jääma

Staying and Becoming (Jääma)

Level 3

Ma jään koju means I am staying home. Ta jäi haigeks means He fell ill. Laps jäi magama means The child fell asleep.

How It Works

jääma has the forms jään, jääd, jääb, jääme, jääte, jäävad; past jäin, jäi; da-infinitive jääda; -nud form jäänud.

  • To stay somewhere: the place is in a where to case, like after a verb of movement: Ma jään koju. Ta jäi haiglasse.
  • To be left, to remain: Mulle jäi üks euro. (I had one euro left.) Puhkuseni on jäänud kaks nädalat.
  • To become (+ translative -ks): haigeks jääma (to fall ill), vanaks jääma (to grow old), vaiksemaks jääma (to get quieter). In races it gives your place: Jäime viimaseks.
  • To start and stay in a state (+ ma-infinitive): magama jääma (to fall asleep), seisma jääma (to stop), ootama jääma (to stay and wait).
  • To be left undone (+ -mata): Mul jäi töö lõpetamata. (I did not get the work finished.)

Compare saama. Both can mean to become, but saama usually names a goal someone reaches (Ta sai arstiks.), while jääma often names a change that just happens (Ta jäi haigeks.).

Many fixed phrases use jääma: ära jääma (to be cancelled), hiljaks jääma (to be late), meelde jääma (to stick in your memory), rahule jääma (to be satisfied). A friendly goodbye is Jää terveks! or Jääge terveks! (Stay well!).

Examples (6)

  1. Ma jään täna koju.

    I am staying home today.

    Word by Word: I stay today home-to

    koju is a where to form, as after verbs of movement.

  2. Ta jäi eile haigeks.

    He fell ill yesterday.

    Word by Word: he stayed yesterday ill-into

    haigeks is the translative of haige.

  3. Laps jäi kohe magama.

    The child fell asleep right away.

    Word by Word: child stayed at-once to-sleep

    magama is the ma-infinitive.

  4. Kell jäi seisma.

    The clock stopped.

    Word by Word: clock stayed to-stand

  5. Mul jäi üks töö lõpetamata.

    I left one job unfinished.

    Word by Word: at-me stayed one work finishing-without

    lõpetamata is the -mata form.

  6. Kontsert jäi ära.

    The concert was cancelled.

    Word by Word: concert stayed away

    ära jääma is a particle verb meaning to be cancelled.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the place after jääma in the inessive (-s).

    Ma jään täna kodus.
    Ma jään täna koju.

    jääma takes a where to case, like minema: koju, haiglasse, maale. The inessive answers where, but jääma looks at where you end up.

  • Using the da-infinitive for a new state.

    Laps jäi magada.
    Laps jäi magama.

    In the meaning to start and stay in a state, jääma takes the ma-infinitive: magama jääma, seisma jääma.

  • Leaving out the translative ending.

    Ta jäi haige.
    Ta jäi haigeks.

    The new state after jääma is in the translative, so haige becomes haigeks.

How It Connects

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

jäämaLevel 3Staying and Becoming (Jääma)

Learn This First

jääma takes the translative or the ma-infinitive.

Words in This Pattern

jääma-ma