Genitive (Owner Form)

Level 1

The genitive answers kelle? (whose?) and mille? (of what?). It comes before the noun it describes: Mari raamat (Mari's book), maja uks (the door of the house).

How It Works

The genitive is one of the three basic forms of every noun, together with the nominative and the partitive. Dictionaries list it second: raamat, raamatu, raamatut. See Key Forms of a Noun.

Forming it
You cannot always guess the genitive from the basic form, so learn it with each new noun:

  • maja → maja (house, no change)
  • kool → kooli (school)
  • raamat → raamatu (book)
  • laps → lapse (child)
  • vend → venna, laud → laua – the consonant changes because of consonant gradation.

Main uses

  • Owner: Mari raamat, minu venna auto
  • Whole and part: maja uks (the door of the house)
  • Before place words such as all (under) and ees (in front of): laua all (under the table). See Place Words After the Noun.
  • Whole objects of completed actions: Ma ostan raamatu. (I will buy the book.) You will learn this in Whole Object in the Genitive.

Word order
The genitive always comes before the noun it describes, never after it.

Good to know
Personal pronouns have their own genitives: minu (my), sinu (your), tema (his, her). The plural genitive ends in -de or -te: laste (of the children).

Examples (6)

  1. Mari raamat

    Mari's book

    The name Mari is the same in the nominative and the genitive.

  2. maja uks

    the door of the house

  3. See on minu venna auto.

    This is my brother's car.

    Word by Word: this is my brother(GEN) car

    vend (brother) has the genitive venna.

  4. Lapse nimi on Mia.

    The child's name is Mia.

    Word by Word: child(GEN) name is Mia

  5. Kass on laua all.

    The cat is under the table.

    Word by Word: cat is table(GEN) under

    The place word all follows a noun in the genitive: laud → laua.

  6. Eesti pealinn on Tallinn.

    The capital of Estonia is Tallinn.

    Word by Word: Estonia(GEN) capital is Tallinn

Common Mistakes

  • Using the basic form instead of the genitive for an owner.

    Laps nimi on Mia.
    Lapse nimi on Mia.

    The owner must be in the genitive, and the genitive of laps is lapse.

  • Putting the owner after the noun, as in English "the book of Mari".

    Raamat Mari on laual.
    Mari raamat on laual.

    In Estonian the genitive always comes before the noun it describes.

How It Connects

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

Genitive (Owner Form)Level 1

Learn This First

The genitive stem often changes from the nominative.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 2 more in the full list.