The fastest words to learn are the ones you see most. This deck lists the 60 most common Estonian words, each with a clear English meaning and a real example sentence. Study them below, or download the deck for Anki or Quizlet.
The best Estonian flashcards to learn first are the words you meet most often. This free deck pairs the 60 most common Estonian words, like tere, aitäh, palun, with a plain English meaning and a real example sentence for each. Download it as a CSV for Anki or Quizlet, or learn the words in context by reading.
CSV columns are word, translation, example (with a header row). Ready to import into Anki, Quizlet, or any spaced-repetition app.
60 most common Estonian words · Updated July 2026
| Estonian | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tere | hello | Tere, kuidas läheb? |
| aitäh | thank you | Aitäh abi eest! |
| palun | please; you're welcome | Palun istu siia. |
| vabandust | sorry, excuse me | Vabandust, kus on tualett? |
| jah | yes | Jah, ma saan aru. |
| ei | no; not | Ei, ma ei taha kohvi. |
| kes | who | Kes see on? |
| mis | what | Mis see on? |
| kus | where | Kus sa elad? |
| millal | when | Millal me kohtume? |
| miks | why | Miks sa nutad? |
| kuidas | how | Kuidas sul läheb? |
| nimi | name | Mis on sinu nimi? |
| inimene | person, human being | Ta on väga tore inimene. |
| pere | family | Minu pere elab Tartus. |
| sõber | friend | Ta on minu parim sõber. |
| ema | mother | Minu ema küpsetab kooki. |
| isa | father | Isa loeb ajalehte. |
| laps | child | Laps mängib õues. |
| mees | man | See mees on minu naaber. |
| naine | woman | Naine kannab punast kleiti. |
| maja | house | Meil on suur maja. |
| vesi | water | Palun anna mulle klaas vett. |
| toit | food | Toit oli täna väga maitsev. |
| raamat | book | Ma loen huvitavat raamatut. |
| aeg | time | Mul ei ole praegu aega. |
| päev | day | Täna on ilus päev. |
| koer | dog | Meie koer haugub öösiti. |
| kass | cat | Kass magab terve päeva. |
| auto | car | Ta ostis eile uue auto. |
| linn | city, town | Tallinn on Eesti pealinn. |
| raha | money | Ta hoiab kogu oma raha pangas. |
| olema | to be | Ma olen täna väsinud. |
| minema | to go | Me läheme homme koju. |
| tulema | to come | Palun tule kiiresti siia. |
| tegema | to do, make | Mida sa praegu teed? |
| sööma | to eat | Ma söön õuna. |
| jooma | to drink | Ta joob hommikul kohvi. |
| nägema | to see | Kas sa näed seda maja? |
| rääkima | to speak, talk | Ta räägib mitut keelt. |
| tahtma | to want | Ma tahan täna puhata. |
| saama | to get, receive; to be able to | Kas ma saan sind aidata? |
| teadma | to know | Ma tean õiget vastust. |
| armastama | to love | Vanemad armastavad oma lapsi. |
| andma | to give | Palun anna mulle see raamat. |
| elama | to live | Nad elavad väikeses külas. |
| mõtlema | to think | Ma mõtlen sageli sinust. |
| hea | good | See on väga hea mõte. |
| halb | bad | Täna on väga halb ilm. |
| suur | big, large | Neil on suur aed. |
| väike | small, little | Ta elab väikeses linnas. |
| uus | new | Ma vajan uut telefoni. |
| vana | old | See on väga vana loss. |
| ilus | beautiful, pretty | Lilled aias on väga ilusad. |
| kallis | expensive; dear | See kleit on liiga kallis. |
| ja | and | Ma joon hommikul kohvi ja söön saia. |
| aga | but | Ilm on külm, aga päikeseline. |
| ka | also, too | Mina tulen ka. |
| väga | very | Ma olen sulle väga tänulik. |
| palju | much, many, a lot | Tal on palju sõpru. |
Flashcards fix words in memory; reading teaches you to use them. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Estonian with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, and save any word to review later. Free to start.
The deck is built from high-frequency words, the ones that make up most of everyday Estonian. Learning them first gives you the biggest return per card, because you will meet them again and again the moment you start reading or listening.
Flashcards work best with spaced repetition: review a card, and if you knew it, wait longer before seeing it again. Anki and Quizlet both do this automatically. Download the CSV, import it, and review a few minutes a day. Keep the example sentence on the card so you learn how the word actually behaves, not just its dictionary gloss.
One honest limit: flashcards build recognition, but you learn to use a word by meeting it in real context. Pair this deck with reading. When a word you drilled shows up in a story, it stops being a flashcard and becomes part of the language. That pairing is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Best Estonian books for your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the Estonian CEFR test (A1 to C2) →
How long does it take to learn Estonian? See the timeline →
Start with the most frequent words. A few thousand high-frequency Estonian words cover the majority of everyday text, so each of those cards pays off far more than a rare one. This deck gives you the top 60 to begin with, each with a meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the word in context rather than in isolation. When a card sticks, meet the word again in a real book to lock it in.
Click Download CSV to save the deck, then in Anki choose File, Import and select the file. Map the first column to the front (the Estonian word) and the second to the back (the meaning); the third column holds an example sentence you can add to the back too. The first row is a header, so tell Anki to ignore it or delete that one card. For Quizlet, use Copy for Quizlet and paste into the import box with Tab between term and definition.
Flashcards are excellent for building recognition and drilling the first few thousand words, but on their own they teach words out of context. You learn to use Estonian, not just recognize it, by reading and hearing the words in real sentences. The efficient combination is flashcards for raw vocabulary plus reading for context, collocation and grammar. That is exactly what Lingo7 is built around.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 common words cover most everyday Estonian text, and around 5,000 gets you comfortably through many novels. You do not need all of them before you start: with sentence-aligned translation you can begin reading real Estonian at a couple of thousand words and pick up the rest from context. This deck is a fast way to front-load the most useful 60.