Nouns with -ik
Kohvik means café: the place for kohv (coffee). -ik makes many everyday nouns.
How It Works
The suffix -ik is very old and very broad. It names something linked to the base word:
- Objects: õppima (to study) → õpik (textbook), päev (day) → päevik (diary)
- Places: kohv (coffee) → kohvik (café), madal (low) → madalik (lowland)
- Groves of one kind of tree: kask (birch) → kaasik, mänd (pine) → männik, kuusk (spruce) → kuusik
- People: põgenema (to flee) → põgenik (refugee), imik (baby)
Endings. -ik nouns take -u- before most case endings: õpik, õpiku, õpikut; kohvik → kohvikus, kohvikusse; plural õpikud, õpikuid. Words of three syllables, such as põgenik and madalik, build the partitive differently: põgenikku, plural põgenikke.
A longer relative, -stik, names a whole set: sõna → sõnastik (dictionary), täht → tähestik (alphabet).
Examples (6)
- Kus su eesti keele õpik on?
Where is your Estonian textbook?
Õppima → õpik.
- Kohtume kell kolm kohvikus.
Let's meet at three in the café.
Kohvik → kohvikus, with -u- before the ending.
- Maja taga kasvab kaasik.
There is a birch grove growing behind the house.
Kask → kaasik.
- Männikus on hea seeni korjata.
The pine forest is a good place to pick mushrooms.
Mänd → männik → männikus.
- Kirjutan igal õhtul päevikusse.
I write in my diary every evening.
Päev → päevik → päevikusse.
- Sõja ajal tuli linna palju põgenikke.
During the war many refugees came to the town.
A person noun: põgenik → plural partitive põgenikke.
Common Mistakes
Adding endings straight to -ik without the -u-.
Kohtume kell kolm kohvikis.Kohtume kell kolm kohvikus.The case stem of an -ik noun ends in -u: kohviku-, so the inessive is kohvikus.
Using -it for the partitive singular.
Mul pole eesti keele õpikit.Mul pole eesti keele õpikut.The partitive is built on the same -u- stem: õpikut, kohvikut.
How It Connects
Learn This First
-ik is another noun suffix.
Related Patterns
- Place Nouns (-la)
Another suffix for places, mostly buildings: haigla.
Level 5 - Abstract Nouns (-us, -dus)
Another common noun suffix, for abstract ideas.
Level 4 - Names for Devices (-i, -r, -k)Names for Devices
Other suffixes that name devices.
Level 5 - Key Forms of a Noun
The key forms that show the -u- stem: õpik, õpiku, õpikut.
Level 2
Practice Nouns with -ik in Bubblegum
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