tervislikku

Tervislikku is the partitive singular form of the Estonian adjective tervislik, meaning healthy. It is used to describe a noun in contexts where the noun is indefinite or part of a larger phrase, and it commonly appears with nouns related to health, nutrition, or lifestyle, such as toitumine, elu, or harjumus.

Etymology and form: Tervislik is formed from tervis (health) with the suffix -lik, which yields a meaning of health-related or healthy. The ending -ku in tervislikku is the standard partitive singular form that occurs before a noun in the partitive case. This form is used with masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns in contexts requiring a non-definite object.

Usage and examples: Ma soovin tervislikku toitumist. Me järgime tervislikku eluviisi. Tervislikku harjumust on raske parandada. In these examples, tervislikku marks the object of the verb or the noun phrase, indicating a healthful quality of the respective noun. In predicate position, however, the form changes: the phrase See elu on tervislik uses the nominative form tervislik rather than tervislikku.

Notes: The partitive form tervislikku is most common when discussing ongoing or general health-related practices or when the noun is indefinite. When describing a noun as a state, the predicate adjective remains tervislik. Related terms include tervis (health), tervislik toitumine (healthy nutrition), and tervislik eluviis (healthful lifestyle).