vaatamist

Vaatamist is an Estonian linguistic term referring to the partitive singular form of vaatamine, the noun that means the act of looking, watching, or viewing. The base verb is vaatama, “to look” or “to watch.” In Estonian grammar, vaatamine describes the act itself, and vaatamist is the form used when the action is treated as a mass or indefinite portion within a sentence, for example in phrases that express extent, negation, or abstraction.

Usage of vaatamist is most common in written language and in contexts dealing with culture, tourism, or art where the act of viewing is discussed as a concept rather than as a concrete single event. The most familiar collocation is vaatamist väärt, meaning “worth seeing” or “worthwhile to view.” This phrase is widely used to describe places, exhibits, performances, or other attractions that are recommended for visitors or audiences. For example, See linn on vaatamist väärt translates to “This city is worth seeing.”

Grammatical note: vaatamist is a partitive form of vaatamine, used when the action is not treated as a definite, countable event. It functions within sentences alongside other Estonian case forms and is distinct from the nominative vaatamine. The term is primarily of interest in discussions of Estonian morphology and usage, rather than as a separate lexical item with independent meaning.

See also: vaatamine, the base noun meaning the act of viewing; vaatleja, a spectator; vaatamata, a negative or concessive form in other contexts.