kolmapäeva

Kolmapäeva is the genitive form of kolmapäev, the Estonian name for Wednesday, the third day of the week. In everyday use, kolmapäev is the nominative form when referring to the day itself, while kolmapäeva is used in phrases that express possession, association, or form part of compound words such as kolmapäevaõhtu (Wednesday evening) or kolmapäevane sündmus (Wednesday event).

Etymology and naming system: Estonian weekday names are based on ordinal numbers. Esmaspäev means the first day (Monday), teisipäev the second day (Tuesday), kolmapäev the third day (Wednesday), and neljapäev the fourth day (Thursday). The word kolmapäev literally reflects “the third day,” from kolm (three) and päev (day). The genitive kolmapäeva is used when indicating something related to or belonging to Wednesday, or when forming compounds.

Usage and examples: Kolmapäeva is commonly seen in phrases that denote time or relation to Wednesday, for example kolmapäeva algus (the start of Wednesday), kolmapäeva õhtu or kolmapäevaõhtu (Wednesday evening), and kolmapäeva jooksul (during Wednesday). For time expressions, the adessive form kolmapäeval is used to say “on Wednesday,” as in Kolmapäeval kell kümme kohtume (We will meet on Wednesday at 10 o’clock). In calendars and schedules, kolmapäev is typically used as the weekday name, with kolmapäeva appearing in genitive constructions.