How Many Together (-kesi)

Level 5

Me elame kahekesi means just the two of us live here. -kesi counts the people who are together.

How It Works

The suffix -kesi turns a number into an adverb that says how many people are together, and nobody else. It answers the question mitmekesi? (how many of you together?).

Take the genitive form of the number and add -kesi:

  • kaks → kahe → kahekesi
  • kolm → kolme → kolmekesi
  • neli → nelja → neljakesi
  • viis → viie → viiekesi
  • kümme → kümne → kümnekesi
  • mitu → mitme → mitmekesi

For one person there is a separate word: üksi or üksinda (alone).

A very common pattern names the other person with -ga: Ma elan emaga kahekesi. (I live with my mother, just the two of us.) Käisime vennaga kahekesi kinos. (My brother and I went to the cinema, just the two of us.)

-kesi means together as one group. To say that people did something in groups of two, use -kaupa: kahekaupa (two at a time, in pairs).

The same ending also appears in a few words that describe manner, such as tasakesi (quietly) and salakesi (secretly).

Examples (6)

  1. Me elame kahekesi.

    Just the two of us live here.

    Word by Word: we live two-together

    Kaks → kahe → kahekesi.

  2. Ma elan emaga kahekesi.

    I live with my mother, just the two of us.

    The partner is named with -ga.

  3. Nad läksid kolmekesi matkale.

    The three of them went hiking together.

    Kolm → kolme → kolmekesi.

  4. Mitmekesi te tulete?

    How many of you are coming?

    Mitmekesi asks about the size of the group.

  5. Kui lapsed kodust ära kolisid, jäid vanemad kahekesi.

    When the children moved away from home, the parents were left on their own, just the two of them.

    Jääma + kahekesi: to end up as a pair.

  6. Ta ei taha üksi reisida.

    She does not want to travel alone.

    For one person, use üksi, not a -kesi form.

Common Mistakes

  • Building the word on the nominative of the number.

    Me olime kolmkesi.
    Me olime kolmekesi.

    -kesi always joins the genitive stem: kolme-, kahe-, nelja-, kümne-.

  • Using -kesi when you mean in pairs or in groups.

    Õpetaja käskis lastel kahekesi õue minna.
    Õpetaja käskis lastel kahekaupa õue minna.

    If you mean in pairs, kahekesi is wrong: it tells the children to go out as one group of just two. -kaupa splits a crowd into groups: kahekaupa means two at a time.

How It Connects

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

How Many Together (-kesi)Level 5

Learn This First

-kesi attaches to a number stem.

Words in This Pattern

kahekesikolmekesi