Past simple (lihtminevik) in Estonian
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The simple past (lihtminevik in Estonian) indicates an action that was completed at an earlier time.
The simple past is derived from the -ma infinitive by adding an element between the stem and the suffix which identifies the person doing the action. There are two different ways:
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Most Estonian verbs have the following endings in the past tense:
Person | Ending |
---|---|
I | -si/n |
You | -si/d |
He/She/It | -s |
We | -si/me |
You | -si/te |
They | -si/d |
Notice that the past endings for 'you (singular)' and 'they' are the same.
The past tense endings are added to the stem of the -ma infinitive. For instance, you start with the infinitive tantsima 'to dance', drop the -ma and you have the stem tantsi-.
English | Estonian |
---|---|
I danced | Ma tantsisin |
You danced | Sa tantsisid |
He/She/It danced | Tema tantsis |
We danced | Meie tantsisime |
You danced | Teie tantsisite |
They danced | Nemad tantsisid |
When the stem ends in a consonant, an -i- is inserted before the -s ending of the 3rd person singular. This makes it easier to pronounce.
English | Estonian |
---|---|
To know | Teadma |
I knew | Mina teadsin |
She knew | Tema teadis |
If the stem has a single p or t after a short vowel, the 3rd person singular form doubles this consonant.
English | Estonian |
---|---|
To cry | Nutma |
I cried | Mina nutsin |
She cried | Tema nuttis |
If the stem already ends in -s, the s in the past is omitted. (Except the 3rd person singular, where an -i- is also inserted.)
English | Estonian |
---|---|
To stand | Seisma |
I stood | Mina seisin |
She stood | Tema seisis |
The verb minema 'to go' is irregular. The stem doesn't come from the -ma infinitive, but is related to the present tense form of lähen 'I go'.
English | Estonian |
---|---|
I went | Mina läksin |
You went | Sina läksid |
He/She/It went | Tema läks |
We went | Meie läksime |
You went | Teie läksite |
They went | Nemad läksid |
For some verbs, the past tense is made with an element -i- instead of -si-. The 3rd person singular adds nothing to the -i.
Ending | |
---|---|
I | -i/n |
You | -i/d |
He/She/It | -i |
We | -i/me |
You | -i/te |
They | -i/d |
Two types of verbs are conjugated in this manner:
Some verbs with two-syllable stems ending in -e-
Example: olema 'to be'
English | Estonian |
---|---|
I was | Mina olin |
You were | Sina olid |
He/She/It was | Tema oli |
We were | Meie olime |
You were | Teie olite |
They were | Nemad olid |
Some verbs with stems ending in aa, ää, oo, öö. In these cases, the double vowel becomes a single vowel and oo or öö changes to õ.
Example: jooma 'to drink'
English | Estonian |
---|---|
I drank | Mina jõin |
You drank | Sina jõid |
He/She/It drank | Tema jõi |
We drank | Meie jõime |
You drank | Teie jõite |
They drank | Nemad jõid |
In the simple past tense, the negative form does not have personal endings. It consists of the negatory word ei 'not' and a form of the verb with a -nud suffix.
Example: verb tantsima 'to dance'
English | Estonian |
---|---|
I did not dance | Ma ei tantsinud |
You did not dance | Sa ei tantsinud |
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My name is Diana. I am a TESOL-certified English and Estonian online teacher with more than 5 years of professional and over 20 years of international voluntary teaching experience. During these years I taught professionally more than 3000 different students by helping them to achieve their goals and dreams. My students were from different age groups, levels and backgrounds.
In my classes, you will feel at ease, have a friendly atmosphere and look forward to your next lessons. My aim is to make classes effective and my goal is to help you to :
* Advance your communication skills
* Boost your communication efficiency by improving your accent and speaking clarity
* Achieve your desired language proficiency fast by using my effective and easy methods.
I tailor my teaching material according to your level and needs. As I strongly believe that no two students are alike and one teaching method that fits all is unfair and ineffective.
Looking forward to meeting you soon and emerging on a learning journey with you.
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Diana is the best online teacher you can find. My children learn a lot. The classes are really fun. Highly recommended teacher.
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My name is Diana. I am a TESOL-certified English and Estonian online teacher with more than 5 years of professional and over 20 years of international voluntary teaching experience. During these years I taught professionally more than 3000 different students by helping them to achieve their goals and dreams. My students were from different age groups, levels and backgrounds.
In my classes, you will feel at ease, have a friendly atmosphere and look forward to your next lessons. My aim is to make classes effective and my goal is to help you to :
* Advance your communication skills
* Boost your communication efficiency by improving your accent and speaking clarity
* Achieve your desired language proficiency fast by using my effective and easy methods.
I tailor my teaching material according to your level and needs. As I strongly believe that no two students are alike and one teaching method that fits all is unfair and ineffective.
Looking forward to meeting you soon and emerging on a learning journey with you.
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It is so hard to find a good Estonian language teacher, especially a Russian speaker. And another important thing, that Diana motivates so much.
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Tere! I am a language teacher with more than ten years of experience. I have worked as a lecturer of Estonian language and culture at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Ukraine, at the Tallinn University in Estonia and in numerous language schools. Currently, I am a freelance linguist based in Berlin and teach Estonian online.
It is important for me to introduce a language as a simple logical system that is easy to understand and use. As a teacher, I structure my classes and deliver knowledge in a clear and engaging way, combining theory with practice. Besides my endeavours to make my classes useful, I aspire to make them entertaining and fun, so that my students have a great time in the lesson. By teaching students from a wide range of learning techniques, I always try to provide a personal approach to each student and adapt to their needs, so that they are able to continuously improve their grammar and vocabulary.
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I have now completed 20 lessons with Riina. I can confidently say her classes grow with you. While it is clear that she has a progression of vocabulary and grammar concepts, each lesson is still individualized to fit your interests and questions. Starting as a complete beginner with no knowledge of Estonian meant that at first, everything was new and very challenging. However, Riina presented in a way that was easy to understand. As I have gained more understanding, the lessons have added more vocabulary and grammar concepts in a way that makes sense. There is always time for questions at the beginning of each lesson in case I think of any between lessons. Additionally, there has also been more Estonian spoken each lesson, based on my progress. I recommend Riina to anyone looking for an Estonian teacher, and I am looking forward to continuing lessons with her.
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My name is Diana. I am a TESOL-certified English and Estonian online teacher with more than 5 years of professional and over 20 years of international voluntary teaching experience. During these years I taught professionally more than 3000 different students by helping them to achieve their goals and dreams. My students were from different age groups, levels and backgrounds.
In my classes, you will feel at ease, have a friendly atmosphere and look forward to your next lessons. My aim is to make classes effective and my goal is to help you to :
* Advance your communication skills
* Boost your communication efficiency by improving your accent and speaking clarity
* Achieve your desired language proficiency fast by using my effective and easy methods.
I tailor my teaching material according to your level and needs. As I strongly believe that no two students are alike and one teaching method that fits all is unfair and ineffective.
Looking forward to meeting you soon and emerging on a learning journey with you.
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Diana is a very professional teacher. Extremely patient and competent. She's always supporting and encouraging with her positive attitude. Looking forward to continue my study journey with her.
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My name is Diana. I am a TESOL-certified English and Estonian online teacher with more than 5 years of professional and over 20 years of international voluntary teaching experience. During these years I taught professionally more than 3000 different students by helping them to achieve their goals and dreams. My students were from different age groups, levels and backgrounds.
In my classes, you will feel at ease, have a friendly atmosphere and look forward to your next lessons. My aim is to make classes effective and my goal is to help you to :
* Advance your communication skills
* Boost your communication efficiency by improving your accent and speaking clarity
* Achieve your desired language proficiency fast by using my effective and easy methods.
I tailor my teaching material according to your level and needs. As I strongly believe that no two students are alike and one teaching method that fits all is unfair and ineffective.
Looking forward to meeting you soon and emerging on a learning journey with you.
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A wonderful teacher- patient, knowledgeable and so pleasant in communication! Was very flexible with scheduling a class at the last moment to accommodate me. Five stars all the way!
Diana B.It was a pleasure to meet Elena!❤️ She did so well pronouncing Estonian. The text was very complex but she handled it beautifully. All the best with your future endeavours!
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**Other time slots can be made available upon request. Don't hesitate to get in touch**
Native speaker from Paris with about 15 years of teaching experience. I’m well-travelled, and I’ve lived and worked in different parts of the world (Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and a little bit in Asia).
I have a postgraduate degree (France) in Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies and I’m currently a freelance translator. I’ve previously worked at universities in France and abroad (South Africa/Australia) and have a solid experience in teaching (French Language, Literature, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Creative Writing, etc.), designing courses, evaluating and guiding students, preparing students for exams/job interviews/professional presentations, managing a Language and Literature department at the university, presenting papers at academic conferences worldwide, publishing, translating and journalism. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach people with different profiles and from various backgrounds: international professionals, university students, beginner translators and teachers, high school students, retirees, travellers, francophiles, children (help with homework), etc.
Being an open-minded, flexible and patient teacher, I enjoy helping others to discover their potential and to explore it. Adapting myself to my students' needs, pace and objectives is essential for me, and designing the best way to work with each student is very stimulating and rewarding.
After the initial introductory lesson, I will design customised lesson plans that will evolve as you progress. We can also, at any time during the programme, change our working method if you wish to do so. I remain very flexible in that regard.
The learning materials will be varied, and we will choose together the themes and aspects of French language to be covered, in line with your objectives. In any case, I am very attentive in general, so please don't hesitate to make any suggestions.
Regardless of your level and objectives, I'm sure that we can find the best way possible to share and enjoy this French language adventure together.
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Thank you, Priscilla, for helping me with my homework and especially with my written assignments! Priscilla explains the concepts clearly and concisely, including the internet connection is perfect. I would never have thought it possible to learn online as effectively as in person! For those who still have doubts: You need to start your French classes with Priscilla right now! :-)
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Tere! I am a language teacher with more than ten years of experience. I have worked as a lecturer of Estonian language and culture at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Ukraine, at the Tallinn University in Estonia and in numerous language schools. Currently, I am a freelance linguist based in Berlin and teach Estonian online.
It is important for me to introduce a language as a simple logical system that is easy to understand and use. As a teacher, I structure my classes and deliver knowledge in a clear and engaging way, combining theory with practice. Besides my endeavours to make my classes useful, I aspire to make them entertaining and fun, so that my students have a great time in the lesson. By teaching students from a wide range of learning techniques, I always try to provide a personal approach to each student and adapt to their needs, so that they are able to continuously improve their grammar and vocabulary.
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Riina was kind enough to reschedule my trial lesson. She is a very well-spoken teacher. I would definitely recommend her and I look forward to more Estonian lessons.
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Tere! I am a language teacher with more than ten years of experience. I have worked as a lecturer of Estonian language and culture at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Ukraine, at the Tallinn University in Estonia and in numerous language schools. Currently, I am a freelance linguist based in Berlin and teach Estonian online.
It is important for me to introduce a language as a simple logical system that is easy to understand and use. As a teacher, I structure my classes and deliver knowledge in a clear and engaging way, combining theory with practice. Besides my endeavours to make my classes useful, I aspire to make them entertaining and fun, so that my students have a great time in the lesson. By teaching students from a wide range of learning techniques, I always try to provide a personal approach to each student and adapt to their needs, so that they are able to continuously improve their grammar and vocabulary.
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Riina is a great teacher! I enjoy my lessons with her. Estonian is not the easiest language to learn, but she makes it fun while challenging. I'm looking forward to continuing my lessons!
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Hi,
First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the decision to learn or improve a new language. Whether it is Estonian, English or Russian, beginner, advanced or Business language - you are in the right place.
My name is Martin and I am coming from a tiny country in the Northern Europe called Estonia. One of my biggest hobbies is teaching and educating others, that is why for the past 3 years I have been living and working in Istanbul while teaching English to different age groups: kindergarten, school, university as well as adults. I have had students from Beginners to Advanced as well as several businessmen and CEOs of international companies located in Istanbul. What is more, for the last 2 years I have been teaching Estonian, English and Russian online through Skype that gave me chance to meet people from all over the world and help them on their journey of learning foreign languages in a comfortable and enjoyable environment.
We are going to have a 20-30-minute trial lesson during which we can get to know each other, set expectations towards the lessons and schedule the timetable. The next step is simple - we start learning the language of your choice! As simple as it is :)
During the lessons we will focus on making you speak even with the limited vocabulary because speaking is the key to learning a new language quickly and in a fun way!
Cannot wait to receive your in-mail and help you on your journey to learn and speak a foreign language.
Martin
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Oh my God! Every lesson with Martin is full of big news, about grammar and not only! Wooooooow! :-)
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Hello guys! I've been teaching English for three years now, it all all started when I moved to Italy to be with my loving partner and become a father. I can teach any level form beginner to advanced, with your language goal in mind. I prefer to personalize lessons to individual students and my strengths are exam preparation and conversational English for those wishing to speak like a native.
I have a degree in History and I've taught in both private and public schools as well as a private tutor. Don't hesitate to reach out for a chat so we can start this journey together.
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Alexander is such a patient and dedicated teacher! We went through several useful expressions that enriched my toolbox of idiomatic linguistic structures. We also worked in detail on my pronunciation, which improved my confidence a lot while giving presentations at school! Everybody should start learning with Alexander right NOW!
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Hi everyone! My name is Anya. I'm m a professional Russian teacher from Russia with more than 8 years of experience.
I have worked at several language schools in my hometown. Currently, I only teach on Skype. Every day I work online with students of different ages from all over the world.
I'm very patient, and attentive in my approach. I don't let seemingly small things, like pronunciation issues, pass unnoticed. I can teach absolute beginners. I'm always exploring better and better techniques to help my students learn.
My teaching style is a combination of speaking practice and textbooks.
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Anna is an excellent teacher. Very knowledgable and kind. She gave me a free trial lesson due to a mixup in the payment methods. I look forward to the next lesson.
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My name is Diana. I am a TESOL-certified English and Estonian online teacher with more than 5 years of professional and over 20 years of international voluntary teaching experience. During these years I taught professionally more than 3000 different students by helping them to achieve their goals and dreams. My students were from different age groups, levels and backgrounds.
In my classes, you will feel at ease, have a friendly atmosphere and look forward to your next lessons. My aim is to make classes effective and my goal is to help you to :
* Advance your communication skills
* Boost your communication efficiency by improving your accent and speaking clarity
* Achieve your desired language proficiency fast by using my effective and easy methods.
I tailor my teaching material according to your level and needs. As I strongly believe that no two students are alike and one teaching method that fits all is unfair and ineffective.
Looking forward to meeting you soon and emerging on a learning journey with you.
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Diana is a great Estonian teacher - patient, careful, and efficient. In addition to teaching competently, she encourages the student to enjoy the learning journey. I can't wait to take more classes. Suur aitäh!
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Tere! I am a language teacher with more than ten years of experience. I have worked as a lecturer of Estonian language and culture at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in Ukraine, at the Tallinn University in Estonia and in numerous language schools. Currently, I am a freelance linguist based in Berlin and teach Estonian online.
It is important for me to introduce a language as a simple logical system that is easy to understand and use. As a teacher, I structure my classes and deliver knowledge in a clear and engaging way, combining theory with practice. Besides my endeavours to make my classes useful, I aspire to make them entertaining and fun, so that my students have a great time in the lesson. By teaching students from a wide range of learning techniques, I always try to provide a personal approach to each student and adapt to their needs, so that they are able to continuously improve their grammar and vocabulary.
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I can't really judge the learning methods after a trial lesson. The overall impression was positive. I look forward to further work with Riina.
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Hello, everybody ! My name is Elena. I’m a native Italian speaker, I’m 49 years old and live in Turin. I am a certified CEDILS teacher, I graduated in Foreign Languages and Literature in Milan and have been working as a teacher of Italian for more than 10 years. I speak English and German. I attended specialization courses for Italian L2 teachers and I am interviewer for C1 PLIDA exam.
Are you seeking a friendly and dynamic study environment ? I got what you need. I am looking forward to being in touch with new students and organize pleasant, interesting and fruitful courses.
Do you wish to learn or improve your Italian to speak with your parents or friends? Do you need Italian for work or study ? Do you simply love Italian language and culture ? Do you need to improve your writing skills ?
My classes are tailored on your needs and considering your level of knowledge, I create a proper course plan. Classes focus on language and on the possibility for you to improve your ability to speak and understand Italian in your daily life or in work.
I offer 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 tuition, general Italian courses (grammar, conversation, listening, reading and writing), preparation to Italian examinations (all levels, also Italian for residence permit) and Italian and culture courses.
Grammar, vocabulary exercises, reading articles and magazines and talking together are all tools to feel at ease with the Italian language and then be able to practice it.
I have worked with children, adolescents and adults for all levels of Italian, from beginner to advanced. I have experience in preparing students to international certification (CILS, PLIDA). I was an A2/B1 Telc examiner.
Learning Italian can be closely related to culture, literature, music, sport and any other interest of my students.
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Elena is an incredible teacher. She has great methodology and knowledge to assist the student in his needs. She helps you to see your potential and gives feedback helping you to improve your knowledge of the language. Thanks Elena for you support in this process.
Elena F.Thanks so much ! It is a pleasure to work with you, you are a very good and very very nice student.
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-About Me
Hi! My name is Daniel. I'm 26 years old and I currently live in Seville, Spain. I have been teaching Spanish for 4 years now because I love to teach my language and culture to others. I'm interested in movies, especially french cinema of Nouvelle Vague, literature and music of all genres.
-Me as a Teacher
I graduated in Hispanic Philology with a master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language at University of Sevilla with more than 3 years of experience teaching Spanish to students from different nationalities, countries, ages and levels (from absolutely begginer to C2).
I have worked with USA and Erasmus university students, refugees with any knowledge of Spanish, British, Chinese or Koreans students, among others. For doing that I have prepared personalized lessons based on the needs and interests of the students.
Also, I’m an official DELE Examiner certified by Instituto Cervantes who has helped a lot of students to get their Spanish level certificated in different levels.
-My Lessons & Teaching Style
-Very communicative lessons adapted to the needs and interests of my students.
-Personalised lessons based on each student and their goals.
-Lessons about conversation, gramar, culture…
-My main goal is to help you to speak Spanish with confidence and fluently.
-Access to all the material used.
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Daniel has over 4 years of teaching experience. He has experience in teaching online, offline and to people from all different cultural backgrounds. He teaches all levels from A1 to C2. Furthermore, he has a broad variety of learning materials available for each level. You will surely learn a lot from him!
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
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