minevikusõna

Minevikusõna is a term used in Estonian linguistics to refer to word forms that express past time. The word itself is a compound of minevik (past) and sõna (word). In practice, minevikusõna covers finite verb forms in the past tense as well as past participles that appear in perfect tenses or function as adjectives.

In Estonian grammar, past time is primarily conveyed by finite verb forms with person and number endings in the past tense, for example läksin (I went), lugesin (I read), kirjutasin (I wrote). Past participles such as teinud (done), tehtud (made/done), lõppenud (finished), and valminud (completed) occur with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses, as in olen teinud (I have done) or olen lugenud (I have read). Past participles may also modify nouns as adjectives, for example lõppenud töö (finished work) or valminud toode (completed product).

The exact use of the label minevikusõna varies by source. Some grammars treat it as a broad label for all past-time forms, while others reserve it for a narrower class of verbal forms that explicitly encode past time within a verbal paradigm. The term is most commonly found in language-teaching materials and descriptive grammars rather than in prescriptive grammars.

See also: Estonian grammar, Estonian verb, tense and mood, participle.