Negative Past

Level 2

To say something did not happen, use ei + -nud: Ma ei tulnud. (I did not come.) The form is the same for everyone.

How It Works

In the affirmative, the simple past has personal endings (tulin, tulid, tuli). In the negative, those endings disappear. Use ei plus the -nud form for every person:

  • ma tulin → ma ei tulnud
  • sa teadsid → sa ei teadnud
  • ta läks → ta ei läinud
  • nad olid → nad ei olnud (nad polnud)

Ei olnud is often written and said as polnud: Me polnud kodus. Both forms are correct. In casual speech you may also hear the short ei tulnd.

After a negative verb, a direct object usually goes into the partitive: Ma ostsin leiva. becomes Ma ei ostnud leiba.

Examples (5)

  1. Ma ei tulnud eile tööle, sest olin haige.

    I did not come to work yesterday because I was ill.

    Tulema → ei tulnud.

  2. Sa ei öelnud mulle midagi.

    You did not tell me anything.

    Ütlema has the -nud form öelnud.

  3. Nad ei teadnud seda.

    They did not know that.

    The form is the same for every person.

  4. Me polnud eile kodus.

    We were not at home yesterday.

    Polnud is the short form of ei olnud.

  5. Ma ei ostnud leiba.

    I did not buy bread.

    After negation the object is in the partitive: leiba.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the past personal ending after ei.

    Ma ei tulin.
    Ma ei tulnud.

    The negative past never takes personal endings. Use ei + tulnud.

  • Building -nud from the past stem läks-.

    Ta ei läksnud kooli.
    Ta ei läinud kooli.

    The -nud form of minema is läinud.

  • Using the affirmative plural form after ei.

    Nad ei olid kodus.
    Nad ei olnud kodus.

    After ei, olema takes olnud for every person. You can also say Nad polnud kodus.

How It Connects

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

Negative PastLevel 2

Learn This First

The negative past is ei plus -nud.

Words in This Pattern

-nudpolnud