siia, siin, siit / sinna, seal, sealt

Here, There and Direction

Level 2

Use siia and sinna with movement toward a place, siin and seal for a location, and siit and sealt for movement away.

How It Works

English uses one word for "here" and one for "there". Estonian has three of each, matching the three local questions:

  • kuhu? (where to?): siia (to here), sinna (to there)
  • kus? (where?): siin (here), seal (there)
  • kust? (where from?): siit (from here), sealt (from there)

Verbs of movement need the direction forms: Tule siia! (Come here!) Ma lähen sinna homme. (I am going there tomorrow.) Buss väljub siit. (The bus leaves from here.) Verbs of being or staying use the location forms: Siin on ilus. (It is nice here.)

Siia, siin and siit point to a place near the speaker, while sinna, seal and sealt point farther away. The pair siia-sinna means "here and there, back and forth": Ta jooksis siia-sinna.

Examples (6)

  1. Tule siia!

    Come here!

    Tulema shows movement toward the speaker, so it needs siia.

  2. Ma lähen sinna homme.

    I am going there tomorrow.

    Sinna is the "where to" form of "there".

  3. Siin on väga ilus.

    It is very beautiful here.

    Siin is a location.

  4. Kas sa elad seal?

    Do you live there?

  5. Buss väljub siit kell kaheksa.

    The bus leaves from here at eight.

    Siit means "from here".

  6. Ma tulin just sealt.

    I just came from there.

    Sealt means "from there".

Common Mistakes

  • Using the location form with a verb of movement.

    Tule siin!
    Tule siia!

    Coming toward a place answers kuhu?, so it needs siia, not siin.

  • Using seal after minema.

    Ma lähen seal homme.
    Ma lähen sinna homme.

    Going somewhere needs the direction form sinna.

How It Connects

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

siia, siin, siit / sinna, seal, sealtLevel 2Here, There and Direction

Learn This First

Direction forms extend siin and seal.

Words in This Pattern

siiasiinsiitsinnasealsealt