Sobivaid

Sobivaid is the partitive plural form of the Estonian adjective sobiv, meaning suitable or appropriate. It is used before plural nouns in the partitive case to indicate an unspecified or partial set of items that are considered suitable.

In practice, sobivaid describes some of the suitable things rather than all of them. Examples include sobivaid lahendusi (suitable solutions), sobivaid ideid (suitable ideas), and sobivaid inimesi (suitable people). This form contrasts with sobivad, the nominative plural used when the phrase functions as the subject or predicate, as in Sobivad inimesed on valmis (The suitable people are ready).

Grammatical notes: Estonian uses the partitive case in various constructions that express indefiniteness, negation, or certain numerical contexts. The form sobivaid thus appears in sentences where the object is counted or limited in a non-specific way, or when the object is a non-countable portion of a larger set.

Related forms: sobiv is the base form of the adjective; sobivus is a noun meaning “suitability,” and sobima is the verb meaning “to fit” or “to be suitable.” These related forms share the same semantic core of fitness and appropriateness.

See also: sobiv, sobivus, sobima.