olema

The Verb Olema (To Be)

Level 1

ma olen, sa oled, ta on, me oleme, te olete, nad on. Ma olen eestlane. Nad on kodus.

How It Works

  • ma olen — I am
  • sa oled — you are
  • ta on — he, she or it is
  • me oleme — we are
  • te olete — you are (plural or polite)
  • nad on — they are

Main uses.

Plural descriptions. With a plural subject, the noun or adjective after olema is plural too: Ma olen eestlane, but Me oleme eestlased. Polite teie said to one person is the exception: Te olete väga lahke. See Familiar sina and Polite teie.

Other forms. The da-infinitive is olla (Ma tahan kodus olla.), the simple past is olin, olid, oli, olime, olite, olid, and the commands are Ole! and Olge!, as in Asking Nicely (ole hea). The negative is ei ole or pole; see Negative of olema. olema also builds the perfect: olen teinud (Perfect Tense).

Examples (6)

  1. Ma olen eestlane.

    I'm Estonian.

  2. Kus sa oled?

    Where are you?

  3. Tallinn on Eesti pealinn.

    Tallinn is the capital of Estonia.

  4. Nad on praegu kodus.

    They're at home right now.

    On serves both he or she and they.

  5. Me oleme sõbrad.

    We are friends.

    With a plural subject the noun is plural: sõbrad.

  6. Te olete väga tublid!

    You've all done really well!

    Said to a group: olete and the plural adjective tublid.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -vad to olema for they.

    Nad olevad kodus.
    Nad on kodus.

    The they form of olema is on, the same as for he or she. Olevad is not a present-tense verb form.

  • Leaving out olema.

    Ma eestlane.
    Ma olen eestlane.

    Estonian always needs a form of olema to say what someone is.

  • Using the wrong ending for the person.

    Ta olen õpetaja.
    Ta on õpetaja.

    olen is only for ma. For ta use on.

How It Connects

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

olemaLevel 1The Verb Olema (To Be)

Learn This First

olema is conjugated with the personal pronouns.

Words in This Pattern

olema