see / need

This, That and These

Level 1

see means this, that or it, and need is the plural these / those: See on minu maja. (This is my house.) Need on minu raamatud. (These are my books.)

How It Works

see is used both on its own ("this one, it") and before a noun ("this house"). Estonian has no articles, so see often does some of the pointing work that "the" does in English.

Main forms

  • basic form: see / plural need
  • genitive: selle / nende
  • partitive: seda / neid
  • other cases use selle- and nende-: selles (in this), sellega (with this), nendega (with these). Short forms such as ses and neis also exist.

Agreement
Before a noun, see takes the same case and number as the noun: Selles kohvikus on hea kohv. (This café has good coffee.) Need majad on vanad. (These houses are old.)

Near or far?
see covers both "this" and "that". To be exact, add siin (here) or seal (there): see siin (this one here), see seal (that one there). The words too and nood point to something far away, but they are much rarer, and see seal is the everyday choice.

Good to know
For a person, use tema (he, she). Calling someone see can sound rude, although Kes see on? (Who is that?) is perfectly normal.

Examples (6)

  1. See on minu maja.

    This is my house.

    Word by Word: this is my house

  2. Need on minu raamatud.

    These are my books.

    Word by Word: these are my books

  3. Kas see koer on sinu oma?

    Is this dog yours?

    Word by Word: Q this dog is your own

  4. Ma võtan selle.

    I will take this one.

    Word by Word: I take this(GEN)

    selle is the genitive, used here for a whole object.

  5. Selles kohvikus on hea kohv.

    This café has good coffee.

    Word by Word: this-in café-in is good coffee

    see agrees with kohvikus, so it also takes -s: selles.

  6. See siin on minu oma, see seal on sinu oma.

    This one here is mine, that one there is yours.

    Word by Word: this here is my own, this there is your own

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a singular noun after need.

    Need maja on vanad.
    Need majad on vanad.

    need is plural, so the noun must be plural too: need majad.

  • Leaving see in the basic form when the noun has a case ending.

    See kohvikus on hea kohv.
    Selles kohvikus on hea kohv.

    see agrees with its noun, so kohvikus needs selles.

How It Connects

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

see / needLevel 1This, That and These

Learn This First

need is the plural of see.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

seeneed