Estonian cases and what the exam tests

Estonian has fourteen cases. The number frightens people, but the exam never asks what the terminative case is called — it asks whether your sentence is right.

Three base forms, and everything else follows

Every noun is learnt in three forms: nominative (nimetav), genitive (omastav) and partitive (osastav).

• raamat — raamatu — raamatut (book)
• tuba — toa — tuba (room)
• jalg — jala — jalga (leg)

The other eleven cases are built on the genitive by adding an ending: raamatusse, raamatus, raamatust, raamatule, raamatul, raamatult, raamatuks, raamatuni, raamatuna, raamatuta, raamatuga. Get the genitive and you have eleven cases from one rule.

Consonant gradation

Some words change their stem: tuba → toa, jalg → jala, linn → linna. No rule derives it — it is learnt together with the word, and it is where most learners lose marks in writing.

Where the exam actually checks cases

• Writing — every wrong case is visible here. A letter or an application is made of places (where? where to? where from?) and times.
• Speaking — the interview is recorded and a second marker assesses it from the recording; a wrong case can be heard.
• Reading and listening — recognition is enough: bussiga says how, bussini says how far.

How to learn them

Always learn a new word in all three base forms, never in one. Write a couple of short sentences about your day — where you are going, where you are, where you have come from — because those three questions cover the six locative cases, and the locative cases are half of any exam letter.

Drill one part at a time in the question bank, then check in a full-length mock whether the writing score moved. The structure of the exam is set out in the exam guide.