Mõningatele

Mõningatele is an Estonian grammatical form that functions as the allative plural determiner meaning “to some” or “to a few.” It is the allative plural form of the determiner mõning-, which is used to indicate indefiniteness in reference to a group of addressees or recipients. In a noun phrase, mõningatele accompanies a noun that is also in the allative case, yielding phrases such as mõningatele inimestele or mõningatele organisatsioonidele, both meaning “to some people” or “to some organizations.”

Formation and usage

The form combines mõning- with the allative plural ending -atele, or more broadly with the allative plural agreement that governs the modifier in phrases where the head noun is in the allative. The resulting phrase denotes an unspecified subset of a group and is typically used in contexts where the writer or speaker wishes to refer to recipients or beneficiaries without naming them explicitly. The construction is most common in formal, policy, or academic texts and in situations where generalization about a group is intended.

Examples

- mõningatele inimestele = to some people

- mõningatele organisatsioonidele = to some organizations

- mõningatele lastele = to some children (illustrative; usage depends on the noun’s allative form)

Relation to other forms

Mõningatele is closely related to other determiner forms built from mõning- in different case and number endings. In isolation, mõning- conveys indefiniteness; its allative plural form expands that sense to the recipient or beneficiary of the action described, without specifying who they are.

See also

Estonian grammar, allative case, determiners and adjectives, indefiniteness expressions.

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