Saying the Date and Year
Täna on kolmas mai means today is the third of May. On the third of May is kolmandal mail, written 3. mail.
How It Works
Naming the date. Use an ordinal and the month name, both in the nominative: Täna on kolmas mai. Täna on kahekümne neljas veebruar. In writing: 3. mai, 24. veebruar. The day always comes first.
On a date. Both words go into the adessive: kolmandal mail (on the 3rd of May), esimesel septembril (on the 1st of September). Written with digits: 3. mail, 1. septembril.
From and until. Use the elative and the terminative: 1. oktoobrist 15. detsembrini (from 1 October to 15 December).
Years. In a year uses aastal. Written with digits, the year is an ordinal and needs a period: 2024. aastal, read kahe tuhande kahekümne neljandal aastal. You can also write aastal 2024 with a cardinal number and no period.
A full date: 5. juunil 1995 or 5. juunil 1995. aastal. In numbers, Estonian writes day.month.year: 05.06.1995.
Asking. Mis kuupäev täna on? (What is the date today?) In speech you also hear Mitmes täna on? To ask "on which date?", say mitmendal?
Month names always keep a small letter.
Examples (6)
- Täna on kahekümne neljas september.
Today is the twenty-fourth of September.
- Ma olen sündinud 5. juunil 1995.
I was born on the 5th of June 1995.
Read as viiendal juunil.
- Jaanipäev on 24. juunil.
Midsummer Day is on the 24th of June.
Read as kahekümne neljandal juunil.
- Me kolisime Tallinnasse 2020. aastal.
We moved to Tallinn in 2020.
Read as kahe tuhande kahekümnendal aastal.
- Mis kuupäev täna on?
What is the date today?
- Kursus kestab 1. oktoobrist 15. detsembrini.
The course runs from the 1st of October to the 15th of December.
Common Mistakes
Putting only the ordinal in the adessive.
Me kohtume viiendal mai.Me kohtume viiendal mail.On a date, both the ordinal and the month take the adessive.
Using a cardinal number instead of an ordinal.
Täna on kolm mai.Täna on kolmas mai.The day of the month is an ordinal: kolmas, not kolm.
Leaving out the period after the year before aastal.
Ta sündis 1990 aastal.Ta sündis 1990. aastal.With aastal after it, the year is an ordinal and needs a period. Without the period, write aastal 1990.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Dates are ordinals in the adessive.
Related Patterns
- Months and Seasons
Without a day number, the month takes the inessive: mais.
Level 2 - Elative (-st)
The elative marks the starting date: 1. oktoobrist.
Level 1 - Terminative (-ni)
The terminative marks the end date: 15. detsembrini.
Level 2 - Small Letters for Days and Nations
Month names in dates keep a small letter.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Saying the Date and Year in Bubblegum
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