tõsise

Tõsise is the genitive singular form of the Estonian adjective tõsine, which means serious, earnest, or genuine. It appears when the noun it modifies is in the genitive case, most commonly in attributive phrases such as tõsise mehe nägu, meaning the face of a serious man. In contrast, the nominative singular form tõsine is used directly before a nominative noun (for example, tõsine inimene).

Etymology and sense: tõsine derives from the root tõsi, meaning truth, with the -ne suffix that forms adjectives. The sense has developed to cover both “serious” in the sense of weighty or important, and “genuine” or “real.” The genitive form tõsise reflects standard Estonian adjective inflection, aligning with the noun it modifies when that noun is in genitive singular.

Morphology: Like other Estonian adjectives, tõsine declines by number and case. In the genitive singular it becomes tõsise; in the genitive plural it becomes tõsiste. Other relevant forms include nominative singular tõsine, nominative plural tõsised, partitive singular tõsist, and partitive plural tõsiseid. The form tõsise is therefore a grammatical variant used in specific syntactic contexts rather than a separate lexical entry.

Usage: Tõsise is mainly used in formal or written Estonian to express possession or relation in noun phrases where the head noun is in genitive. Common everyday usage tends to prefer the nominative tõsine before a nominative noun (e.g., tõsine probleem) rather than the genitive form. Examples include tõsise mõju (the impact of something serious) and tõsiste meeste nimed (the names of serious men).