töötajast

Töötajast is the elative singular form of the Estonian noun töötaja, meaning employee. In Estonian grammar, the elative case expresses movement from a source or, in many contexts, serves to indicate the topic or object of discussion. Töötajast is formed by adding the suffix -st to the stem of töötaja, and is used with verbs of speaking, thinking, or reporting, as well as in noun phrases that mean “about” or “from the employee.”

Common usage examples include sequences such as "rääkisin töötajast" (I spoke about the employee) or "aruanne töötajast" (a report about the employee). The form helps specify that the reference concerns the employee rather than the employee as a possessive or direct object. The singular elative is töötajast, while the corresponding plural elative is töötajatest (from/about the employees).

In a broader grammatical context, töötajast is one of several Estonian case forms derived from töötaja. It is distinct from the nominative töötaja and from other case forms that mark possession, object role, or location. When choosing the correct form, the speaker relies on the syntactic role of the noun and the intended meaning in the sentence.