miks

Miks is the Estonian word for "why." It is the standard interrogative used to ask for reasons or explanations and is common in everyday speech and writing. For direct questions, it appears at the beginning of the sentence, as in Miks ta hilines? meaning "Why was he late?" It can also feature in phrases such as Miks mitte? meaning "Why not?"

In addition to direct questions, miks is used in indirect questions after verbs of thinking or asking, for example Ma küsin, miks ta hilines, or Ma wondered why he was late. It forms part of typical Estonian sentence structure for expressing inquiry and reason, and it can pair with other question words or appear alone to introduce a subordinate clause.

Etymologically, miks is the standard Estonian interrogative meaning "why" and is cognate with related forms in other Finno-Ugric languages, notably Finnish miksi. The word reflects shared roots for interrogatives across Finnic languages.

As a proper noun, Miks can appear as a given name or surname within Estonian-speaking communities, though it is not widely used as a name in contemporary usage. Its occurrence as a personal name is relatively uncommon compared to its primary role as a question word.

In summary, miks serves as the principal word for asking reasons in Estonian, with straightforward use in direct and indirect questions, and occasional usage as a personal name in some contexts.