You can get to Saaremaa by sea or by air.

  2. Palun andke oma tulekust teada telefonitsi või meilitsi.

    Please let us know by phone or by email whether you are coming.

  3. Dokumendid saadeti postitsi.

    The documents were sent by post.

  4. Ta kirjutab kirjad käsitsi.

    She writes her letters by hand.

  5. Kaup veeti Riiga maitsi.

    The goods were transported to Riga by land.

  6. Talvel mindi saarele jäitsi.

    In winter people went to the island across the ice.

Common Mistakes

  • Making up a -tsi word for a vehicle.

    Ma sõidan tööle bussitsi.
    Ma sõidan tööle bussiga.

    There is no word bussitsi. Use the comitative -ga for a vehicle: bussiga, autoga, rongiga.

How It Connects

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

Adverbs with -tsiLevel 6By Sea, By Phone (-tsi)

Learn This First

-tsi is an old adverb ending like -li.

Words in This Pattern

-tsimaitsikäsitsi-gakaudu