eelmisel

Eelmisel is an Estonian adjective meaning “previous” or “last,” used to refer to the most recent period or item in a sequence. It is commonly seen in time-related phrases and serves to situate events or entities in relation to a prior point in time. The base form eelmine corresponds to the general sense of “previous,” while eelmisel is a declined form used before certain nouns in specific grammatical cases, especially with time expressions.

Etymology and form: The word is built from the root eel- meaning “before” or “previous,” combined with an adjective suffix. Like other Estonian adjectives, eelmine and its declined forms agree with the noun they modify in number and case. This allows eelmisel to appear before time nouns in phrases such as eelmisel nädalal, eelmisel kuul, or eelmisel aastal.

Usage: Eelmisel is widely used in standard Estonian across written and spoken language. It contrasts with järgmine, which means “next” or “following,” helping to distinguish prior periods from upcoming ones. The form eelmisel is typically used in contexts where the following word is in a case that requires an inflected adjective, especially before time expressions.

Examples: Eelmisel nädalal toimus konverents. Eelmisel kuul avaldati uus uuring. Eelmisel aastal rajati uus peakool. In each case, eelmisel marks the time frame as the immediately preceding period relative to the present moment.

Notes: As with other Estonian adjectives, the form changes to match the case and number of the noun it describes. Other related forms include eelmine (base form) and ellipsis variants that appear in different grammatical contexts.