Partitive Subject

Level 2

Klaasis on vett. (There is some water in the glass.) Pargis on palju inimesi. (There are many people in the park.) Külmkapis ei ole piima. (There is no milk in the fridge.)

How It Works

1. Always partitive in the negative

  • Külmkapis ei ole piima. (There is no milk in the fridge.)
  • Poes ei olnud leiba. (There was no bread in the shop.)
  • Mul ei ole autot. (I don't have a car.) Having sentences follow the same rule.

2. Some amount of a substance
Mass nouns are partitive when the amount is open: Klaasis on vett. (There is some water in the glass.) The nominative drops that sense of some and simply names what is there: Klaasis on vesi. (There is water in the glass, and not juice, for example.) See partitive with mass nouns.

3. An open number of things
A plural that means some, an unknown number, is plural partitive: Aias kasvab lilli. (There are flowers growing in the garden.) Kas teil on lapsi? (Do you have children?) A nominative plural means a known, whole group: Õues on lapsed. (The children are outside.)

4. After amount words
After palju, vähe and natuke and numbers, the noun is partitive too: Pargis on palju inimesi.

5. The verb stays singular
A partitive subject never makes the verb plural: Õues mängib lapsi. (There are children playing outside.) With a nominative plural, the verb is plural: Õues mängivad lapsed. (The children are playing outside.) With olema you cannot see this, because on is both singular and plural.

Examples (6)

  1. Klaasis on vett.

    There is some water in the glass.

    Word by Word: glass-in is water(PART)

  2. Pargis on palju inimesi.

    There are a lot of people in the park.

    Word by Word: park-in is many people(PART.PL)

  3. Külmkapis ei ole piima.

    There is no milk in the fridge.

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

  4. Õues mängib lapsi.

    There are children playing outside.

    Word by Word: outside plays children(PART.PL)

    The verb mängib stays singular because lapsi is partitive.

  5. Kas teil on lapsi?

    Do you have children?

    Word by Word: Q you-at is children(PART.PL)

  6. Poes ei olnud leiba.

    There was no bread in the shop.

    Word by Word: shop-in not was bread(PART)

Common Mistakes

  • Making the verb plural with a partitive subject.

    Õues mängivad lapsi.
    Õues mängib lapsi.

    A partitive subject does not agree with the verb, so the verb stays singular. For a plural verb, use the nominative: Õues mängivad lapsed.

  • Using the nominative for a thing that is not there.

    Külmkapis ei ole piim.
    Külmkapis ei ole piima.

    In a negative there-is sentence the missing thing is always partitive.

  • Using the nominative plural after palju.

    Pargis on palju inimesed.
    Pargis on palju inimesi.

    Palju is followed by the partitive: inimesi.

How It Connects

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

Partitive SubjectLevel 2

Learn This First

An open amount in a there-is sentence is partitive.