Stacked Genitives

Level 6

Mari venna sõbra auto is "Mari's brother's friend's car". In a simple chain like this, each genitive owns the word that follows it.

How It Works

A genitive before a noun says whose it is or what it belongs to. Because each genitive can have its own genitive, you can build long chains:

  • koosolek (a meeting)
  • liikmete koosolek (the meeting of the members)
  • valitsuse liikmete koosolek (the meeting of the members of the government)
  • Eesti Vabariigi valitsuse liikmete koosolek (the meeting of the members of the Government of the Republic of Estonia)

Reading tip. Start at the end and work backwards: koosolek ← liikmete ← valitsuse ← Eesti Vabariigi. A genitive can also skip over a word: in Tartu Ülikooli eesti keele osakond, Tartu Ülikooli belongs to osakond, not to keel.

Case endings. The genitives never change. The sentence's case goes only on the last noun and on any adjective that describes it: Eesti Vabariigi valitsuse liikmete koosolekul (at the meeting), Kohtusin valitsuse liikmetega (I met the members of the government), Tartu Ülikooli uues peahoones (in the University of Tartu's new main building).

Adjectives inside the chain agree with their own noun: Tartu Ülikooli uue peahoone ehitus (the construction of the University of Tartu's new main building).

Style. Long chains are typical of official, legal and news writing, and they can be hard to read. Plain Estonian often breaks them up: Valitsuse liikmed kogunesid koosolekule (The members of the government gathered for a meeting).

Examples (6)

  1. Eesti Vabariigi valitsuse liikmete koosolek algab kell kümme.

    The meeting of the members of the Government of the Republic of Estonia begins at ten.

  2. Mari venna sõbra auto on punane.

    Mari's brother's friend's car is red.

    Word by Word: Mari(GEN) brother(GEN) friend(GEN) car is red

  3. Tartu Ülikooli eesti keele osakonna juhataja pidas kõne.

    The head of the Estonian language department at the University of Tartu gave a speech.

  4. Riigikogu liikmete palkade tõus tekitas vaidlusi.

    The rise in the salaries of members of the Riigikogu caused arguments.

  5. Linna bussiliinide sõiduplaani muudatused jõustuvad esmaspäeval.

    The changes to the city's bus timetable take effect on Monday.

  6. Kohtusin Eesti Vabariigi valitsuse liikmetega.

    I met members of the Government of the Republic of Estonia.

    Only liikmetega, the last noun, carries the comitative ending.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the genitive after the noun, as English does with "of".

    Koosolek valitsuse liikmete algab kell kümme.
    Valitsuse liikmete koosolek algab kell kümme.

    A genitive always comes before the noun it describes, so the whole chain stands in front of koosolek.

  • Leaving a word in the middle of the chain in the nominative.

    Mari vend sõbra auto on punane.
    Mari venna sõbra auto on punane.

    Every word in the chain except the last one is in the genitive: Mari, venna, sõbra.

How It Connects

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

Stacked GenitivesLevel 6

Learn This First

Formal genitive chains extend compounds and officialese.