Punaste

Punaste is the genitive plural form of the Estonian adjective punane, meaning red. It appears when the noun it modifies is in the genitive plural, or when forming a genitive phrase that describes another element in the sentence. For example, punaste lehtede värv means “the color of red leaves,” and punaste majade hind means “the price of red houses.”

In Estonian, adjectives decline for case and number, and adjectives of the -ane class take the genitive plural ending -aste. Thus punane becomes punaste in that specific form. The word punaste does not function as a standalone noun; its function is grammatical, signaling a relationship to a plural genitive noun.

The use of punaste is common in descriptive writing, especially in contexts involving color, appearance, or categorization. It appears in both everyday language and more formal or literary styles when the focus is on red-colored items or on something described as belonging to the group of red things.