Suurima

Suurima is a grammatical form in the Estonian language. It is the genitive singular form of the superlative adjective suurim, which means “the biggest.” In Estonian, adjectives decline to agree with the noun they modify in case, number, and definiteness, and the superlative forms shift accordingly. The form suurima appears when the adjective is in the genitive singular and modifies a noun that is also in the genitive or involved in a possessive or related construction.

Etymology and structure: the base meaning comes from the adjective suur (big) combined with the superlative suffix -im. The genitive singular ending -a on the adjective stem yields suurima, which then agrees with the case and number of the noun it describes in that phrase.

Usage: suurima is used in contexts requiring a genitive agreement with the head noun and the superlative meaning “the biggest.” Its exact placement and form depend on the surrounding grammatical structure, notably the case of the noun and whether the phrase expresses possession or a relative relation. In many simple, nominative-attributive constructions, the standard nominative superlative form suurim would appear instead; suurima arises in more complex phrases where the noun is inflected.

See also: Estonian grammar, Estonian adjectives, superlatives, noun-adjective agreement.

Notes: As with other Estonian inflected forms, the precise appearance of suurima can vary with the syntactic role of the noun in a sentence. For learners, focus on recognizing suurim as the base superlative and on how adjectives inflect to match the noun’s case.