Attributiivses

Attributiivses is a term used in Estonian grammar to describe the attributive use of adjectives within a noun phrase. In this position, the modifier directly describes the noun and usually appears before the noun. For example, in the phrase ilus maja, the adjective ilus modifies the noun maja attributively.

This usage is contrasted with predicative usage, where the adjective appears after a linking verb to describe the subject, as in Maja on ilus (The house is beautiful). The attributive form of adjectives must agree with the noun in number and case, so the ending of the adjective changes to match the noun’s form in a given context. In practice, this means that the same adjective can take different forms depending on whether the noun is singular or plural and which case is used.

Adjectives in attributive position often provide essential descriptive information about the noun and contribute to the overall meaning of the noun phrase. They can accumulate multiple modifiers, though natural word order and style preferences guide which attributes appear first.

In linguistic descriptions, attributiivses is a standard way to refer to the function and morphology of adjectives when they participate directly in noun phrases, as opposed to their role in clauses with a copula. While the concept is straightforward, the exact inflection patterns depend on the noun’s case and number, making concord between adjective and noun a central feature of attributive usage in Estonian.