Arvestama

Arvestama is an Estonian verb meaning to take into account, to consider, or to reckon. It is widely used in everyday speech and in more formal contexts such as planning, budgeting, policy work, and risk assessment. In addition to its primary sense of considering factors, arvestama can also carry the idea of counting or calculating in mathematical or accounting contexts, though more specialized verbs or nouns (such as arvutama or arvestus) are often used for explicit calculation.

Etymology and related terms: The verb is derived from the noun arve, meaning count or calculation, and is related to arvestus (calculation, accounting) and arvepidamine (bookkeeping). The word reflects the notion of weighing information or figures before drawing conclusions.

Usage notes: Arvestama takes a direct object referring to what is being taken into account, or it can be used with adverbial or prepositional phrases to indicate what is being considered. It commonly appears in expressions like “Me peame arvestama kuludega” (We must take costs into account) or “Ta arvestab kõigi teguritega otsuse langetamisel” (He considers all factors when making the decision).

Grammar and forms: Arvestama is a transitive verb with standard Estonian conjugation. Present tense forms include arvestan, arvestad, arvestab, arvestame, arvestate, arvestavad. Past tense forms include arvestasin, arvestasid, arvestas, arvestasime, arvestasite, arvestasid. Imperative forms are arvesta (singular) and arvestage (plural). The past participle is arvestanud, and the passive participle is arvestatud, used in phrases such as “on arvestatud” (has been taken into account).

See also: arvestus, arve, arvutama.