Jälgijate

Jälgijate is the genitive plural form of the Estonian noun jälgija, which means follower or tracker. The form is used to indicate possession or association, for example in phrases like “jälgijate arv” (the number of followers) or “jälgijate kommentaarid” (the followers’ comments). Jälgijate can refer to followers in a social media sense as well as to trackers or pursuers in wildlife or hunting contexts, depending on the context.

Etymology and grammar: jälgija is formed from the stem jälg-, meaning trace or follow, with the agent suffix -ija. The nominative plural is jälgijad, while the genitive plural is jälgijate. In Estonian, the genitive plural is used after numerals, possessive constructions, or to express relationships, and it contrasts with the partitive plural jälgijaid, which marks direct objects rather than ownership or association.

Usage notes: Jälgijate commonly appears in descriptive or statistical contexts, especially when counting or describing groups of followers, commenters, or trackers. It is not a standalone concept but a grammatical form that signals a relationship to jälgija. The word participates in typical Estonian inflection patterns and does not take capitalization unless it starts a sentence.

Examples include: “Jälgijate arv on suur,” meaning the number of followers is large; “Jälgijate kommentaarid on positiivsed,” meaning the followers’ comments are positive. Understanding its function relies on recognizing jälgija as the base word and jälgijate as its genitive plural. See also: jälgija, jälgima.