Partitive After Negation

Level 1

Positive: Ma ostan leiva. Negative: Ma ei osta leiba. Positive: Siin on pood. Negative: Siin ei ole poodi.

How It Works

1. Negated objects
In a positive sentence the object can be genitive, nominative or partitive. In a negative sentence it is always partitive:

  • Ma ostan raamatu. → Ma ei osta raamatut. (I am not buying the book.)
  • Ta sõi leiva ära. → Ta ei söönud leiba. (She did not eat the bread.)
  • Võta vihmavari! → Ära võta vihmavarju! (Don't take an umbrella!)

Plural objects use the plural partitive: Ma ei osta õunu. Pronouns follow the same rule: Ma ei näe sind. (I don't see you.)

2. Things that are not there
In there-is and having sentences, the thing that is missing is partitive:

  • Siin on pood. → Siin ei ole poodi. (There is no shop here.)
  • Mul on auto. → Mul ei ole autot. (I don't have a car.) See mul ei ole.
  • Külmkapis ei ole piima. (There is no milk in the fridge.)

3. What does not change

  • The ordinary subject: Mari ei tule. (Mari is not coming.)
  • A noun or adjective that describes the subject after olema: Ma ei ole arst. (I am not a doctor.) See olema + predicate.
  • A known thing in a place sentence: Raamat ei ole laual. (The book is not on the table.) Compare Laual ei ole raamatut. (There is no book on the table.)

Good to know
When you contrast two things with mitte … vaid (not … but), the object can keep its positive case: Ta ei ostnud mitte auto, vaid paadi. (He bought not a car but a boat.) Here nothing is really denied: something was bought.

Examples (6)

  1. Ma ei joo kohvi.

    I don't drink coffee.

    Word by Word: I not drink coffee(PART)

  2. Siin ei ole poodi.

    There is no shop here.

    Word by Word: here not is shop(PART)

  3. Mul pole täna aega.

    I don't have time today.

    Word by Word: to-me isn't today time(PART)

  4. Ta ei osta uut autot.

    She isn't buying a new car.

    Word by Word: she not buy new(PART) car(PART)

    The adjective uus is partitive too: uut.

  5. Ära unusta võtit!

    Don't forget the key!

    Word by Word: don't forget key(PART)

    A negative command with ära also makes the object partitive.

  6. Külmkapis ei ole piima.

    There is no milk in the fridge.

    Word by Word: in-fridge not is milk(PART)

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping a negated object in the nominative or genitive.

    Ma ei osta leib.
    Ma ei osta leiba.

    A negated object is always partitive: leib becomes leiba.

  • Leaving the missing thing in the nominative.

    Siin ei ole pood.
    Siin ei ole poodi.

    When you say that something does not exist in a place, that thing takes the partitive.

  • Making the describing noun after olema partitive.

    Ma ei ole õpetajat.
    Ma ei ole õpetaja.

    Negation does not change a noun that says what the subject is. It stays in the nominative.

How It Connects

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Partitive After NegationLevel 1

Learn This First

A negated object takes the partitive.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

olema