Teisel

Teisel is an Estonian inflected form of the adjective teine, used in the adessive case to express position or ordering in common phrases. It does not stand alone as a descriptive adjective but accompanies a following noun to indicate location, side, or rank. In practice, teisel appears in fixed expressions such as teisel pool, teisel kohal, and teisel korrusel, where the meaning shifts with the noun that accompanies it.

Common usages include teisel pool, meaning on the other side; teisel kohal, meaning in second place or behind the first; and teisel korrusel, meaning on the second floor. These constructions illustrate how teisel conveys relative position rather than a standalone quality of the noun. The grammar mirrors Estonian’s system of case endings and agreement, with teisel interacting with the case form of the associated noun (for example pool, koht, korrus) to produce natural collocations.

Etymologically, teisel derives from teine (second) with the adaptive adessive suffix -l, a pattern found in many Estonian numerals used to form location or distribution phrases. The form is most commonly encountered in everyday speech and writing, where precise spatial or ordinal meaning is needed without repeating the noun.

See also: teine, Estonian grammar, Estonian adessive case, Estonian phrases for location.