The 100 Most Common Estonian Words

These are the 100 most common Estonian words, ranked by how often they appear in real Estonian text and speech, drawn from published word-frequency research. Frequency-first learning works: a small core of high-frequency words does most of the work in everyday sentences, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	olema	OH-leh-mah	be
2	ja	yah	and
3	see	seh	this
4	ei	ay	not (negation)
5	mis	mis	what
6	et	et	that (conjunction)
7	tema	TEH-mah	he / she
8	saama	SAH-mah	get
9	aga	AH-gah	but
10	kui	kooy	if
11	nii	nee	so
12	ka	kah	too
13	tulema	TOO-leh-mah	come
14	tegema	TEH-geh-mah	do
15	kes	kes	who
16	aasta	AHS-tah	year
17	ütlema	EWT-leh-mah	say
18	kõik	kuhyk	all
19	teadma	TEH-ahd-mah	know
20	aeg	ah-eg	time
21	päev	pa-ev	day
22	hea	heh-ah	good
23	suur	soor	large
24	oma	OH-mah	own
25	meie	MEH-yeh	our
26	sina	SEE-nah	you
27	mina	MEE-nah	I
28	nemad	NEH-mahd	they
29	nüüd	newd	now
30	veel	vehl	still
31	juba	YOO-bah	already
32	minema	MEE-neh-mah	go
33	nägema	NA-geh-mah	see
34	andma	AHND-mah	give
35	uus	oos	new
36	asi	AH-see	thing
37	inimene	EE-nee-meh-neh	person
38	palju	PAHL-yoo	many
39	kaks	kahks	two
40	esimene	EH-see-meh-neh	first
41	tahtma	TAHHT-mah	want
42	kus	koos	where
43	sest	sest	because
44	siis	sees	then
45	seal	seh-ahl	there
46	koos	kohs	together
47	töö	tuh	work
48	või	vuhy	or
49	üks	ewks	one
50	elu	EH-loo	life
51	ise	EE-seh	self
52	teine	TAY-neh	other (second)
53	väga	VA-gah	very
54	kuidas	KOOY-dahs	how
55	ainult	AHY-noolt	only
56	pidama	PEE-dah-mah	must
57	võima	VUHY-mah	may (can)
58	hakkama	HAHK-kah-mah	begin
59	jääma	YA-mah	remain
60	leidma	LAYD-mah	find
61	võtma	VUHT-mah	take
62	panema	PAH-neh-mah	put
63	rääkima	RA-kee-mah	speak
64	mõtlema	MUHT-leh-mah	think
65	töötama	TUH-tah-mah	work
66	elama	EH-lah-mah	live
67	vaatama	VAH-tah-mah	look at
68	otsima	OHT-see-mah	look for
69	küsima	KEW-see-mah	ask
70	aitama	AHY-tah-mah	help
71	laps	lahps	child
72	naine	NAHY-neh	woman
73	mees	mehs	man
74	käsi	KA-see	hand
75	koht	kohht	place
76	maailm	MAH-ilm	world
77	maja	MAH-yah	house
78	riik	reek	country (state)
79	linn	lin	city
80	sõna	SUH-nah	word
81	tee	teh	road (way)
82	osa	OH-sah	part
83	küsimus	KEW-see-moos	question
84	raha	RAH-hah	money
85	maa	mah	land (earth)
86	miski	MIS-kee	something
87	keegi	KEH-gee	someone
88	siin	seen	here
89	praegu	PRAH-eh-goo	now (at the moment)
90	millal	MIL-lahl	when (question)
91	miks	miks	why
92	ilma	IL-mah	without
93	vahel	VAH-hel	between
94	pärast	PA-rahst	after
95	alati	AH-lah-tee	always
96	jälle	YAL-leh	again
97	kohe	KOH-heh	immediately
98	väike	VAHY-keh	small
99	vana	VAH-nah	old
100	noor	nohr	young

Show all 100 wordsShow the first 20

Ranked by lemma frequency in published Estonian corpus research; proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

Turn this list into flashcards Learn Estonian online How spaced repetition works

Frequently asked questions about Estonian words

How many Estonian words do you need for a basic conversation?

Frequency research shows the 1,000 most common words cover roughly 85 percent of everyday speech, and the top 100 alone appear in almost every sentence. You can manage simple exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Estonian?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, grow toward the most common 1,000 words and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Estonian word list come from?

From published Estonian word-frequency research: lemma-ranked corpus lists cleaned for learners, with proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Rankings are approximate, since real usage varies by region and register, but the core is stable across corpora.