Days with -l

Level 1

esmaspäev → esmaspäeval (on Monday) · reede → reedel (on Friday) · Näeme laupäeval! (See you on Saturday!)

How It Works

The days

  • esmaspäev (Monday) → esmaspäeval
  • teisipäev (Tuesday) → teisipäeval
  • kolmapäev (Wednesday) → kolmapäeval
  • neljapäev (Thursday) → neljapäeval
  • reede (Friday) → reedel
  • laupäev (Saturday) → laupäeval
  • pühapäev (Sunday) → pühapäeval

The first four are simply “first day”, “second day”, “third day” and “fourth day”, and pühapäev means “holy day”. On signs and timetables you will see the letters E T K N R L P.

Naming the day or saying when

  • naming: Täna on reede. (Today is Friday.) Mis päev täna on?
  • when: Ma tulen reedel. (I'm coming on Friday.)

Useful patterns

  • next and last: järgmisel reedel, eelmisel laupäeval. The adjective takes -l too. See eelmine and järgmine.
  • every week: igal esmaspäeval or esmaspäeviti (on Mondays)
  • from … to: esmaspäevast reedeni (from Monday to Friday)

Small letter
Days of the week, like months, are ordinary words in Estonian and start with a small letter, except at the beginning of a sentence. See lowercase days, months and nationalities.

In everyday speech
You will also hear the bare day name used as a time word: Pühapäev on poed kinni. (On Sunday the shops are closed.) This is accepted in speech, but pühapäeval is the standard form to use.

Examples (6)

  1. Näeme laupäeval!

    See you on Saturday!

    Word by Word: we-see on-Saturday

  2. Pood on pühapäeval kinni.

    The shop is closed on Sunday.

    Word by Word: shop is on-Sunday closed

  3. Täna on kolmapäev.

    Today is Wednesday.

    Word by Word: today is Wednesday

    When you just name the day, use the basic form without -l.

  4. Me kohtume järgmisel reedel.

    We're meeting next Friday.

    Word by Word: we meet next(ADE) on-Friday

  5. Ma käin kolmapäeviti trennis.

    I go to training on Wednesdays.

    Word by Word: I go on-Wednesdays in-training

    The ending -ti means that something happens every week on that day.

  6. Pood on avatud esmaspäevast reedeni.

    The shop is open from Monday to Friday.

    Word by Word: shop is open from-Monday until-Friday

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the day name with a capital letter.

    Näeme Laupäeval!
    Näeme laupäeval!

    Days of the week are written with a small letter in Estonian.

  • Using the inessive -s, as with months.

    Ma tulen reedes.
    Ma tulen reedel.

    Months take -s (mais, in May), but days take -l: reedel (on Friday).

How It Connects

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

Days with -lLevel 1

Learn This First

On a day uses the adessive.

Words in This Pattern

esmaspäevreedepühapäev