Comparing with the Elative
Mari on Jürist pikem and Mari on pikem kui Jüri both mean Mari is taller than Jüri.
How It Works
Estonian has two ways to say than:
- kui: Mari on pikem kui Jüri. See comparing with kui.
- elative: Mari on Jürist pikem. The word in -st usually goes before the comparative.
The elative way is short and very common with pronouns: minust, sinust, temast, meist, teist, neist. Ta on minust kaks aastat vanem. A word for the size of the difference also goes before the comparative: Tallinn on Tartust palju suurem.
When to use kui. The elative works with a noun, a pronoun or a number, together with any words that describe it: Minu vend on sinu vennast pikem. Use kui when you compare places, times or whole clauses: Tallinnas on soojem kui Tartus. Täna on soojem kui eile. Ta on targem, kui ma arvasin.
Do not mix the two: after kui, the compared word takes the case of its partner, not the elative of comparison. The elative also appears with the superlative, but there it means out of a group: Jüri oli poistest kõige nutikam (the cleverest of the boys).
Examples (6)
- Mari on Jürist pikem.
Mari is taller than Jüri.
Word by Word: Mari is Jüri-from taller
- Ta on minust kaks aastat vanem.
He is two years older than me.
- Tallinn on Tartust palju suurem.
Tallinn is much bigger than Tartu.
- Tervis on rahast tähtsam.
Health is more important than money.
- Mu vend jookseb minust kiiremini.
My brother runs faster than me.
The elative also works with a comparative adverb.
- Kas sa oled temast noorem?
Are you younger than him?
Common Mistakes
Using the elative after kui.
Mari on pikem kui Jürist.Mari on pikem kui Jüri.Choose one way. After kui the name stays in its basic case; with the elative, drop kui: Mari on Jürist pikem.
Using the elative to compare two places.
Tallinnas on Tartust soojem.Tallinnas on soojem kui Tartus.You are comparing in Tallinn with in Tartu, so use kui and let Tartus copy the -s of Tallinnas.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The elative can replace kui in comparisons.
Related Patterns
- Comparative (-m)
The elative comparison always goes with a comparative form.
Level 2 - Superlative with kõigeSuperlative (Kõige)
With the superlative, the elative means out of a group, not than.
Level 2 - sama ... kuiAs ... as
sama ... kui compares things that are equal.
Level 3 - Pronouns in Other Cases
Pronouns in the elative, like minust, are the most common form here.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice Comparing with the Elative in Bubblegum
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