Forms of the personal pronouns
Pronouns change by case, just like nouns. At A2 you mostly need five forms: who? (ma), whom? (mind), to whom? (mulle), whose? (minu) and with whom? (minuga).
The “whom?” form — the partitive — follows verbs like armastama, ootama, aitama, nägema: Ma ootan sind. The -le form answers “to whom?”: Anna mulle! Helista talle!
“I have” uses a separate -l form: mul, sul, tal, meil, teil, neil: Mul on auto.
| Who? | Whom? | To whom? | Whose? | With whom? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ma / mina | mind | mulle | minu | minuga |
| sa / sina | sind | sulle | sinu | sinuga |
| ta / tema | teda | talle | tema | temaga |
| me / meie | meid | meile | meie | meiega |
| te / teie | teid | teile | teie | teiega |
| nad / nemad | neid | neile | nende | nendega |
Examples
- Ma ootan sind kell viis.
- I’ll wait for you at five.
- Helista mulle homme!
- Call me tomorrow!
- See on tema auto.
- This is his car.
- Kas sa tuled meiega?
- Are you coming with us?
- Ma ei tunne neid.
- I don’t know them.
Common mistakes
- Ma helistan sulle, not “Ma helistan sind”: helistama takes “to whom?” (-le).
- nende, not “neide”: “their” is nende — nende auto.
- In speech the short forms are common: mu, su instead of minu, sinu: Mu nimi on Anna.