Loan Verbs in -eerima

Level 4

If you know an international verb like reserve or comment, try -eerima: reserveerima, kommenteerima. The forms are regular: ma reserveerin, ma reserveerisin.

How It Works

Many verbs borrowed from other European languages end in -eerima. Their stem never changes:

  • reserveerima, reserveerida (to reserve)
  • ma reserveerin, sa reserveerid, ta reserveerib (present)
  • ma reserveerisin, ta reserveeris (past)
  • reserveeritakse, reserveeritud (impersonal and -tud form)

The activity noun ends in -eerimine: reserveerimine (reserving), registreerimine (registration). Many verbs also have a noun in -tsioon: organiseerima → organisatsioon, informeerima → informatsioon, reageerima → reaktsioon, demonstreerima → demonstratsioon.

A verb for something that happens to the subject by itself ends in -eeruma: Ma ei suuda kontsentreeruda. (I can't concentrate.) Some verbs have both forms: emigreeruma and emigreerima (emigrate) are both correct, and emigreeruma is far more common today.

Many of these verbs have a native partner that is more common in everyday speech: organiseerima or korraldama (organize), informeerima or teavitama (inform), diskuteerima or arutama (discuss). Language advice also prefers shorter forms without an extra suffix: optimeerima rather than optimaliseerima, and minimeerima rather than minimaliseerima.

Examples (6)

  1. Ma reserveerisin meile laua kella seitsmeks.

    I reserved a table for us for seven o'clock.

    A regular past form: reserveeri- plus -sin.

  2. Ta ei tahtnud seda kommenteerida.

    He didn't want to comment on it.

  3. Palun registreerige end enne reedet.

    Please register before Friday.

  4. Kes selle peo organiseeris?

    Who organized this party?

  5. Ta töötab rahvusvahelises organisatsioonis.

    She works at an international organization.

    Organisatsioon is the -tsioon noun related to organiseerima.

  6. Linn reageeris kaebustele kiiresti.

    The city responded quickly to the complaints.

Common Mistakes

  • Conjugating an -eerima verb like an -ama verb.

    Ma reserveeran laua.
    Ma reserveerin laua.

    The stem ends in -eeri-, so the present is reserveerin, reserveerid, reserveerib.

How It Connects

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

Loan Verbs in -eerimaLevel 4

Learn This First

-eerima verbs conjugate regularly.