puudumisel

Puudumisel is an Estonian grammatical form meaning "in the absence of" or "during absence". It is the inessive case (locative) of the noun puudumine ("absence") and commonly functions adverbially to indicate that an action or condition occurs when a person or thing is absent. Typical constructions include phrases such as "õpetaja puudumisel" ("in the teacher's absence") or "koosoleku puudumisel" ("if a meeting is not held / in the absence of the meeting").

In usage, puudumisel appears frequently in administrative, legal and institutional language to specify procedures, delegation of duties and contingencies. Examples include stipulations about who will act on behalf of an absent official, how votes are recorded when members are absent, and rules for excused absences in education. The form is also used in everyday speech to explain why something did not occur: "Ta ei saanud osa võtta tema puudumisel" ("He could not participate because of his absence").

Etymologically, puudumisel derives from the verb puuduma ("to be missing, to lack") and follows Estonian case morphology. Semantically close expressions include puudumine and ilma (without), while English equivalents are "in the absence of" or "when absent". The term is grammatical rather than lexical and is productive in forming temporal or conditional clauses that reference absence.