saama

The Many Uses of Saama

Level 3

Sain kirja means I got a letter. Ma ei saa tulla means I cannot come. Temast sai arst means He became a doctor.

How It Works

saama has the forms saan, saad, saab, saame, saate, saavad; past sain, sai; da-infinitive saada; -nud form saanud; negative ei saa.

  • To get, to receive: Sain kirja. The object follows the usual object rules: Sain paki, but Ma ei saanud pakki. (partitive after a negative).
  • To be able to (+ da-infinitive): Ma ei saa homme tulla. saama is about circumstances. For a learned skill use oskama (Ma oskan ujuda.), and for permission use võima or tohtima.
  • It is possible (no subject): Siit saab osta pileteid. (You can buy tickets here.) Seda ei saa teha. (It cannot be done.)
  • To become: either X-st sai Y with the elative and the nominative (Temast sai arst.), or a subject with the translative (Ta sai arstiks. Õpetaja sai vihaseks.). An age uses the translative too: Ta sai viieaastaseks.
  • To happen: Mis sai? (What happened?) Mis siis saab? (What will happen then?)

saama also forms many particle verbs: aru saama (to understand; the thing understood is in the elative: Ma saan sellest aru.), kokku saama (to meet), hakkama saama (to manage), läbi saama (to get along, or to end), teada saama (to find out).

Examples (6)

  1. Sain eile sõbralt kirja.

    I got a letter from a friend yesterday.

    Word by Word: got-I yesterday friend-from letter

    kirja is a whole object in the genitive.

  2. Ma ei saa homme tulla.

    I cannot come tomorrow.

    Word by Word: I not can tomorrow come

    tulla is the da-infinitive.

  3. Temast sai arst.

    He became a doctor.

    Word by Word: him-from got doctor

    The person is in the elative and the new role in the nominative.

  4. Siit saab osta pileteid.

    You can buy tickets here.

    Word by Word: here-from gets buy tickets

    No subject: saab means it is possible.

  5. Kas sa said aru?

    Did you understand?

    Word by Word: Q you got sense

    aru saama is a particle verb meaning to understand.

  6. Poeg sai eile viieaastaseks.

    My son turned five yesterday.

    Word by Word: son got yesterday five-year-old-into

Common Mistakes

  • Using the ma-infinitive after saama.

    Ma ei saa homme tulema.
    Ma ei saa homme tulla.

    In the meaning to be able to, saama takes the da-infinitive, like võima and oskama.

  • Using saama when you mean you never learned a skill.

    Ma ei saa ujuda.
    Ma ei oska ujuda.

    Ma ei saa ujuda means that something stops you from swimming right now. To say you never learned to swim, use oskama.

  • Putting the thing you understand in the partitive.

    Ma saan aru seda.
    Ma saan sellest aru.

    aru saama takes the elative: millestki aru saama.

How It Connects

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

saamaLevel 3The Many Uses of Saama

Learn This First

saama has several uses built on known patterns.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

saamaaru saama