Impersonal Past (-ti/-di)
Impersonal Past
Maja ehitati 1920. aastal means The house was built in 1920. The builder is not mentioned.
How It Works
The impersonal is used when people do something, but you do not say who. The past impersonal ends in -ti or -di. The doer is always a person, so weather and nature do not use it.
Forming it: find the -tud or -dud form of the verb and change the end.
- -tud → -ti: ehitatud → ehitati, räägitud → räägiti, jäetud → jäeti, tehtud → tehti, kutsutud → kutsuti
- -dud → -di: söödud → söödi, tuldud → tuldi, lauldud → lauldi, öeldud → öeldi
The present impersonal points the same way: räägitakse → räägiti, lauldakse → lauldi.
Negative: ei plus the -tud/-dud form: Kontserti ei jäetud ära. Mulle ei öeldud midagi.
Objects: a whole singular object is in the nominative, because there is no subject: Maja ehitati. The personal pronouns mina, sina, meie and teie are always partitive: Mind kutsuti peole, not mina. Tema is nominative: Tema kutsuti ka.
The impersonal also works with verbs without an object, which an English passive cannot do: Peol tantsiti hommikuni. (People danced until morning at the party.)
Examples (6)
- Maja ehitati 1920. aastal.
The house was built in 1920.
Maja is a whole object in the nominative.
- Kontsert jäeti ära.
The concert was cancelled.
Ära jätma (to cancel) → jäeti ära.
- Eile räägiti sellest palju.
People talked about it a lot yesterday.
Rääkima has no object here, but the impersonal still works.
- Mind kutsuti sünnipäevale.
I was invited to a birthday party.
Mina becomes the partitive mind.
- Varas võeti kinni.
The thief was caught.
Kinni võtma → võeti kinni.
- Mulle ei öeldud midagi.
Nobody told me anything.
The negative uses the -dud form: ei öeldud.
Common Mistakes
Using the -ti form after ei.
Sellest ei räägiti.Sellest ei räägitud.The negative impersonal past is ei plus the -tud/-dud form, just as the personal negative past is ei plus -nud.
Using mina as the object.
Mina kutsuti peole.Mind kutsuti peole.Mina, sina, meie and teie are always partitive as objects of an impersonal verb: mind, sind, meid, teid.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The impersonal past extends the impersonal present.
Related Patterns
- Negative Impersonal
The present negative impersonal, built the same way with ei.
Level 3 - -tud Form
The -tud form gives both the negative and the shape of the past.
Level 3 - Impersonal Perfect
Says that something has been done, with a result that matters now.
Level 3 - Whole Object in the Nominative
Explains the nominative object in Maja ehitati.
Level 3 - Pronouns in Other Cases
The partitive forms mind, sind, meid and teid used as objects.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Impersonal Past (-ti/-di) in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Estonian lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
