No Gender in Estonian

Level 1

Estonian has no masculine or feminine. Tema, or short ta, means both "he" and "she": Ta on õpetaja means "He is a teacher" or "She is a teacher".

How It Works

Many languages sort nouns into masculine and feminine. Estonian does not. A table, a teacher and a cat are all treated the same way, and adjectives do not change: uus arst (a new doctor) is the same for a man or a woman.

The third-person pronoun is tema, with the shorter form ta. Both mean "he" and "she". The short form is common when the pronoun is not stressed. The same is true of the possessive: tema nimi means "his name" or "her name". See the personal pronouns.

  • Ta on õpetaja. He is a teacher. / She is a teacher.
  • Tema nimi on Mari. Her name is Mari.

If you need to show gender, use a noun or a name: mees (man), naine (woman), poiss (boy), tüdruk (girl), vend (brother), õde (sister). A few nouns have a female form in -nna, such as sõbranna (female friend), but most job words, like õpetaja and arst, cover everyone.

For things, Estonians usually use see (it, this) rather than ta: Kus on mu telefon? – See on laual. In casual speech, ta is also heard for things.

One thing to watch: because "his" and "her" are the same word, Estonian uses oma (own) when the owner is the subject of the sentence. Jaan helistas oma emale means "Jaan called his own mother". See oma.

Examples (6)

  1. Ta on õpetaja.

    He is a teacher. / She is a teacher.

    Word by Word: He/she is teacher.

    Only context shows whether ta is a man or a woman.

  2. Tema nimi on Mari.

    Her name is Mari.

    Word by Word: Her name is Mari.

    Tema also means her.

  3. Tema nimi on Jaan.

    His name is Jaan.

    Word by Word: His name is Jaan.

    The same word tema means his.

  4. Mu õde elab Tartus. Ta õpib ülikoolis.

    My sister lives in Tartu. She studies at the university.

    Word by Word: My sister lives Tartu-in. She studies university-in.

    The word õde (sister) shows it is a woman; ta just follows.

  5. Uus arst on väga tore.

    The new doctor is very nice.

    Word by Word: New doctor is very nice.

    Uus and tore stay the same for any doctor.

  6. Kus on mu telefon? – See on laual.

    Where is my phone? – It is on the table.

    Word by Word: Where is my phone? – It is table-on.

    For things, see (it) is the usual word.

Common Mistakes

  • Using tema for "his own" when the owner is the subject.

    Jaan helistas tema emale.
    Jaan helistas oma emale.

    If you mean Jaan called his own mother, use oma. Tema emale means someone else's mother, another man's or a woman's.

Words in This Pattern