ei ... ega
Neither ... nor
Ma ei joo ega suitseta means I neither drink nor smoke. Tal ei ole aega ega raha means He has neither time nor money.
How It Works
ega means and not or nor.
- Two verbs: Ma ei joo ega suitseta. Ta ei helistanud ega kirjutanud. The verb after ega looks like a verb after ei: no personal ending, and -nud in the past.
- Two nouns: Tal ei ole aega ega raha. Both words are in the partitive, because the whole sentence is negative.
- Stressing each part: put ei before the first part too: Seal ei olnud ei loomi ega linde. In a longer open list, ei is repeated: Ta ei söö ei liha, ei kala, ei mune.
- After a positive clause: ega can also mean and not: Ta vaatas mulle otsa ega öelnud sõnagi.
There is no comma before ega. You may also hear ja ei, but ega is the better choice in careful Estonian. The negative form of nii ... kui ka is ei ... ega ka. Do not confuse this ega with questions that start with ega, like Ega sa ei tea?
Examples (6)
- Ma ei joo ega suitseta.
I neither drink nor smoke.
Word by Word: I not drink nor smoke
- Tal ei ole aega ega raha.
He has neither time nor money.
- Ta ei helistanud ega kirjutanud.
She neither called nor wrote.
Both past verbs have the -nud form.
- Seal ei olnud ei loomi ega linde.
There were neither animals nor birds there.
- Mul ei ole autot ega jalgratast.
I have neither a car nor a bicycle.
- Ei ta joo ega suitseta.
He neither drinks nor smokes.
ei can move to the front of the sentence for emphasis.
Common Mistakes
Adding a personal ending to the verb after ega.
Ma ei joo ega suitsetan.Ma ei joo ega suitseta.ega works like ei, so the verb after it has no personal ending.
Repeating ei after ega.
Ma ei joo ega ei suitseta.Ma ei joo ega suitseta.ega already means and not, so a second ei is not needed.
Using the nominative for the second object.
Mul ei ole autot ega jalgratas.Mul ei ole autot ega jalgratast.The whole sentence is negative, so both nouns take the partitive.
How It Connects
Learn This First
ega continues a negative with or.
Related Patterns
- Partitive After Negation
Nouns joined by ega stay in the partitive because the sentence is negative.
Level 1 - nii ... kui kaBoth ... and
nii ... kui ka is the positive pair; its negative form is ei ... ega ka.
Level 3 - ka ei / ka mitteNot Either (Ka Ei, Ka Mitte)
ka ei is another way to add a second negative: not either.
Level 3 - kas ... võiEither ... or and Whether
kas ... või offers a choice, while ei ... ega rules out both options.
Level 3 - Hesitant Questions (ega)
ega at the start of a question is a different use of the same word.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice ei ... ega in Bubblegum
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