Language/Standard-estonian/Grammar/Questions

Standard Estonian Grammar - Questions

Hi Standard Estonian learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will focus on asking questions in Standard Estonian.

Basic question pattern

To form a basic question in Standard Estonian, you can either use intonation or add a question word at the beginning of the sentence.

Using intonation

To form a question with intonation, you simply raise your voice at the end of the sentence. For example:

• Sina oled eestlane. (You are Estonian.)
• Sina oled eestlane? (Are you Estonian?)

Using question words

Question words are words that begin a question. In English, examples of question words are "what", "where", "who", etc. In Standard Estonian, some examples of question words are "kes" (who), "mis" (what), "kuidas" (how), "millal" (when), "kus" (where), and "miks" (why). For example:

• Kes sa oled? (Who are you?)
• Mis su lemmiktoit on? (What is your favorite food?)
• Kuidas sul läheb? (How are you?)
• Millal sa tulekul oled? (When are you coming?)
• Kus sa elad? (Where do you live?)
• Miks sa nii arvad? (Why do you think so?)

Note that in Standard Estonian, the word order remains the same in both affirmative and negative sentences. For example, "Sa saad aru" (You understand) becomes "Sa saad aru?" (Do you understand?) and "Sa ei saa aru" (You don't understand) becomes "Sa ei saa aru?" (Don't you understand?)

Word order in questions

When forming a question with a question word, the word order in the sentence changes. The question word comes first, followed by the verb, then the subject, and the rest of the sentence. For example:

Standard Estonian	Pronunciation	English
Kus sa elad?	['kus sa 'elad]	Where do you live?
Mis juhtus?	['mis 'jux.tus]	What happened?
Kuidas sul läheb?	['kui.das sul 'læ.heb]	How are you?

Note that if the verb is "olema" (to be), the question word comes before the verb. For example: "Kes sa oled?" (Who are you?)

Dialogue

• Person 1: Millal on sinu sünnipäev? (When is your birthday?)
• Person 2: Minu sünnipäev on 17. juunil. (My birthday is on June 17th.)
• Person 1: Kus sa õpid? (Where do you study?)
• Person 2: Ma õpin Tartu Ülikoolis. (I study at Tartu University.)

More complex questions

In Standard Estonian, you can also form more complex questions by using different sentence structures. For example:

Indirect questions

Indirect questions are questions that are embedded in a statement. They are introduced by certain verbs, such as "tahaksin teada" (I would like to know), "ei tea" (I don't know), or "küsima" (to ask). The word order in an indirect question is the same as in a normal question. For example:

• Ma ei tea, millal ta siia tuleb. (I don't know when he will come here.)
• Kas sa oskad öelda, kus see asub? (Can you tell me where it is?)
• Tahaksin teada, mida sa arvad sellest ideest. (I would like to know what you think about this idea.)

Tag questions

Tag questions are questions that are added at the end of a sentence to confirm or emphasize the statement. In Standard Estonian, tag questions are formed by adding "-kas" or "-eks" at the end of the sentence. For example:

• Sa tuled, eks? (You're coming, right?)
• Sa oled Eesti kodanik, kas pole? (You're an Estonian citizen, aren't you?)
• See on õige, eks? (That's correct, isn't it?)

Cultural notes

- In Estonian culture, it is considered polite to wait for a pause in the conversation before asking a question. Interrupting someone while they are speaking is considered rude. - Estonian has a unique personal pronoun system. Instead of "he" and "she", Estonian uses gender-neutral pronouns "tema" and "ta".

To improve your Standard Estonian Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Estonian language
• Standard Estonian
• Question