The lihtminevik for regular verbs formed by taking the ma-infinitive form, removing the -ma ending, and adding the following:
pronoun | verb ending |
ma | -sin |
sa | -sid ** |
ta | -s / -is * |
me | -sime |
te | -site |
nad | -sid ** |
*The rules:
1. If the stem of the -ma infinitive form of the verb ends in a vowel, the ending for the third-person singular is -s.
2. If the stem of the -ma infinitive form of the verb ends in a consonant, the ending for the third-person singular is -is.
3. If the stem of the -ma infinitive form of the verb ends in -s-, the ending for the third-person singular becomes -is, and for all other forms besides the third-person singular the s of the stem is omitted.
4. If the stem of the -ma infinitive form of the verb ends in -p- or -t- following a short vowel, the -p- or -t- is doubled for the third-person singular, and the third-person singular ending is -is).
**The past tense ending for the second person singular and third person plural are the same: -sid.
Examples:
1. For a verb whose stem ends in a vowel: ütlema
ma ütlesin | I said |
sa ütlesid | you (singular) said |
ta ütles | he/she said |
me ütlesime | we said |
te ütlesite | you (plural) said |
nad ütlesid | they said |
2. For a verb whose stem ends in a consonant: teadma (note that the third-person singular ending is -is here; other than that it is the same as #1 above):
ma teadsin | I knew |
sa teadsid | you (singular) knew |
ta teadis | he/she knew |
me teadsime | we knew |
te teadsite | you (plural) knew |
nad teadsid | they knew |
3. For a verb whose stem ends in an -s: seisma (note that the -s- of the stem has been removed here, with the -s of the past tense remaining; except for the third-person singular, which retains both):
ma seisin | I stood |
sa seisid | you (singular) stood |
ta seisis | he/she stood |
me seisime | we stood |
te seisite | you (plural) stood |
nad seisid | they stood |
4. For a verb whose stem ends in a -t: võtma (note the double -tt- in the third person singular):
ma võtsin | I took |
sa võtsid | you (singular) took |
ta võttis | he/she took |
me võtsime | we took |
te võtsite | you (plural) took |
nad võtsid | they took |
Irregular verbs (of which there are thankfully relatively few for the lihtminevik) and negative lihtminevik will be discussed soon in my next posts!