Varrukaid

Varrukaid is the Estonian partitive plural form of varrukas, the word for sleeve. It denotes sleeves when the speaker refers to an unspecified number or a portion of sleeves, such as in inventory lists or descriptions where quantity is not exact. In standard Estonian grammar, varrukas has a nominative plural varrukad and a partitive plural varrukaid, so varrukaid belongs to the feminine noun class and reflects common Finnic inflection patterns.

The etymology of varrukaid traces varrukas to the Proto-Finnic roots for arm or sleeve, with the modern Estonian inflectional suffix -id yielding the partitive plural varrukaid. Related forms include varrukad (nominative plural) and varrukas (singular).

In use, varrukaid appears in clothing descriptions, catalogs, and everyday speech when speaking of sleeves in a non-specific amount. Example: Ma nägin varrukaid, mis sobisid hästi. I saw sleeves that fit well. It may occur with numerals or other partitive constructions, such as mitmeid varrukaid or mitu varrukaid, depending on context.

See also: Estonian grammar, Estonian vocabulary, Finnic languages.