hoolitsed

Hoolitsed is the second-person singular present tense form of the Estonian verb hoolitsema, meaning to care for, look after, or attend to. It is used when addressing one person informally, as in telling someone directly to take care of something or someone.

In Estonian, verbs are conjugated for person and number in the present tense. The related present tense forms of hoolitsema include: ma hoolitsen (I take care), sa hoolitsed (you take care), ta hoolitseb (he/she takes care), me hoolitseme (we take care), te hoolitsete (you all take care), nad hoolitsevad (they take care). Thus hoolitsed corresponds specifically to the second person singular form.

Example sentence: Sa hoolitsed oma tervise eest. This demonstrates how the form is used in everyday speech to express ongoing or habitual action by the addressee.

Usage notes: Hoolitsed is common in informal conversation, personal advice, or direct commands framed as statements. For formal address or when speaking to multiple people, Estonian typically uses the plural or polite form, such as te hoolitsete, depending on context and pronoun choice.

Related terms: hoolitsema (infinitive), hoolitseja (a person who cares or a caretaker), hoolitsus (care or maintenance), and hoolitsemine (the act of caring or maintaining).

Overall, hoolitsed functions as a standard present-tense, second-person singular verb form in Estonian, used to indicate that the addressed person is currently or routinely taking care of something.