ei ole / pole

Negative of Olema

Level 1

ei ole = pole (not be). Ma ei ole väsinud. Ta pole kodus.

How It Works

The same form for everyone. ma ei ole, sa ei ole, ta ei ole, me ei ole, te ei ole, nad ei ole, or ma pole, sa pole and so on. The positive forms olen, oled, on and the rest all become ole. See Negation with ei.

ei ole or pole? Both are correct in speech and writing and mean the same. ei ole is the basic form. pole is unstressed, so it suits sentences where the stress falls on another word: Ta pole kodus. In a short answer, use Ei ole: Kas ta on kodus? – Ei ole. A bare Pole. sounds odd there.

Past and perfect. The past is ei olnud or polnud: Eile ma polnud tööl. The negative perfect has the same choice: Ma pole seda filmi näinud. See Negative Past and Negative Perfect.

Not having. Mul ei ole or Mul pole means I don't have, and the missing thing goes into the partitive: Mul pole aega. See Not Having (mul ei ole) and Partitive After Negation.

Examples (6)

  1. Ma ei ole eestlane.

    I'm not Estonian.

  2. Ta pole täna kodus.

    He isn't home today. / She isn't home today.

  3. Me ei ole väsinud.

    We're not tired.

    ei ole stays the same for every person.

  4. Kas pood on lahti? – Ei ole.

    Is the shop open? – No, it isn't.

    A short answer uses Ei ole.

  5. Mul pole aega.

    I don't have time.

    After a negative, aeg goes into the partitive: aega.

  6. Eile ma polnud tööl.

    I wasn't at work yesterday.

    polnud is the short form of ei olnud.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the personal ending after ei.

    Ma ei olen kodus.
    Ma ei ole kodus.

    After ei the verb has no personal ending: ei ole for every person.

  • Putting ei in front of pole.

    Ma ei pole kodus.
    Ma pole kodus.

    pole already contains ei. Say ma pole or ma ei ole, not both.

  • Keeping the nominative after a negative.

    Mul ei ole auto.
    Mul ei ole autot.

    In a negative having sentence, the thing you lack goes into the partitive.

How It Connects

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

ei ole / poleLevel 1Negative of Olema

Learn This First

Negating olema combines olema with ei.

Words in This Pattern

poleolema