võib

Võib is the third-person singular present tense form of the Estonian verb võima, meaning “to be able to” or the modal “may.” It functions as a modal auxiliary that indicates possibility, permission, or tentative likelihood, and it is typically used with a main verb in the infinitive to form a predicate, as in “ta võib tulla” (he may come).

Conjugation in the present indicative is: ma võin; sa võid; ta võib; me võime; te võite; nad võivad. This set is the standard present forms of võima, with võin and võid representing the first- and second-person forms, and võib, võivad representing the third-person singular and plural.

Usage and examples illustrate its range. Ma võin tulla (I can come). Ta võib homme tulla (He may come tomorrow). Teil võib olla õigus (You may be right). Võib-olla on see vale (Perhaps that is wrong). Võib olla is also used in the explicit phrase võib olla (perhaps), and the hyphenated form võib-olla is common in written Estonian.

Negation and related nuance: to express inability or lack of permission, Estonian often uses a different construction, such as ma ei saa tulla (I cannot come), or see pole võimalik (that is not possible). Võib is thus not negated directly; its scope is limited to expressing possibility or permission, while the negative forms rely on the verbs saa or olema in alternative constructions.

Etymology and related languages: võib derives from the Estonian verb võima (to be able), and is cognate with Finnish voida (to be able). It is part of the Finnic modal verb system and remains a frequent and essential tool in everyday Estonian.