põhjalikku

Põhjalikku is an Estonian inflected form of the adjective põhjalik, which means thorough, in-depth, or exhaustive. The word is used to describe nouns in contexts where careful, comprehensive examination or treatment is implied. It is common in formal, academic, and professional language, as well as in journalistic writing.

In Estonian, adjectives decline according to the case and number of the noun they modify. Põhjalikku is the partitive singular form, for example when the noun is in the partitive case or after verbs. Examples include: Ma tegin põhjalikku tööd (I did thorough work) and Ta esitas põhjalikku analüüsi (He presented a thorough analysis). Other related forms include põhjalik (nominative singular), põhjaliku (genitive singular), and põhjalikud (nominative plural). The partitive plural form is põhjalikke.

Põhjalikku is often paired with nouns denoting study, analysis, work, or examination to convey depth and completeness, such as põhjalikku uurimist or põhjalikku kontrolli. The corresponding adverbial form is põhjalikult, used to modify verbs: Ta luges teksti põhjalikult (He read the text thoroughly). While põhjalikku conveys the quality of the noun it accompanies, põhjalikult describes the manner of the action.

Synonyms include detailne and täpne in some contexts, though these carry slightly different nuance—detailne emphasizes detail, while põhjalik emphasizes overall thoroughness and completeness. Põhjalikku remains a standard, neutral choice in Estonian for expressing rigorous and comprehensive treatment of a subject.