How the past tense is formed
The simple past (lihtminevik) is for an action that happened and finished in the past: Eile olin ma kodus. — “Yesterday I was at home.”
Most verbs add -s- and a personal ending to the stem of the -ma infinitive: elama → ma elasin, ta elas; töötama → töötasin; õppima → õppisin. The third person singular has no personal ending: ta elas, ta töötas.
Some common verbs take an -i- past instead: tulema → ma tulin, ta tuli; tegema → tegin; nägema → nägin. A few forms are simply learned by heart: minema → läksin, sööma → sõin, jooma → jõin.
| Person | olla | elama (-s-) | tulema (-i-) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ma | olin | elasin | tulin |
| sa | olid | elasid | tulid |
| ta | oli | elas | tuli |
| me | olime | elasime | tulime |
| te | olite | elasite | tulite |
| nad | olid | elasid | tulid |
Negation and questions
Negation is the same for every person: ei + the -nud form: ma ei olnud, nad ei elanud, ta ei tulnud.
A question starts with kas: Kas sa olid eile tööl? — Jah, olin. / Ei, ei olnud.
Time words that signal the past: eile — yesterday, eelmisel nädalal — last week, eelmisel aastal — last year, kaks päeva tagasi — two days ago.
Examples
- Eile olin ma kodus.
- Yesterday I was at home.
- Me elasime kaks aastat Tartus.
- We lived in Tartu for two years.
- Eelmisel aastal töötas ta poes.
- Last year she worked in a shop.
- Nad tulid koju hilja.
- They came home late.
- Ma ei olnud eile tööl.
- I wasn’t at work yesterday.
Common mistakes
- ma ei elanud, not “ma ei elasin”: after ei the verb is always the -nud form, with no personal ending.
- The third person singular has no ending: ta elas, ta oli (not “ta olis”).
- For experience rather than a moment in the past, use the perfect: Ma olen Tartus elanud. — “I have lived in Tartu.”